Deli - dont quote me on it but I think your psychiatrist can refer you to Austin T without a care plan - but it still counts towards the 12 sessions.

I got a referal from my psychiatrist at one stage and it went through medicare without any problems, even though I had a current care plan in place for another T.

Also - in some cases the 12 sessions can be extended to 18, and again dont quote me on this but I THINK I read somewhere about a loophole where if you have a good enough reason you dont have to wait 3 months between referrals.

And lastly - I think beyondblue or depressionet (or maybe black dog institute?) has a list of "depression friendly professionals" including GP's. Maybe you can find on there?

Just some ideas! Hope it works out.