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Free Psychology Sessions: No GP Referral or Medicare Card Needed

Free Psychology Sessions: No GP Referral or Medicare Card Needed

You’ve thought about seeing a psychologist. Maybe more than once.

Each time, something stopped you:

  • The cost. You’ve heard it’s expensive. Even with Medicare, most psychologists charge a gap fee (the part Medicare doesn’t pay).
  • The GP visit. You’d need to see a doctor first, explain everything, and get a plan and a referral. Maybe you don’t have a regular GP.
  • The Medicare card. Maybe you don’t have one.
  • The language. You can’t say how you really feel in English. You want to say it yourself, without someone in your family translating for you.

So you don’t go. After a while, it starts to feel like psychologists are for other people (people with more money).

Seeing a psychologist about stress or worry can be simpler than this. If you’re 16 or older, live in South Western Sydney, and come from a multicultural community or English isn’t your first language, you can see a psychologist for free. The program is called Side-by-Side. You don’t need a GP visit or a Medicare card, and you can talk in your language.

What Side-by-Side is

Side-by-Side is free. There’s no charge at any point, no GP visit and no Medicare card.

  • You get 6 one-on-one sessions with a qualified psychologist.
  • You can come in person to our Fairfield or Bankstown clinic, or have your sessions by video.
  • Your sessions are in your language. Interpreters are provided.
  • It’s for people aged 16 and over who live in South Western Sydney and come from a multicultural community, or whose first language isn’t English.

What it can help with

The program helps with everyday problems that have started to affect your week. Research shows that getting help early, while low mood is still mild, lowers the chance of developing depression in the following year.

  • Stress. Your head is full all day. You’re doing one job with your hands and three more in your head.
  • Worry. The same worry comes back every day. Money, or a parent who’s sick overseas.
  • Low mood. You cry more easily than you used to. You’ve stopped wanting to see people, even family.
  • Trouble sleeping. You wake at 4am and you’re still awake when the alarm goes off.

If one of these sounds like your week, that’s reason enough to call.

What it doesn’t cover

Because the program is short, it doesn’t include:

  • an assessment or a diagnosis (for example, for ADHD or autism)
  • ongoing therapy
  • reports or letters for Centrelink, the NDIS, a court, an insurer or immigration
  • sessions for more serious problems or a crisis
  • sessions for people who already see a mental health team

If you need more after your 6 sessions, we’ll set up the next step with you. One option is a Medicare mental health plan through your GP.

If things are serious, get help now

Get help now if you’re thinking about ending your life, hurting yourself, or hurting someone else.

  • 000 in an emergency
  • Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24 hours)
  • NSW Mental Health Line: 1800 011 511 (24 hours, 7 days)

To talk in your language, call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call the NSW Mental Health Line for you.

Sometimes it’s hard to know if your problem is an everyday one or something more serious. In the first session, your psychologist will tell you whether 6 sessions is right for your problem. If it isn’t, they’ll find you the right service.

How to start

You can go straight to a psychologist. The first session is a good place to find out what kind of help you need, and you don’t have to see a GP before it.

1. Call us or send an enquiry

Call (02) 9727 7752, or fill in the enquiry form on our website. Your GP, a community organisation or a settlement service can also refer you, but you can contact us yourself.

2. Tell us your language

Tell us when you book, so we can arrange an interpreter if you need one.

3. Choose in person or video

Fairfield, Bankstown or video at home. Video is easier for a lot of people who work shifts or care for someone at home.

4. Your 6 sessions

You see the same psychologist each time and practise what you learn between sessions.

Free psychology sessions or a Medicare plan: how they compare

Medicare’s psychology program is called Better Access. It’s for people who need at least a moderate level of support and have a diagnosed mental health condition.

To use it, you see a GP first. Since November 2025, this has to be a GP at the clinic you usually go to, or at the practice you’re enrolled with through MyMedicare. The GP writes a mental health plan and a separate written referral. Then you find a psychologist and book.

After the Medicare rebate, most psychologists still charge a gap fee. Across Australia in 2024-25, about 1 in 4 people who needed a psychologist delayed going or didn’t go at all because of the cost.

Side-by-Side and a Medicare plan (current as at November 2026)

 Side-by-SideMedicare mental health plan
Cost to youFreeYou pay the psychologist. Medicare gives you back $101.55 a session ($149.05 for a clinical psychologist). Most psychologists charge more, so you pay the gap fee
See a GP firstNoYes: a GP at your usual clinic or your MyMedicare practice. You need a plan and a separate referral
Medicare cardNot neededNeeded
Sessions6Up to 10 a year (6, then a GP review)
WhereFairfield or Bankstown clinic, or videoDepends on the psychologist

What changes after 6 sessions

By session 6, you’ll have a few practical things to keep using for the problem you came with. Something to try at 4am. Something to do when the same worry comes back on the way home.

You’ll also have talked about it, in your language, with someone whose job is to listen.

When you call, we’ll explain how to get started and book you in to see a psychologist within 2 weeks.

Next steps

Our number is (02) 9727 7752, or you can book your first session. You can read more about the program on our Side-by-Side page.

More to read:

References