Items 81000–93029
Non-directive Pregnancy Support Counselling (NDPSC)
Non-directive pregnancy support counselling provided to a patient who is currently pregnant or who has been pregnant in the preceding 12 months. Eligible providers are credentialled mental health nurses, eligible psychologists, and eligible social workers. Item billed depends on provider type and delivery mode (in-person, video, or phone). All items share a 30-minute minimum duration and a 3-service-per-pregnancy cumulative cap.
Plain-English summary. See MBS Online for the verbatim descriptor of each item.
Which item should I bill?
All variants share the same documentation requirements (below). The item number you bill is determined by the actual face-to-face duration and the location.
| Item | Time | Location | Typical use | MBS Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81000 | At least 30 min | In-person | Psychologist — in-person session | Open |
| 81005 | At least 30 min | In-person | Social worker — in-person session | Open |
| 81010 | At least 30 min | In-person | Mental health nurse — in-person session | Open |
| 93026 | At least 30 min | Video telehealth | Any eligible provider — video telehealth | Open |
| 93029 | At least 30 min | Phone telehealth | Any eligible provider — phone telehealth | Open |
Requirements to bill
Conditions imposed by the descriptor that must be met to claim any item in this family.
- 1Patient must be currently pregnant or have been pregnant in the 12 months immediately preceding the first service in the family.
- 2Patient referred by a medical practitioner who is NOT a specialist or consultant physician (i.e. a GP or an eligible prescribed medical practitioner).
- 3Provider must hold the relevant eligibility status with Services Australia: Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) credentialling for CMHNs; the equivalent eligibility for psychologists and social workers.
- 4Provider must be appropriately trained in non-directive pregnancy support counselling.
- 5Provider must NOT have a direct pecuniary interest in a service whose primary purpose is the provision of pregnancy termination services.
- 6Each service must be at least 30 minutes face-to-face / video / phone.
- 7Maximum 3 services per pregnancy across the entire NDPSC family (including items 81000, 81005, 81010, 4001, 92136, 92138, 93026, 93029) regardless of provider or delivery mode.
Your notes must show
Documentation tests — what clinical notes need to demonstrate to survive a PSR audit, regardless of which variant you bill.
- Date, start time, end time, delivery mode (in-person / video / phone), and item number claimed.
- Pregnancy status — currently pregnant (with gestation if known) OR previously pregnant within the preceding 12 months (with date).
- Referral details — referring medical practitioner, referral date, and confirmation that the referrer is not a specialist or consultant physician.
- Service count — which session of the 3-service cap (e.g. "Session 2 of 3 for this pregnancy").
- Non-directive framing — that the counselling explored the patient's feelings and concerns about the pregnancy without advocating any particular course of action.
- Clinical content of the session — issues raised, concerns explored, support provided.
- Where relevant, the patient's decision-making context (the practitioner does NOT direct the decision; the note must not read as steering the patient).
- Risk assessment where indicated (perinatal mental health risk, intimate-partner safety, suicide risk).
- Onward referrals or supports offered (e.g. obstetric care, perinatal mental health team, pregnancy counselling helplines).
Common audit failures
Patterns the Professional Services Review scheme and Medicare audits flag.
- No documented pregnancy status — the patient must be currently pregnant or recently pregnant for the item to be claimable.
- Referral from a specialist or consultant physician (e.g. obstetrician) — NDPSC items require a non-specialist referral.
- More than 3 services billed in one pregnancy across the NDPSC family.
- Service duration under 30 minutes.
- Notes that read as directive counselling — the entire scheme is "non-directive" and audit reviewers look for evidence the practitioner did not steer the decision.
- Provider not registered with Services Australia for NDPSC eligibility (the qualification + registration is a hard prerequisite — Medicare claims are rejected before audit if the provider is unregistered).
Related MBS items
Templates that document these items
Note templates inside Grounded Scribe that produce documentation aligned to these MBS items.
In-depth reading in the Library
Source authority
Documentation tests on this page reference the descriptor conditions and PSR-audit patterns covered in our existing Library guides. Always confirm current rules against the official descriptor.
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