Once the video call closes, most of the next steps happen without you on the line. The Clinician finishes the notes and makes a decision, and if an application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is part of the plan, they lodge it. Knowing the order of those steps helps you tell an ordinary wait from a file that has stalled.
Key points:
- The Clinician writes up the consultation and makes the clinical decision. That can be a decision to apply for an approval, to ask for more information first, or not to prescribe at all.
- An unapproved medicine needs an approval before anything is prescribed. The prescriber applies to the TGA under the Special Access Scheme Category B, and the TGA states it processes those applications in 2 to 5 days.
- Some states and territories add their own approval. Nothing is prescribed until every required approval is in place.
- A review is part of the plan. National telehealth guidelines ask practitioners to make follow-up arrangements when clinically indicated.
- Silence for more than a week is worth a phone call or an email. Ask the clinic where things are up to and get the answer in writing.
What does the Clinician do once the call ends?
The first job is the record. The Medical Board of Australia’s telehealth guidelines ask practitioners to document everything they would record after an in-person consultation, plus the type of technology used and any technical problems during the call. Your history, what you discussed, the consent you gave and the plan all go into your file.
The second job is the decision, and it belongs to the Clinician. Sometimes they need more before deciding, such as a letter from your GP, recent results, or a record from a previous clinic. Sometimes they decide an unapproved medicine is not appropriate for you, and say so. The same guidelines ask practitioners to tell patients they may need to be seen in person, so a referral back to your GP for a physical examination is also a possible next step.
If the Clinician tells you the outcome at the end of the call, write it down along with any next step you have been asked to take. If they say they need to think about it or wait on documents, ask what they are waiting for and who is getting it.
How does an approval application work?
If the Clinician decides an unapproved medicine is clinically appropriate, they apply to the TGA through the Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B). You do not apply yourself. The application includes a clinical justification written for you specifically, and a TGA officer who is a registered medical practitioner or pharmacist assesses it.
The TGA states that it processes SAS-B applications in 2 to 5 days. It can take longer if the TGA asks the prescriber for more information, which pauses the application until they reply. The outcome is an approval letter or a refusal with reasons.
Some states and territories run an approval of their own alongside the TGA’s. The ACT requires one for every prescription of a controlled medicine, and Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia require one in defined circumstances. The prescriber usually lodges it in the same online submission. Our guide to getting a prescription through SAS-B, checked against the TGA, sets out each step and the state table, and an SAS-B approval or a prescription explains how the approval and the prescription differ.
What happens to the prescription?
Once every required approval is granted, the prescriber writes the prescription. The dispensing pharmacy checks the approval in real time through the TGA’s online system before it supplies anything, so a pharmacy will not dispense ahead of the approval.
The clinic should tell you how your prescription reaches the pharmacy and who will contact you about supply. If nobody has explained that by the end of your consultation, ask before you hang up. Ask for a copy of the approval letter too. It shows the period the approval runs for, and that date matters to you as much as to the clinic. Our guide to your approval and when it expires covers what the letter means.
When is the review appointment?
The Medical Board guidelines ask practitioners to make follow-up arrangements with the patient when clinically indicated. Your Clinician sets the review interval as part of the plan, and at LeafLine Clinic follow-up appointments are booked with the same Clinician.
A review is a real consultation. The Clinician asks how things have gone since the last appointment, checks anything that has changed in your health or your other medicines, and decides with you whether the plan stays the same. Our post on how regular reviews keep long-term care on track goes into more detail. If you asked for your GP to be kept informed, the Clinician writes to them with your consent.
What if you hear nothing?
Check the obvious places first: your spam folder, text messages from an unfamiliar number, and any patient portal email. Then allow for the TGA’s stated 2 to 5 days, plus a day or two for the prescriber to lodge the application.
If a week passes after your consultation and you have heard nothing, email the clinic rather than waiting. Give your full name and the date of your consultation, and ask four things:
- Has an application been lodged, and on what date?
- Has the TGA asked for more information?
- Is a state or territory approval still pending?
- Is the clinic waiting on anything from you, such as a document or a form?
A clinic that runs this properly can answer those questions in one reply. If the answer is that the Clinician decided not to prescribe, you can ask for the reasons, and Australian privacy law gives you access to your own record. Our post on your right to your health records explains how that request works.
The bottom line
After a telehealth consultation the Clinician completes your notes and decides on the plan. If an approval is needed, they apply to the TGA and to your state or territory where required, and the prescription follows only once every approval is granted. Expect a review appointment as part of the plan. A week without news is long enough to email the clinic and ask for a written update.
If you would like to talk through how this works before booking, the free 10-minute info call is with our patient-support team, or read how it works.
This article is general information only and is not medical or legal advice. TGA processing times are those the TGA publishes and can change; our SAS-B guide was last checked against the TGA’s Special Access Scheme page on 16 October 2026.
