Victorian GPs to diagnose and treat ADHD

Victorian GPs will soon be able to diagnose and treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and children aged six and older, as the state becomes the latest jurisdiction to announce treatment reforms.
 
Under the changes announced by the Victorian Government on Tuesday, GPs will be able to continue prescriptions for patients with a diagnosis, and it will invest $750,000 in accredited training to enable ‘an initial’ 150 GPs to diagnose ADHD by September.
 
RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Anita Muñoz said the announcement is ‘keenly welcomed by Victorian GPs’.
 
‘This day has been a long time coming, but I’m very pleased that it’s here, because I think it is going to signal a real shift in accessibility and equity of care for ADHD in Victoria,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘Early intervention for children with ADHD is vital. It sets them up to thrive at school and at home.
 
‘For adult patients, a diagnosis and access to treatment can be lifechanging.’
 
Dr Muñoz said the RACGP will convey more information to members ‘within a matter of weeks’ on how expressions of interest will be managed and prioritised, and how training programs will be conducted.
 
‘From an equity and accessibility lens, regional and rural areas are very much a focus for this,’ she said.
 
Dr Muñoz said the RACGP and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists are already preparing for the implementation and launch of the ADHD training.
 
‘Some of the details need to be worked out with Government, but the RACGP has an enormous capacity to train GPs – that’s our core business,’ she said.
 
The RACGP estimates up to 163,000 Victorian children and 320,000 adults may be living with ADHD, with around one in 20 people in Australia having the disorder.
 
According to the Victorian Government, the state’s patients are facing wait times of up to 12 months and the average comprehensive assessment costs upwards of $2000.
 
In response, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said the expansion of GPs’ scope of practice is aimed at making it cheaper and easier for families to get care.
 
‘No child or family should be left behind because the system is too complex, too hard or too expensive,’ she said.
 
ADHD has become a major area of reform across Australia for general practice, as states and territories try to meet the soaring demand for diagnosis and treatment.
 
Since 2017, Queensland has enabled its GPs to diagnose and manage ADHD in children, but in December 2025 it became the first jurisdiction in the country to allow GPs to treat the disorder with no additional training.
 
In New South Wales, GPs wrote more than 6000 scripts for ADHD medication within two months of reforms being introduced in that state in September 2025.
 
Elsewhere, the first 100 GPs in South Australia’s training program are scheduled to begin diagnosing and managing ADHD from this month, while Tasmania is preparing to roll out training for GPs this year.
 
Western Australia is expected to have 65 GPs trained by the end of this year, and late last year the Australian Capital Territory invited expressions of interest from its GPs for a pilot program to diagnose and treat ADHD, scheduled for early 2026.

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