Psychological therapy services are available for people experiencing mild to moderate mental illness and those who have attempted, or are at risk of, suicide or self-harm.
They are place-based treatment services to provide better access to mental health support particularly for people who face barriers using mainstream treatment due to low income, living in a rural or remote location, or who are in a hard-to-reach demographic.
Western Victoria PHN (WVPHN) commissions a panel of allied mental health professionals to deliver these services.
Referral Point
- Tel: 1300 221 493
- Email: referralpoint@westvicphn.com.au
WVPHN’s Referral Point is a single point of entry to enable patients to access psychological therapy services via their treating health practitioners.
Referral Point allows GPs, paediatricians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health clinicians to refer patients to therapy services via the panel of allied mental health clinicians in their communities. Patients are referred to health professionals based on clinical need, considering locality, waiting lists and the expertise of the allied mental health clinician.
How to make a referral
Eligible practitioners must complete a primary mental health care referral form and attach a mental health treatment plan or review (see below).
For relevant programs, separately complete the mental health treatment plan or review using the preferred template supplied with your clinical system. It can be copied and pasted to the bottom of the referral.
Note, when downloading forms for importing into Medical Director, Best Practice or Zedmed they should not be opened prior to importation.
Referral templates
Instructions for downloading templates
- Importing Templates into Medical Director (PDF 82KB)
- Importing Templates into Best Practice (PDF 84KB)
- Importing Templates into Zedmed (PDF 16KB)
Please note: these referral forms were updated on 6 February 2020 to include the Natural Disaster Distress and Trauma program.
| Referral Templates | Paper (PDF format) | Best Practice | Medical Director | Zedmed |
| PMHC Referral | Referral Point Primary Mental Health Care Referral Form July 2020 (PDF 5.1MB)* | Download BP (RTF 329KB) | Download MD (RTF 241KB) | Download ZM (RTF 121KB) |
| Review | PHN Referral Point Review (PDF 18KB) | Download BP (RTF 102KB) | Download MD (RTF 86KB) | Download ZM (RTF 25KB) |
*Refer to to the following support materials for further information about the Referral Point Primary Mental Health Care Referral Form:
- Primary Mental Health Care Services Referral Form Guidance Document (PDF 322KB)
- Primary Mental Health Care Services Referral Form Infographic (PDF 430KB)
Secure messaging
Secure Messaging is the preferred method for receiving referrals. We can receive them via ReferralNET and Argus.
The following guides show how to set up the template for transmission via ReferralNET or Argus on Best Practice, Medical Director and Zedmed.
- ReferralNET guide to set up Referral Point on Best Practice (PDF 188KB)
- ReferralNET guide to set up Referral Point on Medical Director (PDF 162KB)
- ReferralNET guide to set up Referral Point on Zedmed (PDF 310KB)
- Argus guide to set up Referral Point on Best Practice (PDF 296KB)
- Argus guide to set up Referral Point on Medical Director (PDF 264KB)
- Argus guide to set up Referral Point on Zedmed (PDF 415KB)
Send the completed form by secure messaging, using one of the following:
- Argus: Western Victoria PHN’s Referral Point – phnclinical@westvicphn.com.au
- ReferralNET: Western Victoria PHN’s Referral Point – phn.referral.point
Faxing
Fax printed and signed referrals to 1300 260 814
Current wait times for referrals
Following are the current wait time for allocation of adult and child referrals to a service provider. Please note, these wait times do not apply to suicide prevention referrals.
| Sub Region | Wait Time |
| Geelong Otway | 2 weeks |
| Ballarat Goldfields | 2 weeks |
| Wimmera Grampians | 2 weeks |
| Great South Coast | 2 weeks |
Other psychological therapy services resources
More information
Contact the WVPHN Referral Point Team
- Email: referralpoint@westvicphn.com.au
- Tel: 1300 221 493