Fees & Rebates
Fees
We understand that accessing support for your child can be expensive, especially with all of the other costs that families face. The Australian Psychological Society sets a recommended fee of $280 for a standard 50-minute session. We set our fees well below this.
A standard session is 50-minutes. Our fees are:
- A standard session with the principal psychologist is $280.
- A standard session with our other psychologists is $240.
- A standard session with a provisional psychologist is $140.
Our preferred method of payment is via credit card which is processed automatically after each session. This allows us to process any Medicare rebates at the same time. Families can choose to pay via direct deposit, although the Medicare rebate won’t be processed until after the transfer is complete.
Medicare Rebates
You may be eligible to receive a rebate from Medicare for up to ten sessions per calendar year if your child has an appropriate referral. This can be a confusing process, so we’ve tried to explain it below. If you’ve already got one – great! The info below might still be helpful.
If you are going to see your GP about this, they will also have to create a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan. Please book a long consult, so the GP has enough time to get everything done. Bring this paperwork along to the first appointment. If a paediatrician or psychiatrist is referring your child, only a referral letter is needed.
You can use a valid referral to see any psychologist (not just the person whose name is on it). If we’re not the right fit for you, you don’t need to go back to your GP and get a new referral.
Your child can attend up to six sessions (or fewer if the referring doctor says so). If your child needs additional sessions, you’ll need to get a re-referral letter to continue receiving a rebate. You can continue attending appointments even if you haven’t gotten a re-referral letter, but you won’t be able to get a rebate.
We can submit the rebate claim directly to Medicare on your behalf (unless you really love dealing with Medicare). This usually takes 24 hours and goes into whatever bank account you have registered with Medicare.
Although your child can attend as many sessions as they need, you will only receive a rebate for up to ten sessions per calendar year.
As of 01/07/2022, Medicare provides the following rebates for a standard 50-minute session:
- $131.65 with a Clinical Psychologist
- $89.65 with a registered psychologist or Clinical Psychology Registrar
One of Medicare’s rules is that a rebate can only be paid if the person who is named on the referral (i.e. your child) attends the appointment. We hate this rule, but sadly we can’t change it. Even though parent-only appointments might be a really important part of your child’s therapy, a Medicare rebate cannot be paid for these.
These are a little more complicated but we can help join the dots for these.
- Your child will need to meet specific criteria for an Eating Disorders Treatment Plan.
- If they do, they are eligible for up to 40 sessions per calendar year.
- Your child will need a specific Review from their GP after each block of ten sessions.
- To go past twenty sessions, your child will also need a Review by a specialist (either a psychiatrist or a paediatrician) to continue.
- These referrals last for twelve months, after which you need to go back to the very beginning (and get a new plan) – no matter where you were up to.
Assessment Fees
These vary depending on the type of assessment and are based on how long it takes to complete the assessment. The fee for our most common assessments are:
- Autism Assessments: $1,600
- ADHD Assessments: $1,400
- Educational Assessments: $1,600
The fee covers:
- All appointments (including parent appointments and feedback sessions).
- Reviewing past assessments and reports.
- The time taken to score and interpret the assessment results.
- The time taken to prepare a comprehensive report.
- A brief discussion with another professional (such as your child’s teacher or paediatrician).
Absolutely. You can choose to make payments at each of the appointments rather than in a single lump sum. Please note: the report can only be finalised once the assessment has been paid for in full.
Other funding
Some private health funds provide a rebate for appointments with a clinical psychologist, but this can depend on your provider and the type of policy. Please contact your insurance provider to find out what coverage you have.
