Mental health occupational therapy in Australia: OTA endorsement, Better Access and what overseas OTs need

Written by Callum Trevorrow. Last checked 28 October 2026 against official sources.

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To see Medicare-funded mental health clients under Better Access as an OT in Australia, you need Ahpra registration plus mental health endorsement from Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA), which asks for at least 2 years’ full-time-equivalent supervised mental health experience as a qualified OT. Once you’re endorsed, the main individual item, MBS 80135 (at least 50 minutes, in consulting rooms), has a schedule fee of A$105.25 from 1 July 2026.

Endorsement is a separate step after registration, run by a professional body rather than a regulator, so this page sets out who decides what, in order. I’m a physio and I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, where several of our clinicians came to us from overseas.

The order: Ahpra, then OTA, then Medicare

1. Ahpra registration with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. Services Australia says OTs need general or limited registration. See Ahpra registration for overseas OTs.
2. OTA membership and mental health endorsement. OTA now calls it “endorsement”; Medicare and Services Australia still say “accredited by OTA”. It’s the same thing.
3. A Medicare provider number for these items. Services Australia says you must be accredited by OTA as qualified to provide focused psychological strategies (FPS).

OTA’s endorsement criteria

To apply, OTA asks for:

• registration with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
• current OTA membership
• at least 2 years’ full-time-equivalent supervised mental health experience as a qualified OT (for example, 0.5 FTE over 4 years)
• at least 6 months’ full-time supervised mental health experience within the last 5 years
• training and experience in mental health risk assessment (including mental state assessment) and safety planning
• the capabilities set out in OTA’s application form.

To keep it: Ahpra registration, OTA membership, 10 hours of mental health continuing professional development a year (all related to FPS and Medicare-covered diagnoses), supervision generally every 4–6 weeks, and random audits.

OTA doesn’t publish its application fee or processing time publicly; its FAQ is members-only. If your mental health experience is from overseas, ask OTA how it assesses it before you plan around the 2 years.

Better Access: what OTs can bill

For comparison, the psychologist item 80110 (at least 50 minutes) is A$119.45, with an A$101.55 benefit. I haven’t given fees for the other OT items because we couldn’t confirm them on an official page.

The item list and limits come from a July 2024 fact sheet. The November 2025 redesign changed where GP plans and referrals must come from, and the redesign document doesn’t change the OT items or limits, but check MBS Online before you rely on them.

A schedule fee isn’t your pay. It’s what Medicare sets for the service. If you’re employed, your salary comes from your contract; in a private practice, ask how billings relate to pay before you sign.

Mental health OT outside Better Access

• Queensland Health. Queensland Health pays OTs on its HP grades: HP3 A$83,824–120,740 and HP4 A$132,689–142,315 a year from 1 September 2026. The Allied Health Graduate Program in Mental Health in West Moreton HHS includes OT; it’s a 2-year program, and its 2027 intake has closed. Eligibility needs Australian or NZ citizenship, permanent residency, or a visa with unrestricted work rights, and overseas degrees need qualification recognition.
• WorkCover Queensland. OTA-endorsed OTs can deliver focused psychological services under WorkCover’s mental health table of costs. See OT in workers’ compensation.

For the wider OT job market, see OT jobs in Australia, and for pay by grade, the OT salary guide.

Your next step

Check which OT Board route your qualification is on, because registration comes before OTA endorsement and Medicare. Then work out how much supervised mental health experience you can document, with dates and FTE. The pathway check below asks the registration and work-rights questions in a few minutes, so you know your first step before you apply for mental health roles.