ADHD Assessment in Canberra
Canberra is the clearest case in the country of the private pathway becoming the practical default: the ACT Government's Adult Community Mental Health Services stopped accepting new adult ADHD assessment referrals from 1 October 2025, after a May 2025 ministerial brief put the public wait at over 24 months.
The ACT's public pathway has narrowed
The ACT Government's Adult Community Mental Health Services stopped taking new referrals for adult ADHD assessments from 1 October 2025. A ministerial brief from May 2025 described the wait for that public service as "over 24 months," and of 330 people on the ACT's moderate-mental-illness waitlist in April 2025, 27 were specifically waiting on an ADHD assessment. People already on the waitlist at that point continue to be assessed; new adult referrals are being directed elsewhere, including a GP pilot introduced in mid-2025 that the ACT Government positioned as more affordable than seeing a psychiatrist or paediatrician directly.
On prescribing, trained Canberra GPs can now continue or adjust ADHD medication doses for patients aged 6 and over who already have a diagnosis and are on a stable dose, without sending them back to a specialist for every review. GPs without that training keep the existing shared-care arrangement with specialist oversight. From later in 2026, a further-trained group of GPs is expected to be able to diagnose ADHD and start medication directly. Every ACT prescriber has to check "Canberra Script," the territory's real-time prescription-monitoring system, before prescribing.
What it costs and how long you wait
With the ACT public system no longer taking new adult referrals, most adults in Canberra are now assessing privately by default, which makes the national figures the relevant benchmark: total ADHD assessment costs average close to $1,400 across Australia, and adults wait just over 10 weeks on average for a first private appointment, per 2026 University of Wollongong reporting. Children in the ACT can still be assessed through specific child health services, separate from the adult pathway that has been paused.
National average total ADHD assessment cost (ACT public adult pathway is currently closed to new referrals)
$530–$1,400 typical range, up to $4,000 in some cases
University of Wollongong, 2026 reporting on Australia-wide ADHD assessment costs.
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Common questions about Canberra
Can I still get a public ADHD assessment as an adult in the ACT?
Not through a new referral to Adult Community Mental Health Services, which stopped accepting new adult ADHD assessment referrals from 1 October 2025. If you were already on the waitlist before that date, your assessment continues; anyone referred after it needs a private pathway or the GP pilot.
Source: The Canberra Times.
Can my Canberra GP prescribe my ADHD medication?
If you already have a diagnosis and are on a stable dose, a trained GP can continue and adjust your medication without a specialist review each time, for patients aged 6 and over. Starting medication for the first time still generally needs a specialist, until the ACT's further GP-diagnosis training rolls out later in 2026.
Source: ACT Government, ADHD care in the ACT.
Sources
- The Canberra Times: ACT government stops taking on ADHD assessments for adults
- ACT Government: ADHD care in the ACT
See the full national cost and wait-time comparison or browse all guides.