How Much Does Therapy Cost in Sydney in 2026?

Privately, a session with a psychologist in Sydney runs to roughly $200 to $290, against the profession's suggested fee of $330. With a Medicare rebate you would be out of pocket by something in the region of $100 to $190.

These are guiding estimates. Therapists set their own fees.

Private session ranges are based on prices found advertised on multiple blogs, not official authoritative sources. Use with caution.

Two things in Sydney are worth knowing before any of that. The city has the cheapest published therapy fee we have found anywhere in the world, and it has a free service you can walk into without giving your name.

$20 a session, published

The University of Sydney Psychology Clinic publishes its fees, which almost no provider does. Adult therapy is $20 a session, or $10 for full-time students and people who are unemployed. Child and family therapy is the same. A full psychometric assessment (interview, testing, feedback and a written report across three to four hours) is $300, or $150 reduced.

Therapy is delivered by "postgraduate students who work under close supervision". That is not a lesser service; a trainee with a light caseload will often give you more time and attention than a fully booked practitioner. But you should know who you are seeing, and there are two limits worth reading before you pin your hopes on it.

First, waiting lists are common. Second, the clinic is explicit that it does not treat severe or chronic presentations, crisis situations, active psychosis, high suicide or self-harm risk, substance dependence, autism spectrum assessments, or medicolegal matters. It treats anxiety, mood difficulties, aggression, social difficulties, bullying, family problems, learning disorders and ADHD.

If you fall inside that scope, $20 a session is not a typo and it is not a trial. It is the standing rate.

Safe Havens: free, no appointment, no name required

NSW runs Safe Havens: drop-in spaces for people experiencing emotional distress or thoughts of suicide. They are free and need no appointment and no referral. Who each site is for differs: the Kogarah service is for people aged 16 or above, North Ryde is for young people aged 12 to 17, or 18 if still at school, and the Randwick service at Sydney Children's Hospital is for children and young people up to 16. NSW Health lists every site with its hours and age guidance.

What makes them unusual is who runs them and what is recorded. In South Eastern Sydney's own words, a Safe Haven is:

"a free drop-in service run by peer support workers who have their own experiences of suicidality and other mental health challenges."

And on privacy:

"You do not need to share any personal information to access support, and you may use an alias if you prefer. Your visits are not recorded on your medical records and any information you choose to share will not be shared outside of SafeHaven without your knowledge."

For a great many people the barrier to asking for help is not the fee. It is the fear that asking goes on a record somewhere. This service is built around removing exactly that.

Most Safe Havens open in the evening, when the daytime services have shut. Kogarah runs 5pm to 9pm every day except Wednesday, and North Ryde 4pm to 8pm daily. Randwick is the exception: weekdays, 10am to 4.15pm.

They are a place to sit with someone when things are hard. They are not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. Lifeline on 13 11 14 is free and staffed around the clock.

If you are paying privately

The Australian Psychological Society suggests $330 for a standard 46 to 60-minute consultation in its 2026–2027 schedule, while stating that this is "a suggestion only" and that "the fee at which a service is set is at the discretion of the individual psychologist". Many Sydney psychologists charge below it; some charge above.

We are not publishing prices by suburb. You will find pages giving a figure for Double Bay, another for Newtown, another for Hornsby, some with percentage premiums attached. We have no evidence any of that is real, and nobody collects it. Two psychologists in the same Bondi Junction building may charge differently from each other. What genuinely varies across Sydney is availability, meaning which practitioners have openings and how far you would travel, not a suburb tariff.

The Medicare rebate, and the $47.50 worth asking about

With a Mental Health Treatment Plan from a GP, Medicare covers up to 10 individual and 10 group sessions a calendar year. The benefit is fixed and was updated on 1 July 2026:

• Clinical psychologist: $149.05 a session
• Registered psychologist: $101.55 a session

That is $47.50 more per session for the same fifty minutes, depending entirely on whether the practitioner holds a clinical endorsement. Across ten sessions, $475. It is a fair question to ask when you book, and it is not a question about quality.

Accredited mental health social workers and mental health occupational therapists can also deliver rebated sessions under Better Access. Counsellors and psychotherapists generally cannot.

Free and low-cost support in Sydney

Each service below has conditions attached. Read them before you call.

• The NSW Mental Health Line is a free statewide service, staffed around the clock by mental health professionals, which assesses what you need and connects you to it. NSW Health publishes the number; interpreters are available through TIS National.
• headspace runs youth mental health centres across Sydney. Services are described as either free or low cost, with the cost depending on the service type and your Medicare status. Eligibility is people aged 12 to 25. You can refer yourself, or be referred by family, a friend, an agency or another provider.
• Black Dog Institute offers free online resources and a free Online Clinic self-assessment, both open to the community. Its Psychology Clinic is not free. The clinic states that a cost is incurred by patients, with part of it claimable through Medicare on a GP or psychiatrist referral, or possibly rebated by private health insurance. Clinical services require a referral from a GP, psychiatrist or other healthcare professional, sent with a Mental Health Care Plan. Without a referral you may still be able to see one of their psychologists, but the Medicare rebate is then unavailable.
• Lifeline provides crisis support by phone on 13 11 14, by text and by online chat. That service is free, available 24 hours, and open to anyone in Australia. Face-to-face counselling at Lifeline's Sydney member centres is not free. Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury charges $40 for an individual session and $50 for a couple, with concessions available and hardship waivers on request. It is for people aged 18 and over, prioritises residents of the Northern Sydney region, and requires a 10-minute intake interview. Psychological services there additionally require a GP Mental Health Care Plan or a psychiatrist letter.

Who is who

• Psychiatrist: a medical doctor, regulated by the Medical Board of Australia under AHPRA. Can prescribe.
• Psychologist: registered with the Psychology Board of Australia under AHPRA. The clinical endorsement drives the higher rebate.
• Counsellor and psychotherapist: self-regulated. No mandatory government registration, though many belong to PACFA or the Australian Counselling Association. Generally no Medicare rebate.
• Accredited mental health social worker: can deliver Medicare-rebated sessions.

If you need someone now

• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
• Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

Sources

• The University of Sydney, Psychology Clinic: the published fees, who delivers the therapy, and the list of presentations the clinic does not treat.
• South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, SafeHaven: the peer-support and anonymity statements quoted above, plus eligibility and hours.
• NSW Health, Safe Haven: every NSW site with its hours and age guidance.
• NSW Health, Mental Health Line: the statewide 24-hour service.
• Australian Psychological Society, what it costs: the 2026–2027 suggested fee and the discretion statement.
• Medicare Benefits Schedule, Item 80010 and Item 80110: rebate amounts, current at 1 July 2026.
• Medicare Mental Health, Medicare Mental Health Centres.

Reviewed July 2026. Clinic fees are from the clinic's own published schedule. Medicare figures are from the MBS item pages and were current at 1 July 2026. Private session ranges are drawn from advertised prices rather than a published schedule.