Workers Compensation Psychologist Canberra
Need a psychologist after a work injury? You can be seen. Our psychologists see Canberra patients in person and by telehealth, whichever suits you. Our doctors write the certificates and referrals a psychological claim needs, at in-person appointments. One clinic, one file, with approved treatment billed to the scheme.
How your psychology is approved and paid depends on who you work for. Canberra runs more than one workers compensation scheme. You do not need to work out which is yours: tell us your employer at the first call and we route the whole claim. If you would rather check first, our which scheme covers me guide sorts it in one question.
You Can Be Seen: In Person in Canberra or by Telehealth
Our psychologists see workers compensation patients in person in Canberra, and by telehealth where that suits you better. The format is your call. The entitlement to psychology exists in both of the capital's schemes, and we work in both.
Funding backs that choice up. Comcare publishes telehealth psychology at the same rates as in-person care for sessions up to 90 minutes, at its current published rates (checked August 2026). Under the ACT private-sector scheme, treatment is paid on the reasonable-cost test, benchmarked to customary charges. There is no territory fee schedule, and the legislation lists treatment by a psychologist without conditions about how it is delivered. Insurers still approve treatment case by case, so we confirm the arrangement with yours before anything is booked.
Access in the capital is tight, and we would rather say so. A 2023 national review found the territory carrying some of the longest psychology waits in the country, and the Department of Health's April 2025 supply study put around one in three psychologists nationally on closed books. None of that changes what you are entitled to. We will not quote you a wait time before we have spoken. Call and we will tell you what we have.
Certificates stay with our doctors, and certificate appointments are booked in person. Our physiotherapists join the same file where a physical injury sits alongside the psychological one, so treatment and paperwork move together rather than in sequence. One clinic and one file, in both schemes.
In person across Canberra
Our psychologists see workers compensation patients face to face in the capital, whichever district you work in.
Or telehealth, at funding parity
Comcare pays telehealth psychology at the same published rates as in-person up to 90 minutes, at Comcare's current published rates (checked August 2026). Private-scheme treatment is paid on the reasonable-cost test, confirmed with your insurer before booking.
Certificates with our doctors
In both schemes the certificate of capacity is a doctor's document. Our doctors complete them alongside our psychologists, at in-person appointments.
The wider team, one file
Doctors, psychologists and physiotherapists working from the same clinical record, so referrals, directives and certificate updates aren't couriered between practices.
Getting Your Treatment Approved and Paid: What We Handle
The path from first phone call to funded treatment depends on your employer: same city, two different rulebooks. Whichever applies to you, we run it. Here's what happens behind the scenes.
If you work for the Commonwealth, the ACT Government or a licensee
Doctor First, Then Funded Sessions
Doctor first
A GP or psychiatrist completes the certificate of capacity — a psychologist can't sign it — and writes the psychology referral with a directive covering form, frequency and duration.
The claims manager approves treatment
Comcare (or EML for ACT Government employees) approves psychology in writing, wherever possible in advance.
Five sessions, then a plan
The scheme funds an initial five sessions of up to 60 minutes each; continuing past that takes a Psychology Treatment Plan, and sessions over 60 minutes need prior approval.
Billed direct, either way you're seen
Approved treatment is billed at the published national rates, and telehealth psychology is paid at exact dollar parity with in-person up to 90 minutes, so how you're seen is your call, not the funder's. The full mechanics are on our Comcare psychologist page.
If you work for a Canberra private employer
Tell Your Employer, Then Funded Treatment
Tell your employer
Weekly payments must start when you give your employer notice of the injury (before any liability decision), and your employer must notify its insurer within 48 hours. Lodge the claim form within 7 days to keep payments running.
See a doctor for the certificate
The claim runs on a medical certificate from a doctor. Any AHPRA-registered doctor in Australia qualifies, and the Act lets you nominate a medical practice, not just one doctor, as your treating doctor. Our doctors handle this alongside our psychologists.
The insurer decides within 28 days
The insurer has 28 days to accept or reject the claim. If it stays silent, the claim is deemed accepted.
Psychology is funded as medical treatment
The legislation lists treatment by a psychologist as compensable medical treatment in its own right: no statutory referral requirement. The insurer pays the reasonable cost, benchmarked to customary charges; there is no government fee schedule.
The personal injury plan can fund treatment early
For injuries likely to mean more than 7 days off work, a personal injury plan is established, and treatment described in that plan can be paid under section 107 even where liability hasn't been accepted yet or is disputed. Being written into the plan is the fastest funded path to psychology.
In both schemes the certificate is a doctor's document, which is why every pathway here starts with our workers compensation doctors in Canberra, working on the same file as our psychologists.
Working for the Commonwealth? Go Deeper.
If your employer is a Commonwealth agency, the ACT Government or a self-insured licensee, your psychological claim runs under the SRC Act, and the mechanics are specific: a doctor-only certificate, a referral and directive before psychology is funded, five initial sessions, then a Psychology Treatment Plan. Psychological injuries make up roughly a third of claims among Australian Government employees, on Comcare's scheme dashboard, financial year to date at 30 September 2025, and its psychological injury factsheet records median time off work above 31 weeks. Both are reasons to get the sequence right early.
We've written the whole pathway up in plain language: see our national Comcare psychologist page for the treatment mechanics, our Comcare workers compensation guide for the scheme end to end, or start at the workers compensation hub for Canberra and the ACT.
Canberra Psychology FAQs
Psychology Support Across Canberra's Districts
The scheme rules are the same wherever you are in the capital. What differs is the work, and the pressures that come with it. Here is the Canberra our patients work in.
Belconnen
Public service offices around the town centre (including the ABS headquarters), health and education campuses in Bruce, plus retail and trades across the district.
Gungahlin
APS commuters heading into Civic each morning, retail staff around the Marketplace, and the construction trades building out the district's newest suburbs.
Inner North
Civic office workers and public servants, ANU staff, and the hospitality and retail workforce along Braddon's Lonsdale Street and the Dickson precinct.
Inner South
Departmental headquarters in Barton and Parkes, hospitality across Kingston and Manuka, and trades and warehousing in Fyshwick.
Woden Valley
The main hospital campus's clinical and support workforce (ACT Government employees), Commonwealth office staff in Phillip, and retail across Westfield Woden.
Weston Creek
Local retail and services around Cooleman Court, school and clinic staff, and a large base of commuters into Woden and the Parliamentary Triangle.
Tuggeranong
Thousands of APS staff at the Caroline Chisholm Centre in Greenway, retail workers around South.Point, and trades servicing the valley's suburbs.
Molonglo Valley
The construction workforce building the district itself, alongside new residents who mostly commute to APS and office jobs in Civic, Woden and the Parliamentary Triangle.
Wherever you are in Canberra or the surrounding region, we see patients in person across the capital and by telehealth. Call (02) 7238 7379 and we'll sort the rest.
You Can Be Seen: Start With One Call
Doctor and psychologist on the same file, whichever scheme your claim runs under. Psychology in person in Canberra or by telehealth; certificate appointments in person.
Call (02) 7238 7379