Changing clinics
How to switch clinics in New South Wales
We request your records from your previous clinic with your written consent, and your first appointment is a transfer consultation with an AHPRA-registered Clinician at $69. Every treatment decision is made afresh, by your Clinician, after that consultation.
- Records requested on your behalf
- Transfer consultation $69
- AHPRA-registered Clinicians
If you are in New South Wales and your care at another clinic has stalled, LeafLine Clinic can take it over. With your written consent our patient-support team requests your records and treatment summary from your previous clinic, and your first appointment is a transfer consultation with an AHPRA-registered Clinician at $69.
New South Wales replaces its medicines legislation on 5 November 2026. The date is stated below as a fact about the framework. The steps you take to transfer are the same on either side of it.
How it works
Moving your care from New South Wales, step by step
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Start with a call, or check your eligibility
Book a free 10-minute info call with our patient-support team, or complete the online eligibility check. The check asks where you are located, which for New South Wales sets which of the rules on this page apply, and the screening questions every patient answers. No clinical advice is given on the call.
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Give consent and tell us where you were treated
Complete your intake forms and name your previous clinic. With your written consent our patient-support team requests your records and treatment summary from them. Anything you already hold, such as your approval letter or a recent treatment summary, can be sent to us straight away.
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A transfer consultation, $69
You meet your Clinician by video. They review your history and records with you, discuss your circumstances, and make an independent clinical assessment. Nothing carries over automatically, and any new approval is applied for after this consultation, not before.
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New approvals, then ongoing care
If your Clinician decides to prescribe, they lodge the federal application, and any New South Wales application that applies to you, and nothing is prescribed until those are granted. Follow-up reviews are booked with the same Clinician, and with your consent your Clinician can write to your regular GP.
Before you book
What changes when your prescriber changes
The Therapeutic Goods Administration grants the approval behind your prescription to the practitioner who applied for it, for you, for the period written on the approval letter. Only that practitioner can prescribe under it. When you move clinics and your new Clinician decides to prescribe, they make a new application after your transfer consultation, and the TGA states it processes applications in 2 to 5 days.
Bring your existing approval letter and current prescription details to the consultation if you have them. They answer most of the questions the new application asks, and they let your Clinician see how long your current approval has left to run.
New South Wales requires a NSW Health authority before a Clinician prescribes to a patient the Clinician considers drug dependent. No other state approval reaches an adult transferring this kind of care, so for most transferring patients the only new approval is the federal one, applied for by your new Clinician after your transfer consultation.
On 5 November 2026 the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2022 (NSW) and its 2026 Regulation commence, replacing the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW). NSW Health’s published list of medicines needing approval under the new Act keeps substance dependence as the trigger that reaches this kind of care, and moves the application into SafeScript NSW.
NSW
Transferring from a New South Wales clinic
Sydney is LeafLine Clinic’s largest patient catchment, and NSW shares the clinic’s operating timezone, so the published hours are your local hours for most of the year. The records request goes to your previous clinic in the same form whether it was a Sydney practice, an interstate telehealth service, or an online-only clinic.
You have a right of access to your own health records. Australian Privacy Principle 12 requires an organisation that holds your personal information to give you access to it on request, within a reasonable period, which the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner says should generally not exceed 30 calendar days. In New South Wales the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) sits alongside that. Your previous clinic may charge for copies; LeafLine does not charge for requesting or receiving them.
Switching clinics in New South Wales: common questions
Do I need a new approval when I move my care to LeafLine in NSW?
Yes. The Therapeutic Goods Administration approval behind your prescription names the practitioner who applied for it and does not transfer. If your new Clinician decides to prescribe after your transfer consultation, they apply afresh, and the TGA states it processes these applications in 2 to 5 days. A NSW Health authority is needed only where the Clinician considers the patient drug dependent.
Will my new Clinician see what I was prescribed before?
Yes. Your new Clinician checks SafeScript NSW before prescribing, which shows your recent prescribing history for monitored medicines. It does not replace your records, which we request from your previous clinic with your consent.
What changes in NSW on 5 November 2026?
The Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2022 (NSW) and its 2026 Regulation commence, replacing the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW). NSW Health’s published guidance keeps substance dependence as the approval trigger for this kind of care and moves applications into SafeScript NSW. A transfer before or after that date follows the same four steps.
What does the transfer cost in NSW?
The transfer consultation is $69. Follow-up consultations are $59 to $69. LeafLine does not charge for requesting or receiving your records; your previous clinic sets its own policy on copies. Fees are the same in every state and territory and are published before you book.
What hours can NSW patients reach LeafLine Clinic?
Support and bookings run 9am to 7pm AEST, seven days a week. That is local time in NSW during standard time; during daylight saving, NSW local times sit one hour ahead.
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