When being treated for an eating disorder, it’s important that the approach used is evidence-based. This means it has undergone rigorous clinical trials to prove that it is an effective treatment.
In Australia, the federal government has approved a certain group of evidence-based treatments that are eligible for Medicare rebates if you are accessing an Eating Disorder Plan. These approaches are also used by clinicians in inpatient and outpatient programs in the public and private hospital system.
Please note that these treatments do not exhaust all options available to people with eating disorders. We recommend speaking with your GP or a mental health professional to determine the most suitable treatment for you or your loved one. All listed treatments are designed to be undertaken with the guidance of qualified therapists such as psychiatrists and psychologists. For more information about mental health clinicians who treat eating disorders, please see the EDV factsheet ‘Understanding the role of mental health clinicians’.
For more information on how to access treatment please see: ‘Eating disorder treatment pathways for adults’ and ‘Eating disorder treatment pathways for children, adolescents and young adults’. For information about the cost of treatment see here.