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Psychology · clinic specialist

Australia has about a third of the psychologists it says it needs.

The national workforce strategy puts psychology at 35 per cent of its own planning target. In a market that short, buying more enquiries is usually the wrong goal. The question worth answering is which enquiries, at what funding, filling which gaps.

  • We optimise for yield per clinical hour, not cost per lead.
  • We negative out crisis terms, and tell you why.
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Recognised by
Best Google Ads Campaign · AU 2025Global recognition for paid mediaGlobal Search Awards 2025 FinalistAFR Fast 100 · #18
Recent work

Psychology clinics, in their accounts.

Real psychology accounts we built and run. Click any tile to read the full case.

Section · 01
In their words

From clinic owners.

Section · 02
“
The team are professional, responsive, and easy to work with. They provide clear insight into performance and deliver measurable results across paid media.
Ho N.
Ho N.
Head of Sales · AACAE
“
Working with the team has been a game-changer for our clinic's digital marketing. They brought clarity, strategy, and serious expertise to our paid media.
Shaely Pynt
Shaely Pynt
Founder · Curated Skin Aesthetics
How we work

Onboard → Build → Launch → Run.

Every psychology clinic moves through the same four phases. Nothing custom. Nothing slow.

Section · 03
Day 0
1

Onboard

20-min call. Services, USPs, locations, budget, Google Ads access. No 90-minute workshops.

Days 1–4
2

Build

Campaigns, ad groups, psychology-specific copy, conversion tracking. All drafted and waiting for your tick in the portal.

Day 7
3

Launch

Campaigns live. Tracking hydrated. Every call, form and SMS into one inbox.

Ongoing
4

Run

Weekly Friday email on what we changed. Monthly report on conversions, spend and ROI. Milestone alerts on new bests.

Before anything else

If you are in crisis, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

That line belongs at the top of this page and at the top of every psychology landing page we build, because some proportion of the people who arrive on them are not comparing providers. Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, by phone on 13 11 14, by text on 0477 13 11 14, and by online chat.

It is also the first strategic point in this vertical. A private practice with a six week waitlist cannot help somebody searching in acute distress, and bidding on those searches takes the click away from a service that can. We treat that as a negative keyword decision, not just an ethical one.

What Medicare actually pays

Better Access rebates, and the gap that shapes demand.

Schedule fees updated 1 July 2026. Note the difference between clinical and registered psychologists, which is why clinical psychologist is a distinct and higher value search.

ItemProvider and durationSchedule feeBenefit
80010Clinical psychologist, 50 minutes or more$175.30$149.05
80000Clinical psychologist, 30 to 50 minutes$119.45$101.55
80110Registered psychologist, 50 minutes or more$119.45$101.55
80100Registered psychologist, 20 to 50 minutes$84.65$72.00

The gap on a standard hour is $47.50. Note also that a clinical psychologist's shorter session rebates exactly the same as a registered psychologist's full hour. Median out of pocket costs have been rising: 65 per cent of Better Access services attracted a co-payment in 2021, up from 53 per cent in 2018, with a median co-payment that reached about $90 in early 2022.

The number a lot of Australian clinic websites still get wrong

It is ten sessions, not twenty.

The Better Access entitlement is up to 10 individual and 10 group services per calendar year. The temporary increase to 20 individual sessions, introduced during the pandemic, ceased on 31 December 2022, and unused sessions could not be carried over.

A considerable number of Australian psychology practice websites still say twenty. That is not a stale detail, it is a factual claim about a Medicare entitlement that a prospective client may rely on, and under section 133 advertising that is false or misleading is a breach.

One further structure worth understanding: the ten are not issued at once. A GP typically refers for up to six sessions, then the client returns to the GP for a review before the remaining four. That mid-treatment return is a second point at which people leave the pathway.

Google names your service as a sensitive category
Google's personalised advertising policy designates Health as a sensitive interest category, and its own documentation names counselling services for mental health issues like depression, anxiety and addiction explicitly. The consequence is that advertisers in those categories cannot use advertiser-curated audiences, which removes remarketing lists and Customer Match entirely. A dentist keeps the whole audience toolkit. A psychology practice does not. Separately, and specific to Australia, Google permits the promotion of recovery-oriented drug and alcohol addiction services by government entities only, so a practice with an addictions stream simply cannot advertise it here.
Go deeper

The psychology detail, page by page.

Straight answers

Questions clinic owners actually ask

How many psychology sessions does Medicare cover?
Up to 10 individual and 10 group services per calendar year, under the Better Access initiative. The temporary increase to 20 individual sessions introduced during the pandemic ended on 31 December 2022, and unused sessions could not be carried forward. The referral is usually issued in blocks rather than all at once, with a GP referring for up to six sessions and the client returning for a review before the remaining four. Worth knowing that carer sessions, where used, count against the same ten.
What is the Medicare rebate for a psychologist in Australia?
For a session of 50 minutes or more, the benefit is $149.05 with a clinical psychologist and $101.55 with a registered psychologist, against schedule fees of $175.30 and $119.45 respectively. Those figures were updated on 1 July 2026. The gap between the two is $47.50 an hour, which is why clinical psychologist is a meaningfully different search from psychologist. Most clients pay a gap on top: around 65 per cent of Better Access services attracted a co-payment in 2021, with the median rising toward $90.
How long does it take to see a psychologist in Australia?
Longer than most people expect, and it varies by circumstance. The University of Melbourne's evaluation of Better Access measured a median of 17 days from obtaining a mental health treatment plan to the first treatment session for people in the highest income quintile, and 22 days for those in the lowest. That is on top of the wait to see a GP for the plan itself. The same evaluation found that only 56.5 per cent of people in the lowest income quintile proceeded from a plan to treatment at all, against 69.3 per cent in the highest.
Can I use private health insurance instead of Medicare for psychology?
You can use one or the other for a given appointment, but not both. Health funds are explicit that you cannot claim Medicare and private health insurance for the same session. That produces a genuine decision the client has to make, and it is worth explaining on a fees page rather than leaving them to discover it. One practical consequence for a practice is that extras clients often skip the GP step entirely, which means no mental health treatment plan, no referral wait, and a materially shorter path from enquiry to first appointment.
Is ADHD assessment covered by Medicare?
Largely not, and the Australian Psychological Society has said so directly in evidence to a Senate inquiry, noting that the assessment of ADHD does not appear to be specifically recognised or funded through Medicare. That inquiry heard of assessment waits typically between six and 18 months, and costs commonly around $500 to $700, with the ADHD Foundation aware of some professionals charging up to $5,000. It also heard that almost all adult ADHD assessment and diagnosis in Australia is done through the private sector.
A campaign partnership built for clinics

Ads that earn their place in your P&L.

A senior team that lives inside your account. Conversion infrastructure wired in before any ad goes live. Reporting that ties spend to booked appointments, not impressions.

Dedicated account manager

A senior specialist who runs clinic accounts day to day.

Clinic-only specialists

Every keyword, headline and account structure built inside real Australian clinic accounts.

Award-winning team

Winner, Best Google Ads Campaign, Australia 2025. Google Partner. AFR Fast 100.

When you're ready
We will be too.
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