Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and treatment through General Practitioners (GPs)

WA Health (2026). Government of Western Australia, Department of Health.

Population: People in Western Australia seeking ADHD assessment and treatment; GPs participating in the WA ADHD GP Program
Sample: Jurisdictional program description (not a trial sample)
Condition: ADHD assessment, diagnosis and stimulant treatment in primary care
Medication focus: ADHD stimulant medicines, prescribed under WA legislative and clinical requirements
Jurisdiction: Western Australia
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026
Measurement period: WA Health page last reviewed 31 August 2026

Plain-language finding

The WA ADHD GP Program supports appropriately trained GPs to assess, diagnose and treat ADHD in suitable patients aged 10 years and older, including prescribing stimulant medicines in accordance with legislative and clinical requirements, within a structured clinical governance framework. Complex presentations and patients requiring specialist expertise continue to be referred to psychiatrists, paediatricians or other appropriate specialists. Participating GPs complete training developed by RACGP and AADPA.

Important limitation

This is a Western Australian pathway, not a national one. It does not describe waits, costs or access in other jurisdictions, and it does not apply to children under 10 or to complex presentations retained on specialist pathways. A program page is not an evaluation of diagnostic quality or of how many people will be seen.

Why we cite this

A live jurisdictional change to who may assess, diagnose and treat ADHD in Western Australia. Cited as current pathway evidence, and as a case study that healthcare systems move while pages are being written.

adhd · australia · access · workforce · service-design · training

Supported by clinical guidelines, regulatory information, systematic reviews, or well-established pharmacological knowledge. Still describes populations, not an individual.

Original source

Claims this source supports

In Australia, ADHD assessment is constrained by clinician availability, waiting time, out-of-pocket cost, a thin public adult pathway, and regional gaps. Recognition is growing faster than the systems built to assess it.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026
Historically, ADHD assessment and stimulant treatment in Australia have relied heavily on psychiatrists and paediatricians. Pathways are now changing in some jurisdictions. In Western Australia, specially trained GPs can now assess, diagnose and treat suitable ADHD patients from age 10, while complex presentations continue to require specialist involvement.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026