Leading ADHD professionals are calling for a nationally consistent approach to diagnosing and prescribing for ADHD as WA sets the pace for reforming care.
Professor Dave Coghill, President Australasian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), said with the first of WA’s specially trained GPs set to begin providing care to diagnose and treat ADHD next year, now is the time for action to ensure consistency across the country.
Professor Coghill wants the Federal Government to play a leading role in aligning state and territory approaches to ADHD.
It comes after a meeting between state and territory health ministers with their federal counterpart on September 12.
AADPA was one of a number of joint signatories to a letter calling on the ministers to use the meeting as an opportunity to make prescribing rules consistent across Australia so specialist GPs, as well as psychiatrists and paediatricians, would be able to start, change, and continue ADHD medications for adults and children by 30 June 2026.
The letter, also signed by the RACGP and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, called for minsters to align criteria such as age limits, review periods, and transition rules from child to adult care.
They also called for the funding of GP training alongside mentorship and tools, as is already happening in WA and NSW.
RELATED: Call for GPs keen to diagnose and treat ADHD
No specific decisions were made at the meeting, but ministers endorsed the need for national harmonisation of ADHD diagnosis and prescribing practices.
Professor Coghill told Medical Forum the lack of progress was disappointing.
“Once WA and NSW actually implement their changes with GPs becoming more involved, then it’s going to be increasingly different between the states, so I think now is a good time to act when we’re just starting that journey,” he said.
Professor Coghill, who is also the Chair of developmental mental health at the University of Melbourne, said there was no reason the Federal Government could not take a leading role in the matter.
“It has had a lot to say about autism, another neurodevelopmental disorder, and there are many similarities between the problems faced by those with ADHD and the problems that were faced by families and people with autism.
“The Federal Government has had a lot of input into a national framework for autism and, really, I can’t see why they wouldn’t want to do that for ADHD.
“Without guidance from them it’s difficult to get everyone in the same room at the same time and I think that’s why it would be really helpful if the if the Federal Department of Health was taking a leadership role in this.”
RELATED: Guide to the subtleties of ADHD
Chair of the RACGP WA ADHD Working Group Dr Sean Stevens said WA was taking huge steps forward in this space.
“WA is one of the states and territories leading the way on reforming ADHD prescribing to empower GPs and help more patients get the care and treatment they need with less cost and fewer delays,” he said.
“The first WA GPs to independently diagnose and manage ADHD will start providing this care in early 2026, which is a huge step forward.”
Dr Stevens agreed a national approach was vital for achieving greater accessibility to ADHD care so that all patients in every corner of Australia could benefit.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler was contacted for comment.
His office did not respond to questions on whether he would commit to making prescribing rules consistent across Australia.
Want more news, clinicals, features and guest columns delivered straight to you? Subscribe for free to WA’s only independent magazine for medical practitioners.
Want to submit an article? Email editor@mforum.com.au