~$1,400
What a private psychiatrist assessment commonly costs before any rebate.
$467.45
The Medicare rebate on item 92435, a psychiatrist ADHD assessment by video. In person assessment attracts the same rebate.
Once per 12 months
How often item 92435 can be claimed. Reviews and script appointments bill under other items.
Part 1 of 6
What does a psychiatrist assessment actually cost?
A private adult ADHD assessment with a psychiatrist commonly costs around $1,400 before Medicare, and the fee is the clinic's to set: some charge under $800, some charge well over $2,000 for the same item numbers. The assessment usually spans one to two long appointments, and telehealth is now the standard way it happens.
The structural reason fees vary this much: Medicare sets the rebate, not the fee. Two clinics billing the identical item can sit a thousand dollars apart, and the more expensive one is not measurably better. Wait times are the other axis; this site's working figure for a typical psychiatrist wait is around twelve months, and clinics with short waits often charge for the privilege.
Ask every clinic the same question before booking: what will I pay after the Medicare rebate, for the whole assessment, in writing. A clinic that will not answer that question plainly is telling you something. Our resources page lists how to check any practitioner's registration before you pay.
Part 2 of 6
What does Medicare actually give back?
The key item is 92435, a psychiatrist assessment by video, which carries a rebate of $467.45 and can be claimed once per patient every 12 months. An in person assessment attracts the same rebate, so video costs you nothing in rebate terms and usually saves months of waiting.
Follow ups are separate: medication reviews and ongoing appointments bill under other psychiatry items with smaller rebates, which is why your first year costs more than the assessment alone. If your total medical costs run high, the Medicare Safety Net starts returning a higher share once your family passes the annual threshold, and every dollar of gap counts toward it.
None of this requires a chronic condition plan or a mental health treatment plan, but you do need a GP referral for the psychiatrist rebate to apply, and the referral is the cheap part: a standard GP consultation.
Part 3 of 6
Where can a GP make it dramatically cheaper?
In Queensland, a GP has been able to diagnose ADHD and start medication for adults since 1 December 2025, no specialist referral required. In South Australia the same is true once the GP has completed additional training. In those states the assessment cost collapses to the cost of GP appointments, which is the cheapest legitimate route in the country.
New South Wales and Victoria are training GPs now, with prescribing expected to open around September and October 2026, so if you live there and can wait a few months, the price of the whole exercise is about to fall. The other states and territories still run psychiatrist led routes.
The full state by state detail, including what to say when you book, lives in our GP diagnosis guide, which this site keeps dated and current.
Part 4 of 6
What are the other cheap routes?
University psychology clinics assess for a fraction of private fees, because provisional psychologists do the work under close supervision. Seven of them, with fees pages, are listed in the money section of our resources directory. Public adult ADHD assessment exists in some states but waits are long and intake criteria narrow.
The trade offs are real: university clinics can be slower, may not suit complex presentations, and a psychologist assessment cannot itself start medication. But for a straightforward assessment on a tight budget they are the honest answer, and the reports are written to be usable by your GP or a psychiatrist afterwards.
Community mental health and headspace can be entry points if you are already in those systems, and bulk billing psychiatrists exist, though they are rare and their books open and shut without notice. The money section of the resources page lists the safety nets, cards and payments that soften all of this.
Part 5 of 6
What about autism assessment costs?
Different picture. Under 25, Medicare has specific items for complex neurodevelopmental assessment, so part of the cost comes back. At 25 and over there is no dedicated autism assessment item, quotes commonly run from several hundred dollars to a few thousand, and psychologist led assessments are usually largely out of pocket.
If both autism and ADHD are in question, ask any provider whether they assess for both in one process and what that bundle costs; separate assessments cost more than combined ones. What a defensible assessment must include, and the checks before paying a telehealth clinic, are listed on the resources page.
Part 6 of 6
What does it cost after the diagnosis?
Ongoing costs are the part nobody quotes: review appointments, scripts, and the medicines themselves. ADHD medicines on the PBS cost you at most the standard co-payment per script once billed through the scheme, and the PBS Safety Net caps a bad year.
Private, non PBS scripts are a different story, and brand premiums exist. If a pharmacy price surprises you, ask whether the script went through as PBS before assuming that is the real price. The medicines section of the resources page covers shortages, brand switches, travel and the state permit systems.
Related guides: Is ADHD covered by the NDIS? and What is AuDHD?
The short version
Quick answers
Is an ADHD assessment free with Medicare?
No. Medicare rebates part of a psychiatrist assessment, it does not make it free. The telehealth assessment item, 92435, returns $467.45 of a fee that commonly sits around $1,400, so the out of pocket gap is usually four figures unless you use a GP route in Queensland or South Australia, or a university clinic.
Can I claim an ADHD assessment more than once?
Item 92435 can be claimed once per patient every 12 months. Follow up and medication review appointments bill under different items with their own rebates, which is why the total first year cost is always more than the assessment fee alone.
Is a psychologist ADHD assessment cheaper?
Often the headline fee is similar, and less of it comes back through Medicare, because diagnostic assessment by a psychologist does not attract the psychiatrist assessment rebate. A psychologist report also cannot start medication; a prescriber still has to act on it. It is the right route for some people, but rarely the cheap one.
What is the cheapest way to get assessed?
In Queensland, and South Australia if the GP has done the training, a GP appointment is the cheapest starting point by a wide margin. Elsewhere: university psychology clinics assess for a fraction of private fees, and public clinics exist with long waits. Whatever you do, compare clinics on the gap after the rebate, in writing.