Mental health support in NSW
If you need help right now, the numbers below are answered 24 hours a day. Further down are the funded supports and services we most often point people towards.
Help available right now
If life is in danger, call 000. For people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, call 106.
Live Free Health is not a crisis service. We work business hours and cannot respond to urgent mental health need.
Funded support you may not know about
Mental Health Treatment Plan
Your GP can prepare a Mental Health Treatment Plan, which gives you Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist, mental health social worker or occupational therapist each calendar year. Book a longer appointment with your GP and say that’s what you’d like to discuss.
There may be a gap payment depending on the practitioner. Ask about bulk-billed options if cost is a barrier.
Victims Services counselling
If you’ve experienced a violent crime in NSW, Victims Services provides free counselling — an initial allocation of hours with an approved counsellor, with the possibility of more where it’s needed. You don’t have to have reported to police to apply.
Applications go through Victims Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice.
NDIS psychosocial supports
If a mental health condition creates a permanent and significant impact on daily functioning, you may be eligible for NDIS support. Occupational therapy is one of the supports commonly funded under psychosocial disability.
Medicare Mental Health Centres
Free walk-in and phone services across NSW that help you work out what support you need and connect you to it, without a referral or a diagnosis.
Call 1800 595 212 to be connected to your nearest service.
Organisations worth knowing
Black Dog Institute
Research-based information, online tools and self-assessments for depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder.
blackdoginstitute.org.auheadspace
Mental health support for people aged 12 to 25, with centres across the Hunter and Central Coast and an online service.
headspace.org.auWayAhead
The NSW Mental Health Association — information line, support group directory and anxiety resources.
wayahead.org.auSANE Australia
Support, counselling and peer forums for people affected by complex mental health issues.
sane.orgMental Health Carers NSW
Support, advocacy and education for family members and carers of people living with mental illness.
mentalhealthcarersnsw.orgGidget Foundation
Perinatal mental health support for expectant and new parents, including free telehealth counselling.
gidgetfoundation.org.auACON
Health and support services for people of diverse sexualities and genders across NSW.
acon.org.auNSW Health mental health services
Local health district services, including community mental health teams and acute care.
health.nsw.gov.auWhere occupational therapy fits
Mental health support is often described in terms of talking — and talking therapy matters. What occupational therapy adds is the doing: the routines, the activities, the environments and the practical daily structure that either hold someone up or wear them down.
That might mean building a morning routine that works, managing energy across a week, adjusting a home so it feels less overwhelming, developing sensory strategies, or getting back to study, work or the things that used to matter.
More about our capacity building and mental health therapy →
A note on this page
The services listed here are independent of Live Free Health. We list them because they’re useful, not because we have any arrangement with them.
Details change. If you find something out of date on this page, please tell us and we’ll fix it.
This page is general information and not personal clinical advice.