Therapy Near Me

Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026

A national public-source scan of advertised fees, Medicare gaps and household financial burden

This targeted national review examines exact publicly advertised standard psychology fees identified across all Australian states and territories. It maps provider charges to verified Medicare benefits and calculates illustrative consumer gaps, course-of-care costs and household financial burdens.

The study was not a probability sample of all Australian psychology providers. Its findings describe the selected public-source records and should not be interpreted as market-wide estimates or official jurisdiction rankings.

Featured in: Australian Policy Online [View feature →]

Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026

⚠ FINAL PUBLICATION FOR A TARGETED PUBLIC-SOURCE REVIEW

This publication is not the completed probability-sample Australian Mental Health Affordability Index 2026–27. It does not provide official state or territory rankings or nationally representative fee estimates.

FINAL PUBLICATION FOR A TARGETED PUBLIC-SOURCE REVIEW

This publication is not the completed probability-sample Australian Mental Health Affordability Index 2026–27. It does not provide official state or territory rankings or nationally representative fee estimates.

Key Findings

65

clinic-locations in the targeted source frame

63

clinic-locations with an exact publicly displayed fee

108

raw location-level exact fee observations

48

globally unique exact-fee pricing policies

$260

median advertised standard fee across 79 local in-person policy-level variants

$130.95

median calculated consumer gap across 79 local variants

$1,309.50

ten sessions at the median calculated gap

4.95 hours

gross National Minimum Wage work required for one median gap

Results describe a targeted public-source dataset and are not market-wide estimates.

Methodology Summary

The review included exact publicly displayed prices for routine subsequent psychology consultations lasting 50–60 minutes. Initial appointments, assessments, provisional or student services, undefined “from” prices and ambiguous price ranges were excluded from the primary exact-fee analysis. Shared clinic schedules were identified through pricing-policy IDs so that the primary national descriptive results retained one copy of each exact fee variant per globally unique pricing policy.

National descriptive table

Category n Median fee Mean fee IQR P10–P90 Observed range
Clinical psychologist 41 $275 $276.83 $260–$290 $250–$311 $230–$360
Registered psychologist 38 $239 $241.84 $223.25–$260 $214.40–$276.50 $190–$290
All local in-person 79 $260 $260.00 $235–$275 $220–$296 $190–$360
National telehealth-only 2 $215 $215.00 $202.50–$227.50 $195–$235 $190–$240

AUD per standard subsequent 50–60-minute service; one copy per globally unique exact fee variant. National telehealth-only results are retained separately and must not be described as a market average

Jurisdiction descriptive results from the targeted public-source dataset

Scope Warning: The data below reflects a targeted public-source dataset and represents specific fee variants collected. It must not be interpreted as comprehensive market averages or state rankings.

Jur. Frame Exact Disclosure Policies Variants Median fee Median gap Gap / income Wage hours Concession
NSW 16 16 100.0% 10 17 $275.00 $148.45 6.95% 5.61 20.0%
VIC 12 12 100.0% 12 20 $252.50 $125.95 6.13% 4.76 16.7%
QLD 15 15 100.0% 12 21 $250.00 $125.95 6.44% 4.76 25.0%
WA 6 6 100.0% 3 5 $260.00 $125.95 5.94% 4.76 0.0%
SA 4 4 100.0% 4 8 $249.00 $128.45 7.56% 4.86 0.0%
TAS 3 3 100.0% 2 3 $250.00 $108.45 6.84% 4.10 0.0%
ACT 4 4 100.0% 4 5 $270.00 $163.45 5.90% 6.18 0.0%
NT 4 2 50.0% 2 3 $275.00 $173.45 7.21% 6.56 0.0%

Recommended downloadable assets

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Download full report (PDF, 43 pages)

Version 1.0 • July 2026 • Accessible

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Download aggregate dataset

Version 1.0 • July 2026

Download methodology (PDF)

Technical appendix • Version 1.0

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Collection of CSV files • Version 1.0

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Reference metadata

Machine-readable formats (RIS, BibTeX, CSL JSON)

Cite or link to this research

Researchers, journalists, educators and policy organisations may cite the report using the formats below. Please link to the permanent report page rather than a temporary file URL so readers can access the current report, dataset, methods, corrections and version history.

APA 7

Therapy Near Me Research Team. (2026). Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026: A national public-source scan of advertised fees, Medicare gaps and household financial burden (Version 1.0). Therapy Near Me. https://therapynearme.com.au/australian-psychology-fees-affordability-evidence-review-2026/

Harvard

Therapy Near Me Research Team 2026, Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026: A national public-source scan of advertised fees, Medicare gaps and household financial burden, version 1.0, Therapy Near Me, viewed 20 July 2026, https://therapynearme.com.au/australian-psychology-fees-affordability-evidence-review-2026/

Use this research

Publisher and report

Therapy Near Me’s Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026 presents a targeted public-source scan of advertised psychology fees and Medicare gaps.

Median fee finding

A targeted 2026 public-source review found a median advertised standard fee of $260 across 79 local in-person policy-level fee variants. See the Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026.

Medicare gap finding

Within a targeted public-source dataset, the median calculated Medicare consumer gap was $130.95 across 79 local fee variants. Source: Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026.

Ten-session finding

At the median calculated gap in a targeted public-source review, ten eligible psychology sessions totalled $1,309.50. See Therapy Near Me’s 2026 psychology fee and affordability review.

Minimum-wage finding

One median psychology gap in the targeted dataset equated to 4.95 hours of work at the gross National Minimum Wage. Source: Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026.

Practitioner-category finding

The targeted review observed a median advertised fee of $275 for clinical psychologist variants and $239 for registered psychologist variants; these are descriptive results from selected public records. Read the report and methodology.

Plain-text footnote

Therapy Near Me Research Team, Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026, version 1.0, https://therapynearme.com.au/australian-psychology-fees-affordability-evidence-review-2026/.

Chart attribution line

Full chart attribution

Source: Therapy Near Me Research Team (2026), Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026, version 1.0, https://therapynearme.com.au/australian-psychology-fees-affordability-evidence-review-2026/

Short chart attribution

Source: Australian Psychology Fees and Affordability Evidence Review 2026, Therapy Near Me.

About the publisher

Therapy Near Me publishes Australian mental-health research and consumer resources and also provides psychology and counselling services. Its service operations are separate from the analysis presented in this report. Therapy Near Me and affiliated services were excluded from the public-fee dataset.

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