Counselling Wait Times on the Gold Coast: How to Get Support Sooner

Counselling Journey

By Christina Feyes · ~8 min read · Getting support sooner on the Gold Coast

How long is the wait to see someone on the Gold Coast?

There is no official Gold Coast waitlist figure, so be wary of anyone who quotes you one. The national picture is clear enough, though. In a 2022 Australian Psychological Society member survey, one in three psychologists said they could not take on new clients at all, and 88 per cent reported more demand than before the pandemic. Before the pandemic, closed books were rare.

The latest Patient Experiences survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, covering 2024-25, found that among people who needed to see a psychologist for their mental health, 38.8 per cent delayed going or did not go at least once. Cost was a reason for about a quarter of them. Ring around a few practices between Coolangatta and Coomera and you will hear the other reasons for yourself: closed books, a GP step to arrange first, and the next opening weeks or months away.

So if you have been told to sit tight, you are in very ordinary company. It says nothing about whether your problem is too small or too big.

Why does the wait build up here?

A few things stack on top of each other. To use a Medicare rebate for a psychologist you usually need a GP appointment first, with a mental health plan written in that appointment, and then a psychologist who has space. Each of those is a small queue of its own, and at a busy clinic the GP step alone can take a week or two.

Then there is how quickly the coast keeps growing. The northern corridor around Coomera, Pimpama, Ormeau and Upper Coomera has filled with young families, and services have been playing catch-up, which is part of why a new Medicare Mental Health Centre opened in Pimpama this year. People in the hinterland, up on Tamborine Mountain or out towards Canungra, often have a long drive on top of a wait.

Work patterns matter too. A lot of Gold Coast work is shift-based, in hospitality, tourism, health care and construction, so even when an appointment is free, it often clashes with the roster.

What makes the wait longer or shorter?

• Needing the Medicare pathway. A GP plan can be worth having, but it adds a step and steers you towards the busiest clinicians.
• How specific your needs are. A child or adolescent specialist, a formal assessment, or a clinician of a particular gender or language narrows the pool.
• Time of year. January, the start of the school year and the run into exams all push demand up.
• Your hours. If you can only manage early mornings, evenings or days off between shifts, fewer slots fit.
• Whether online works for you. Video and phone sessions widen your options well beyond your own suburb.

You cannot change demand across the coast. You can change how many doors you knock on.

Free support that does not involve a long waitlist

Before you assume the only options are months away, check these. Each one is free.

• The Northern Gold Coast Medicare Mental Health Centre in Pimpama. It opened in August 2026, and you can walk in without a referral, a diagnosis or a booking. It is run by Open Minds for the Gold Coast Primary Health Network.
• Your GP. A GP can check how you are going right now, talk through a mental health plan and refer you on. Many are good at holding things steady while you wait.
• An Employee Assistance Program. If you work, your employer may quietly fund a few confidential sessions a year, sometimes for family members too, and the wait is usually short.
• headspace. For young people aged 12 to 25, with centres on the Gold Coast.

Using one of these is a sensible choice. If one fits what you need, use it.

Where does a counsellor fit?

Counsellors work outside the Medicare plan system. There is no GP plan to arrange first and no subsidised queue to sit behind, so a counsellor can often see you within days rather than months. Counselling is a different service from psychology, and it suits some needs better than others.

I am a counsellor, and I have been counselling for nearly 20 years. People come to me with anxiety, low mood, grief, relationship strain, trauma, and the quieter weight some of us carry for years without naming it. Sessions run 60 to 90 minutes, which leaves room to get somewhere in each one. I see people online and by phone anywhere in Australia, and in person by appointment from the Gold Coast to Tamborine Mountain, depending on venue and availability. The individual counselling page explains how sessions work.

There are also things I do not do. I do not diagnose, prescribe, or write the formal reports that courts, schools and insurers sometimes ask for. If you need one of those, keep your place on the psychologist or psychiatrist list. Many people do both. They hold their spot and use counselling in the meantime, so they are not carrying everything alone until their number comes up.

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Does going online shorten the wait?

Usually it does. Once you are not limited to whoever practises within a short drive of Robina or Southport, the pool of people who can see you grows a lot. The same ABS survey found that about a quarter of people who saw a health professional for their mental health in 2024-25 did so at least once by telehealth, so you would be far from the only one.

A session from your lounge room in Burleigh, your car outside school pick-up in Helensvale, or your kitchen table on the mountain is the same conversation it would be in a room. For shift workers it is often the only way the times line up. There is more on how that works in online and phone counselling on the Gold Coast.

What can I do while I am waiting?

If you are already on a list and want to stay there, you do not have to sit empty-handed until your appointment comes around.

• Ask to go on the cancellation list at more than one practice. Spots open when other people reschedule.
• Book a GP check-in, so someone is keeping an eye on how you are going in the meantime.
• Keep a few small anchors in your week: sleep, a walk on the beach or in the hinterland, one person you can be honest with.
• Jot down what you want to talk about, so your first appointment starts further along.

Waiting takes its own toll, and it helps to name that. Starting somewhere small, even one honest conversation, usually eases the strain more than holding out for the perfect appointment.

When should I not wait at all?

Some situations should never sit on a waitlist, mine included. If you are worried about your safety or someone else’s, please reach out for urgent help straight away rather than booking an appointment. The emergency details are in the last question at the bottom of this page.

If you need medication reviewed or a formal assessment, start with your GP this week, even if the specialist wait is long. A GP can often do more in the meantime than people expect.

How does the free 15-minute assessment work?

The first step with me is a free 15-minute assessment by phone or video. There is no card and no obligation. We talk about what is going on, I tell you honestly whether counselling with me is a sensible fit, and if it is not, I will point you towards something that would suit you better. You lose nothing by asking, and you stop wondering whether the only help available is months away. You can read more about me and my background before you decide.

Healing rarely waits for the perfect appointment. Often it starts with one honest conversation this week.