If you or someone you're caring for has a medical emergency, visit your nearest emergency department or call 000.
But what if it's not an emergency, or you're not sure? Sometimes you can't wait wait until 9am or Monday morning to see a doctor or access health care.
You might have a fever that's not subsiding, a sprain that could be a break, a painful urinary tract infection, or a distressing situation that demands immediate mental health support.
Here are your options for accessing timely health care, in-person and virtually - including some that are free.
Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
Medicare Urgent Care Clinics provide bulk-billed care by a general practitioner (GP) for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries.
Patients can walk in without an appointment or referral, and can access other services such as blood tests and X-rays. There are no out-of-pocket costs.
You can find your local clinic here .
Search engines to find a GP appointment - in person or online
Health service search engines such as Healthengine and HotDoc can help you find GPs and book appointments.
You can filter search results by types of services and telehealth availability, including the "GP telehealth on-demand option within 15 minutes" on Hotdoc.
Many will come with out-of-pocket costs.
Home visits
In-person home doctor visits for urgent, episodic illness or injury can also be arranged through options such as 13SICK National Home Doctor Service , DoctorDoctor , Hello Home Doctor Service , Sydmed , 13 CURE and OnCallDrs .
These are often bulk billed.
A call with a nurse or doctor
The new 1800MEDICARE helpline is a free 24/7 service where you can speak to a registered nurse about any health concern.
They will listen to your concerns, assess your symptoms and provide advice on next steps. This might mean looking after yourself at home, getting help from a GP, or attending an Urgent Care Clinic, pharmacy or emergency department.
If the 1800MEDICARE nurse advises you to see a GP within 24 hours, you may be offered a telephone or video call back from a 1800MEDICARE GP. These GPs can provide prescriptions via SMS.
Virtual emergency departments for non-life-threatening emergencies
Virtual emergency departments are free, online emergency departments that treat non-life-threatening emergencies such as pain, sprains, infections, respiratory illnesses, gastroenteritis, high blood pressure, pain, infections, minor burns and rashes.
Examples include:
- the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department
- the South Australia Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service
- Queensland Virtual Emergency Care Service .
Another similar option is My Emergency Doctor , which offers patients access to specialist emergency doctors via video call or telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, this service costs $150 .
Medicines and pharmacists
Some pharmacies operate on extended business hours, including 24 hours. You can find a pharmacy near you at this link , with the option to filter by "extended hours".
In some circumstances, pharmacies can issue a small amount of a medicine if you've run out.
In some states and territories, pharmacists can provide medicines such as antibiotics for simple urinary tract infections without a prescription.
For people living in remote Australia, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) runs a Medical Chests program. Medical chests contain a range of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical items, including prescription-only medicines, which RFDS doctors may prescribe after a phone consultation.
Pregnancy, birth and children
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby is a free national service that provides support to expecting parents, and parents of children from birth to five years of age.
You can speak to maternal and child health nurses via phone, by calling 1800 882 436, or video call about you or your baby, between 7am and midnight, seven days a week.
CubCare is another virtual urgent care option which provides access to paediatric emergency doctors, for a fee.
Dental care
The Australian Dental Foundation runs a free 24/7 Emergency Dental Hotline which can help you work out the urgency of your issue and your next steps.
National Emergency Dentist is a private health service which connects patients to emergency dentists offering same-day and after-hours appointments, for a fee.
Mental health phone support
Mental health support will depend on your individual needs and background. You can access mental health support after hours through these call services (some also have online chats):
Lifeline : 24/7 crisis support
Beyond Blue : counselling via phone online chat
Kids Helpline : 24/7 online and phone counselling for young people aged five to 25 years
Suicide Call Back Service : 24/7 service providing phone and online counselling to anyone affected by suicide
1800 RESPECT : 24/7 support for people affected by domestic, family, or sexual violence
Gambling Help Online : phone and online support for anyone affected by gambling
National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline : 24/7 service for all states and territories, except South Australia which operates 8.30am-10pm
the Butterfly Foundation for free and confidential support about eating disorders and body image.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services
13 YARN : 24/7 crisis support phone line operated by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Yarning Safe'N'Strong : 24/7 support available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who need to have a yarn with someone about their wellbeing
Brother to Brother : 24/7 crisis line providing phone support for Aboriginal men, staffed by Aboriginal men, including Elders.
LGBTQIA+ services
- QLife : phone and webchat that operates during afternoons and evenings seven days a week to support LGBTQIA+ people.
Communication assistance
The National Translating and Interpreting Service offers support to non-English speaking people for their consultations. This service is typically free, covers 150 languages and can be accessed after-hours. Register here .
The National Relay Service provides assistance to people with hearing or speech difficulties during their medical consultations.
Mahima Kalla received previous funding from the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre to help build a patient consultation summary application within Healthdirect's video telehealth platform.
Feby Savira Feby received a Priority Primary Care Centre Fellowship (2023-2025) supported by the Western Victoria Primary Health Network and was involved in the evaluation of Priority Primary Care Centres in the Western Victoria region.
Kara Burns receives funding from the Australian General Practice Foundation to research the scaling of digital maternity care in remote general practice.
Sathana Dushyanthen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
