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Medicare Mental Health Check In

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Key Details

Organisation Name

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

Location

Australia

Website

eMHIC Member Status

Strategic Partner

At a Glance

Description

Medicare Mental Health Check In is a free digital service offering early support for people experiencing, or at risk of, mild mental health challenges. It provides evidence based low intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LiCBT), self guided or practitioner supported via telehealth.

Implementation Status

Scaling implementation

The service will be rolled out gradually over three years until 2029 when it is expected to reach maturity and support over 150,000 people a year.

Target Population

Mild mental health challenges

Support to help people manage mild mental health challenges, like stress, anxiety and low mood. 

16+ living in Australia

Available to people aged 16 years and older living in Australia.

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Initiative Overview

The Current Gap

The implementation of Medicare Mental Health Check In is a key step to an integrated stepped care model for the Australian mental health system. Many people with emerging or mild mental health challenges face long wait times, cost barriers, stigma, or uncertainty about where to seek help, particularly in regional and remote areas. Without early support, distress can escalate, increasing pressure on acute services.

Medicare Mental Health Check In provides accessible, evidence based early intervention without referrals or diagnoses, enabling timely support aligned to stepped care principles.

The service is free and confidential, offering people aged 16 years and over, living in Australia, timely access to support.

Our Solution

Medicare Mental Health Check In helps people build practical skills to manage and improve their mental health through evidence-based, Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LiCBT).  It supports people to build resilience by teaching skills to help them manage their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This might be all the help that is needed for some people.

LiCBT is delivered through online tools. People can choose to work through the tools independently, and those who prefer guidance can access telehealth support to work through the tools with a qualified mental health practitioner.

Key Features

1

Free and accessible

The service is completely free and can be accessed without a referral or diagnosis.

2

Early, low-intensity support

Designed for people with, or at risk of, mild symptoms of anxiety, depression or transient distress.

3

Evidence-based LiCBT programs

Modelled on the UK’s Talking Therapies program, using proven LiCBT tools with strong evidence and internationally recognised clinical effectiveness.

4

Guided and self-guided options

People can engage at their own pace, with the option to connect with a qualified mental health practitioner if needed.

5

Delivered through a fully digital model

The service is delivered fully digitally via telehealth and an online platform, allowing access without face-to-face appointments.

Collaboration in Action

Main Collaborators

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Key Learnings

The primary challenge was delivering a new national digital mental health service at speed while managing significant clinical, policy, ICT and probity complexity.

Fixed implementation timeframes required design, procurement and implementation activities to run in parallel, increasing delivery risk.

Maintaining strict probity arrangements was a priority which necessarily limited the depth of engagement with the domestic sector.

While a competitive procurement approach strengthened government control and service fidelity, it substantially increased design effort.

Integrating clinical intent with ICT build, across multiple advice streams and compressed timelines, required strong governance and coordination to minimise misalignment and delays.
• Early clarity and staged implementation are critical to successful national digital mental health reforms.
• Clinical priorities must lead digital design to ensure the service remains person centred and effective.
• International evidence can accelerate learning, but local adaptation and evaluation remain essential.
• Strong multidisciplinary governance supports alignment across clinical, digital and operational domains.
• When timelines are fixed, progressing design and implementation in parallel can reduce downstream risk, provided coordination, transparency and clinical oversight are embedded throughout delivery.
International collaboration was essential to the design of Medicare Mental Health Check In, as Australia has limited domestic experience delivering LiCBT at national scale. Established international models operating at a national level, particularly the UK’s Talking Therapies program, provided tested clinical frameworks, outcome measures and workforce approaches that could be adapted to the Australian context. This enabled an evidence based, clinically robust and scalable service model to be developed within compressed timeframes.

International engagement also reduced risks arising from constrained domestic consultation under probity requirements, supporting more confident decision making and lowering the risk of implementing an unproven model under significant delivery pressure.

Looking Ahead

The Australian Government is committed to continuing to improve Medicare Mental Health Check In over time through incorporating new service enhancements and innovations. The service will continue to be adjusted and evolve over time based on continuous monitoring, evaluation findings, stakeholder and help-seeker feedback, and up-to-date evidence and best practice.
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Key Contact

Krista Vanderheide
Assistant Secretary, System Enablers Branch, Mental Health and Suicide Preventio
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

Email

[email protected]

Website

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