SOC 2 Type II certified

Outcome Measurement for Victoria's Mental Health Reform

Victoria is rebuilding its mental health system after a Royal Commission, under a new Act that puts the person's own view of their care at the centre. HiBoop gives practices and community teams 100+ validated scales that clients answer themselves, scored on submission and charted session by session.

Schedule a WalkthroughBrowse assessments
SOC 2 Type II certified
Privacy Act 1988 compliant
Hosting region on request
Published AUD pricing
PDF and CSV export
100+
validated assessments
74
Royal Commission recommendations (65 final, 9 interim)
2023
Mental Health and Wellbeing Act in force
$36 AUD
a month to start (AUD)

A reformed system that asks what changed for the person

  • The Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System tabled its final report on 2 March 2021, adding 65 recommendations to the nine of its 2019 interim report, and the Victorian Government committed to deliver every one. Its central legal recommendation became the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022, in force since 1 September 2023, whose principles apply to all providers: dignity and autonomy, people involved in decisions about their care, and a role for families, carers and supporters.

    Victoria was also the first Australian jurisdiction to begin implementing routine outcome measurement. Its public mental health services now collect the national outcome set (HoNOS, LSP-16 and the Kessler scales), which HiBoop does not offer. HiBoop is for the measurement private and community clinicians run themselves, with scales the client completes and can talk through.

  • The client's own account

    Clients complete the scales themselves, by email or QR, so the conversation starts from how they say things are going.

  • Ready for a WorkSafe plan

    A baseline and a dated score history to draw on for the treatment planning and review forms.

  • Measurable improvement

    One chart per client shows whether treatment is moving, or has stalled and needs a rethink.

All of AustraliaAll regions

Built for the way Victorian clinicians report

  • Repeat measurement that feeds a GP report, a WorkSafe form or a team review without extra typing.

  • Scales between sessions

    Send the DASS-21, PHQ-9, GAD-7 or PCL-5 before each session or at set weeks, by email or QR code.

  • Scored on submission

    Totals and severity bands are calculated the moment the client finishes, so the result is waiting when you open the file.

  • Baseline and review in one place

    The first score and every one since, ready when a treatment plan or review form asks how things have changed.

  • End-of-course reports

    Intake, mid-point and latest scores on one page, ready to summarise in the report to the referring GP.

  • One published price list

    Care is $36 AUD/month for one clinician, month to month. Team starts at $285 AUD/month with unlimited clinicians. Network is custom. Published prices in Australian dollars.

  • Solo practice to community team

    Start with one clinician, or add a team with shared scales and role-based access across sites.

Research from Victoria

  • Routine outcome measurement

    Routine assessment of client outcomes became a national mental health policy objective in 1992, and Victoria was the first jurisdiction to begin implementing it, with a dedicated team and its own training materials.

    Trauer et al., Australian Health Review, 2002 PMID 12046139

  • PHQ-9 and symptom feedback

    In a trial of 1,868 adults with depressive symptoms in 14 Melbourne general practices, an e-health platform that gave symptom feedback and matched care to prognosis lowered PHQ-9 scores at 3 months compared with usual care.

    Fletcher et al., British Journal of General Practice, 2021 PMID 33431380

  • HoNOS

    In Melbourne's Doorway housing program for 157 people with serious mental illness in Victoria's public mental health system, participants spent more days securely housed than a comparison group and showed a positive effect on HoNOS outcomes.

    Dunt et al., Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2022 PMID 33966500

  • PHQ-9

    Among 741 adults in four Goulburn Valley towns screened with the Kessler 10 and PHQ-9, fewer than a quarter of those above the depression threshold had seen a psychologist in the past year.

    Dashputre et al., BMC Psychiatry, 2023 PMID 37340331

Who funds and runs mental health care in Victoria

  • HiBoop is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these bodies or programs. They are the system your clients, referrers and funders work in.

  • Department of Health and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022

    Public care

    The Act replaced the Mental Health Act 2014 on 1 September 2023. It brings government-funded community providers within its scope, supports advance statements and nominated support persons, and created the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Victoria and regional boards.

    In force 2023Principles for all providersMental Health and Wellbeing Commission

  • Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals

    Front door

    Free local services for people aged 26 and over, with no GP referral, Medicare card or mental health plan needed. They are not crisis services. Where no Local is open nearby, Partners in Wellbeing (1300 375 330, weekdays 9am to 5pm) offers free virtual support from age 16.

    FreeNo referral26 and over

  • Better Access and the Victorian PHNs

    Medicare

    Better Access pays for up to 10 individual sessions a calendar year with a psychologist (MBS 80110) or clinical psychologist (MBS 80010), after a GP mental health treatment plan (MBS 2715 or 2717). Victoria's six Primary Health Networks commission further services rather than run them, and those services report the Kessler 10+ for adults to the national PMHC data set.

    MBS 80010MBS 801106 PHNs

  • WorkSafe Victoria and the NDIS

    Insurance

    WorkSafe funds psychology from approved psychologists when treatment is clinically justified, outcome focused and likely to achieve measurable improvement, in line with its Clinical Framework. A treatment planning form is due by the sixth session and a review after 10 sessions or 6 months. The NDIS funds psychosocial recovery support, not clinical treatment.

    WorkSafe approvalClinical FrameworkNDIS

Care teams across Victoria

  • A client in Mildura answers the same scale, on the same phone browser, as one in Fitzroy.

  • Melbourne

    Inner city and the growth corridors | private practice, university clinics and area mental health services

  • Barwon and the Surf Coast

    Geelong and Queenscliffe | a Mental Health and Wellbeing Local and regional practice

  • Gippsland

    Latrobe, Bairnsdale and Orbost | long distances, where between-session measures keep contact

  • Loddon and Hume

    Bendigo, Echuca, Shepparton and Wangaratta | regional towns with their own Locals

  • The north-west

    Mildura and the Mallee | telehealth-first private practice

Data sovereignty

Why Victoria clinics choose HiBoop

  • Why Victorian clinicians choose HiBoop

    • Client-completed scales that put the person's own account at the centre
    • A baseline and score history for WorkSafe planning and review forms
    • Scores on one chart for the Better Access end-of-course report
    • Care is $36 AUD/month, month to month, with no credit card to start
    • Boops, our between-session check-ins, put the client's latest answers on the chart before you meet

  • AUD pricing & support

    Transparent pricing in AUD with flexible payment options for clinics of every size.

    Care
    One clinician, month to month
    $36
    AUD/month
    Team
    Starting price, unlimited clinicians
    $285
    AUD/month
    Network
    Multi-site organizations
    Custom
    Enterprise pricing

100+ validated scales for Victoria clinics

  • Validated scales grouped by what they measure, each with its scoring and source. Public programmes often call this routine outcome monitoring (ROM), or patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs): the same practice of giving a validated scale at regular points and reading the scores over time.

  • Mood and anxiety

    • DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety, Stress)
    • PHQ-9 (Depression)
    • GAD-7 (Anxiety)
    • PHQ-8 (Depression, 8-item)

  • Trauma and injury

    • PCL-5 (PTSD)
    • ITQ (Complex PTSD)
    • LEC-5 (Life Events)
    • C-SSRS Screener (Suicide Risk)

  • Youth

    • PHQ-A (Adolescent Depression)
    • SCARED (Anxiety)
    • CRAFFT-2.1 (Substance Use)
    • SIDAS (Suicidal Ideation)

  • Substance use and recovery

    • ASSIST-3 (Substance Involvement)
    • CAGE-AID (Alcohol and Drugs)
    • BARC-10 (Recovery Capital)
    • TAPS (Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs)
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The Health Records Act and the Privacy Act: what they ask of your practice

  • Victoria's Health Records Act 2001 covers public and private sector organisations that handle health information, with no small business exemption, and private providers also answer to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. These duties are yours; the points below are what to check with any vendor.

  • What the rules expect of your practice

    • Follow the Health Privacy Principles when you collect, use, store, disclose or transfer health information
    • Meet the Privacy Act's Australian Privacy Principles too; health service providers are covered whatever their turnover
    • Before health information goes overseas, take reasonable steps so the recipient handles it to APP standard (APP 8)
    • Give clients access to their health information on request
    • Complaints under the Health Records Act go to the Health Complaints Commissioner

  • Where HiBoop helps

    • SOC 2 Type II certified; data encrypted in transit and at rest
    • Hosted on Google Cloud in the US or Canada, with other regions on request; ask before you start
    • Role-based access, so clinicians see only their own clients
    • PDF and CSV exports for the clinical record and access requests
    • HiBoop is Privacy Act 1988 compliant; it makes no Health Records Act claim. Ask for our security documentation

Grants & funding for Victoria mental health clinics

Funding Guide

  • Public and private funding programs that support measurement-based care implementation.

  • Primary Health Networks - Dept of Health & Aged Care

    PHN Mental Health Commissioning

    Tech eligible

    Australia's 31 PHNs commission local mental health services and are required to use validated outcome measures. K10 is the national standard population screening tool. Technology platforms supporting Better Access K10 workflows and generating PHN-compatible outcome reports are eligible for commissioning consideration.

    Varies by PHN regionLearn more

  • Services Australia / Medicare

    Better Access - MBS Outcome Measurement

    Tech eligible

    Better Access MBS billing for GP Mental Health Treatment Plan reviews requires documented outcome tool use - K10 is the de facto standard. HiBoop helps practices document session outcomes for these reviews, reducing admin burden.

    N/A (billing compliance support)Learn more

  • DHCRC (Dept of Industry + CSIRO + universities)

    Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre

    Tech eligible

    The DHCRC funds collaborative digital health research between industry, universities, and clinical settings. Mental health technology platforms demonstrating outcome measurement capability are eligible for research partnership programs connecting practices with CSIRO and academic research.

    Varies by project streamLearn more
View all grants & funding

Resources for Victoria practitioners

  • Billing guides, compliance documentation, and clinical practice resources.

  • DepressionPHQ-9 Clinical Guide

    Scoring, severity bands and reliable change for depression monitoring

  • DistressDASS-21 Clinical Guide

    Depression, anxiety and stress subscales, scoring and severity bands

  • ReferenceKessler 10 Reference

    The distress scale in the national data sets; a reference page, not offered in the HiBoop app

  • PracticeMeasurement-Based Care Guide

    Turning repeat measurement into a routine your clients understand

Where to read Victoria's rules and reforms

Latest in mental health in Australia

Crisis and urgent help lines

  • If someone is in immediate danger, call 000. HiBoop is not a crisis service.

  • Emergency

    For a life-threatening emergency, call emergency services first.

    Call 000

  • Lifeline Australia

    24/7

    Call 13 11 14

  • Beyond Blue

    24/7

    Call 1300 22 4636
More crisis lines

Measurement-based care

…starts with what we measure, and how long.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Does Victoria's Health Records Act apply to my private practice?

    Yes, if you handle health information in Victoria. The Health Records Act 2001 covers public and private sector organisations and has no small business exemption; its Health Privacy Principles govern collection, use, disclosure, access and transfer. A private provider is also covered by the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. HiBoop makes no claim of compliance with either law. We can share our security documentation for your own assessment.

  • Can HiBoop support WorkSafe Victoria psychology reporting?

    It can carry the measurement. WorkSafe funds treatment that is outcome focused and likely to achieve measurable improvement, asks for a treatment planning form by the sixth session and a review after 10 sessions or 6 months. HiBoop keeps a baseline and every later score on one chart with PDF export. HiBoop is not connected to WorkSafe and does not file forms for you.

  • Does HiBoop offer the Kessler 10, HoNOS or LSP-16?

    No. HiBoop does not offer the Kessler 10, HoNOS or LSP-16. Victorian public services collect those for the national outcomes collection, and PHN-commissioned services report the Kessler 10+ through their own systems. HiBoop offers the DASS-21, PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5 and other validated scales for the measurement you run in your own practice.

  • Which numbers can I give a client between sessions?

    In an emergency, 000. Lifeline, 13 11 14, offers 24-hour crisis support. Medicare Mental Health (formerly Head to Health), 1800 595 212, is a weekday line for advice and referral. Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals are free and need no referral for people 26 and over, and Partners in Wellbeing, 1300 375 330, supports people from 16 on weekdays; neither is a crisis service. HiBoop is not a crisis service.