The information below has been developed by the Department of Health and Aged Care and various PHNS:
About ( IAR-DST)
About the Initial Assessment and Referral Model
The Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) for Mental Health Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) and Guidance documentation has been developed for use by Australian health professionals when a person presents with mental health concerns and/or psychological distress in the primary mental health system.
The IAR model assists health professionals to determine the most appropriate level of mental health care a patient will need across five (5) levels of care in the Australian stepped care model.
There are separate rating guides available for use with:
- Children (aged 5-11)
- Adolescents (aged 12-17)
- Adults (aged 18-64)
- Older Adults (aged 65 and over)
Uptake and use of the IAR continues to grow across multiple settings including:
- Medicare Mental Health Centres and Medicare Mental Health Phone Service
- headspace Centres
- healthdirect
- Primary Health Networks
- Primary care settings, and
- State-based mental health services.
- Clinical decision-making at the point of care.
- Service navigation by linking assessment outcomes to appropriate referral options.
- Training and localisation, where Primary Health Networks (PHNs) showcase HealthPathways during IAR-DST workshops and map levels of care directly into the web-based platform.
Want to find out more?
Join us for mental healthcare training on the IAR-DST. National training covers the background and development of the IAR guidance documentation, and a practical application of the IAR-DST in a patient assessment setting. Training sessions are RACGP and ACRRM approved events. For more information, please visit iar.dst@cesphn.com.au
Watch this space!
Landing in late 2025 – an eLearning module for health professionals is coming soon!
To provide even greater flexibility on your IAR learning journey, the Department is developing an online module to facilitate IAR training at a time and place that suits you.
Medicare Mental Health website
Did you know? The Medicare Mental Health website (www.medicarementalhealth.gov.au, previously Head to Health) includes a service finder for health professionals at https://www.medicarementalhealth.gov.au/service-finder-for-your-patients that enables searching for services using a number of different filters, including by IAR level. The Medicare Mental Health website directory includes nationally available free and low-cost services, primarily focused on supporting people with mild to moderate care needs. These include trusted digital and low intensity mental health services. Note the website does not provide a comprehensive directory of local services.
Want to know more?
Take a tour of the IAR-DST in this 5-minute demonstration:
Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool
Your local PHN
Find your local PHN using an interactive map or a lost of regions in your state or territory.
Conversations
Several GPs were asked to discuss their experiences with the IAR tool, and highlight its usefulness in practice, as well as their hopes for future improvements.
Resources
Resources and references that may help you with your use of the IAR tool.