How Medicare treats video sessions
The telehealth items introduced during the pandemic are now permanent. Eligible Australians can access individual telehealth mental health services regardless of where they live, where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so.
The video items mirror the in-person items one for one and pay the same benefit, and they draw on the same annual allocation of ten individual sessions. Group sessions by video are the exception — those are restricted by location and distance.
What works well by video, and what does not
Most of what we do transfers: assessment, cognitive behavioural work, exposure planning and practice, skills training, and relationship sessions where both people join from the same room or from two. EMDR can be adapted for video.
Video is a poorer fit where risk is significant and immediate, where you have no private space to speak from, or where the connection is unreliable enough to interrupt a processing session. We will say if we think in person is the better call.
Practical setup
You need a private space, headphones, and a device with a camera. We send a link before the appointment — there is nothing to install and no account to create. If the connection fails mid-session we switch to phone and continue.
Sessions run the same 50 minutes and are booked the same way. You can alternate: some clients see us in the Queen Street rooms when they are in the city and by video otherwise.