GP ADHD Diagnosis: Most of Australia Now Lets GPs Diagnose and Prescribe. What Could the UK Learn?

What has changed

GP ADHD diagnosis is now possible in most of Australia. Until recently, anyone there wanting an ADHD diagnosis and medication usually needed a GP referral to a specialist, often a paediatrician for children or a psychiatrist for adults. Patients and advocacy groups say that meant high costs and long waits, especially in regional areas. Now most states and territories let trained GPs diagnose and prescribe themselves, the Guardian reported.

Where it applies

The rules differ from place to place:

• Queensland was first, in December, and doesn't require GPs to do extra training.
• South Australia: trained specialist GPs have been able to diagnose and prescribe for people aged eight and over since March.
• New South Wales: almost 300 GPs have finished Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) training, and another 300 are due to train in November. From early 2027, eligible patients may be able to be assessed by a GP for free.
• Victoria: 150 GPs can diagnose, treat and prescribe for adults and children aged six and over from 26 October.
• Western Australia: about 65 RACGP-trained GPs have been diagnosing and treating ADHD since June.
• Tasmania: specially trained GPs have been able to diagnose and treat people aged six and over since September.
• Australian Capital Territory: since February, trained GPs can carry on medication for people aged six and over who already have a specialist diagnosis. GP diagnosis for non-complex patients was announced in July, with more details expected in late 2026.
• Northern Territory: no changes so far.

How it works

Dr Ramya Raman, Western Australian chair and vice-president of the RACGP, said it's important to check that your GP is trained and actually offers ADHD assessments. She said best practice is a few appointments rather than one, with age, other health conditions, blood tests and any further referrals taken into account before a diagnosis.

Prof Dave Coghill, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Melbourne, said the only real way to diagnose ADHD is a clinical interview. That means checking not just that someone has the symptoms, but that those symptoms cause real difficulties in their day-to-day life.

The training worries

Not everyone is convinced the rollout is consistent. Coghill said training varies between states: GPs in Western Australia and New South Wales get months of it, others get less, and Queensland GPs don't have to do any extra training. He said some GPs have "been given the licence to diagnose and prescribe after just a two-day training course, which I think is not adequate".

Dr Astha Tomar, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, wants training standardised and more support for complex cases. "There is no simple ADHD assessment, it is a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation," she said. She's also worried about people being wrongly diagnosed, because the medicines can have what she called "significant side effects".

The UK picture

Long waits will sound familiar here. Figures in the Fonagy review, reported by the BBC on 9 October, show open referrals for ADHD assessment in England were more than 560,000 at the end of 2025, over 17 times the 2019 figure. In its response to the review, the government said the Health Secretary has asked NHS leaders to "urgently examine how people can access advice, assessments and treatment more easily".

Some GP-led care is already starting. Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust says a new GP local enhanced service will offer adult ADHD assessment, diagnosis, medication review and ongoing support through some GPs in Liverpool and Wirral, starting with an initial six-month period. The trust is keeping complex cases and people whose physical health needs specialist monitoring.

Lessons for the UK

Australia shows both sides of the argument the UK is having now. Trained GPs diagnosing ADHD could mean shorter journeys, lower costs and less time waiting, but the concerns raised there are mostly about uneven training and getting the diagnosis right. If you're waiting for an assessment, it's worth asking your GP practice whether there's a local ADHD service in your area, as it varies. Your GP or prescriber is the right person to talk to about your own situation.