How to get a second opinion in Australia

The two routes

Seeing another specialist in person. Your GP writes a referral to a different specialist, you attend a consultation, and that specialist forms their own view. This is the traditional route. It involves the usual waiting period for a specialist appointment, and the specialist can examine you and order further tests.

A written review of your documents. You send your medical records — imaging, pathology, specialist letters, discharge summaries — to an independent specialist who reviews them and writes a formal opinion. There's no appointment and no examination. It's usually faster, and the output is a document you keep and can hand to any doctor.

Neither is better in the abstract. They answer slightly different questions, which is the point of the next section.

Which one suits your situation

A written review tends to fit when your question is about interpretation or planning: whether a diagnosis fits the evidence, whether a proposed operation is the standard approach, whether an alternative is worth raising. Everything needed to answer those questions is usually already in your file.

An in-person consultation is the better tool when something needs to be examined, when new tests are likely required, or when you want an ongoing relationship with a second specialist rather than a one-off view.

If you're not sure which you need, your GP is the right person to ask. They know your history and they can see what's already been done.

What you'll need either way

Second opinions run on documentation. The specialist forming the view wasn't in the room for any of your care, so what you provide is what they have to work with. In practice that means referral letters, imaging and scan reports, pathology results, specialist correspondence, and any hospital discharge summaries.

There's a fuller list in what documents you need for a second opinion, including how to request records you don't hold.

Do you need a referral?

For an in-person specialist consultation, generally yes — and there are Medicare consequences to attending without one. For a written document review, no referral is required.

More detail in do I need a referral for a second opinion?.

Telling your current doctor

You're not obliged to. Many people do, and most specialists treat it as an ordinary part of practice — but the decision is yours and seeking another view is your right as a patient.

We've written about how that conversation usually goes in do I need to tell my doctor I'm getting a second opinion?

When a second opinion isn't the right move

It's worth being honest about this, because a second opinion isn't automatically useful.

• When the question is urgent. A second opinion takes days to weeks. If your situation is deteriorating or you've been told something needs immediate attention, that's a conversation with your treating team or an emergency department — not a review process. If you're experiencing a medical emergency, call 000.
• When you already have two consistent opinions. A third rarely resolves anything, and it can delay a decision that's already well supported.
• When what you actually want is a better explanation. Sometimes the issue isn't that the plan is wrong — it's that nobody has explained it in a way that makes sense. Going back to your treating specialist with a written list of questions often works better, and faster, than starting again with someone new.
• When the decision is genuinely time-critical. Some treatments have windows. Ask your treating team directly whether a delay of a week or two carries a cost in your case.

Where Otro fits

Otro provides the second of the two routes described above: an independent, AHPRA-registered Australian specialist reviews your documentation and prepares a structured written report. No referral required, no consultation. You can see how the service works and what it costs on our pricing page.

It's not the right tool for every situation on this page, and where it isn't, we'll tell you at triage rather than accept the case.