Can teenagers access health services on their own?

Updated 27 January 2026

It’s normal to feel worried or uncertain when your teen wants to see a healthcare professional without you, but it’s an important step in helping them build confidence and take control of their mental health and wellbeing.

Is it okay for my teenager to seek healthcare on their own?

Seeing a health care professional without a parent or guardian present can be a great way for your teen to build confidence in communicating their health needs and experiences. It also allows your teen to develop trust with their healthcare professionals, which is an important factor in the effectiveness of many treatments, especially psychological therapies.

Private visits to a doctor, psychologist or even a school counsellor can also provide a great environment for your teen to be completely honest and open about their experiences. This is something they may feel uncomfortable or anxious about in the presence of a family member due to shame or worry about disappointing the family.

By encouraging your teen, when they’re ready, to access healthcare independently, you’re supporting them to become responsible for managing their health and wellbeing.

Your teen’s healthcare rights in Australia

In Australia, there is no minimum age a person must be before they can access medical services on their own. However, the rights to confidentiality and consent to treatment do vary by state and circumstance, especially regarding mental health services.

The age at which confidentiality becomes an automatic right for your teen varies from state to state:

Northern Territory: 14 and over
New South Wales and South Australia: 16 and over
All other states and territories: 18 and over.

Once your teen reaches the relevant age threshold in your state, healthcare providers generally cannot share their health information with parents or guardians without the teen’s consent, except if there is a risk of serious harm or danger. This is to ensure your teen feels safe and willing to share honestly with their healthcare provider.

If your teen knows that what they tell their therapist is going to be shared with their parents, they will generally be reluctant to share and may view the therapist as someone working for their parents rather than with them. This can make it hard to develop trust and get in the way of working on goals in therapy.

Clinical psychologist Linda Williams

If your teen is younger than the threshold, confidentiality is still usually respected, but ultimately at the discretion of the healthcare professional and your teen. Before your teen’s appointment, ask the healthcare professional about their confidentiality policies and explain to your teen what will and won’t be shared. This can build trust and reduce anxiety around privacy.

As a parent, this may seem worrying. It’s normal to want to know what your teen is experiencing, especially if they are living with a mental health disorder. However, your teen needs to know that they can trust healthcare professionals with their private information.

You may want to ask your teen about their appointment, but respect their privacy if they’re not open to talking about it. By building a trusting relationship with your teen, they’ll be more likely to confide in you.

Consent rules also vary, but typically:

The age of consent for simple healthcare treatments varies by state, but the average age is 14 years old.
At 16 years old, teens have the same rights as adults to consent to most medical treatments.
However, the right to refuse life-saving treatment generally remains with parents or guardians until the teen turns 18.

Online health services

Many young people are comfortable accessing online health services, such as telehealth consultations, mental health apps, and chat-based support services. These can provide a private, flexible, and less intimidating way for teens to reach out for help, and they often maintain the same confidentiality and consent standards as in-person care.

ReachOut’s PeerChat service is a one-on-one, text-based service available for young people aged 16-25. It’s a safe and secure space to talk to a trained peer worker about what’s going on for them. No referral or mental health diagnosis is required. Check out ReachOut PeerChat over on our youth site for more information.

How to support them while respecting their privacy

Here are some ways that you can provide support without overstepping their boundaries:

Check in with open-ended questions like, ‘How are you feeling about your mental health lately?’ or ‘Is there anything you want to talk about?’
Ask if they’d like you to accompany them to appointments or help with making bookings, but don’t insist.
Empower them to ask questions by suggesting they write down their concerns to discuss with their healthcare provider.
Set clear expectations. For example, agree that you will only ask about appointments or treatment when they’re comfortable sharing.

You could introduce the idea of a joint conversation with the psychologist to support your teen’s progress in therapy. Even if they don’t take you up on it for now, knowing that the option is there might make them more willing later.