Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST)
Version 2.00
This documentation provides extracts from relevant sections of the Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance Parts A through E to assist health professionals to determine the most appropriate level of mental health care a patient will need across five (5) levels of care in the Australian stepped care model.
The IAR Decision Support Tool and related Guidance documentation has been developed for use by Australian health professionals in the primary mental health system. It supports nationally consistent evidence-informed initial assessment and referral processes and will continue to be refined as new evidence emerges.
The IAR Guidance documentation includes a suite of documents providing information about the IAR and how to use it appropriately and effectively with people of different ages who present to the Australian primary care system with mental health symptoms and/or psychological distress.
There are separate rating guides available for use with:
Children (aged 5-11)
Adolescents (aged 12-17)
Adults (aged 18-64)
Older Adults (aged 65 and over)
Whilst the IAR uses age to indicate the overall appropriateness of each rating guide, the final decision about the most appropriate rating guide to use should be based on the clinical judgment of the user, considering contextual and developmental factors.
The IAR refers to the critical interface between primary mental health care and acute, tertiary and specialist secondary settings, however it is not intended to be applied within acute or specialist mental health care settings. The IAR has the potential to be used in private psychology and psychiatry services.
Getting help
Logicly offers a dedicated Helpdesk which is available to support clinicians using the Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool.
All enquiries should be directed to support@logicly.com.au
Other resources
- Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance for Mental Health Part A – General Guidance v2.0
- Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance for Mental Health Part B – Children v1.0
- Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance for Mental Health Part C – Adolescents v1.0
- Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance for Mental Health Part D – Adults v2.0
- Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) Guidance for Mental Health Part E – Older Adults v1.0
- National MH-IAR Guidance V1.05 - 30 July.pdf
Primary Health Networks (PHN) collection of primary mental health care resources