Fees
Our standard consultation fee to see a registered psychologist is $200*. Clients with a referral and a Mental Health Treatment Plan from their GP receive a Medicare rebate of $96.65 per Counselling Psychology appointment, subject to conditions which are explained below. This amount is rebated after payment, leaving a gap of $103.35 for each consultation.
The fee to see a clinical psychologist is higher but the Medicare rebate is also higher by the same amount. A consultation with a clinical psychologist (i.e. Tegan Haywood) is $244*. The Medicare rebate for these consultations is $141.85, which leaves basically the same gap as for seeing a registered psychologist: $102.15.
Clients receiving EMDR therapy may occasionally need longer sessions; these are charged at a pro rata of a standard session, i.e. a double session is charged at twice the standard rate. Your psychologist will discuss this with you before booking any non-standard sessions.
We strive to keep our fees at an affordable level. Our HICAPS connection means eligible clients can immediately receive their Medicare rebate at the time of consultation. You must have a card connected to a debit account with you for us to be able to process your Medicare rebate on the spot.
* Payments made with the following card types incur a bank surcharge of 1.3%: Visa, Visa Debit or Prepaid, Mastercard, Mastercard Debit or Prepaid. You can avoid this surcharge by paying with an EFTPOS card not connected to Visa or Mastercard.
Please note: If you have reached your Medicare Safety Net threshold within a calendar year the Medicare rebate is increased (meaning less out-of-pocket expenses per consultation for the rest of the calendar year).
We do not offer a bulk billing service.
Mental Health Treatment Plans
In December 2022 the Federal Government announced it is reverting back to the pre-COVID limit on Medicare rebates for psychology services of 10 sessions per calendar.
Medicare rebates are available for up to 10 individual and 10 group allied mental health services per calendar year to clients who have a Mental Health Treatment Plan provided by a GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician.
Your GP or psychiatrist can refer you for up to six individual and/or six group allied mental health services at a time, after which your psychologist will write to your doctor and request another block of up to six sessions if required.
What happens at the end of the calendar year?
You do not need to return to your GP at the beginning of a new calendar year if you still have remaining services left on your current referral. These rollover into the next calendar year. However it is strictly 10 services per calendar year, meaning any services you carry forward will count towards the 10 total services for the next calendar year.
For example, if a client had used 7 of their 10 sessions in 2023, and still had three remaining on their referral, those three can be used in 2024. Once these have been used the patient has now used three of the 10 possible in the year of 2024. As all services have then been used on the previous referral, the client would need to return to their GP or psychiatrist/paediatrician to have their referral extended, or to get a new MHTP if their reason for seeking treatment has changed.
It may also be the case that you have services still remaining on your referral but have already had 10 sessions in one calendar year. In this situation the services left will not be able to be used until the following calendar year.
Compensable clients
No gap payment is required from approved compensable clients, i.e. those being funded by WorkCover, TAC, VACU or another organisation.
We do see a small number of NDIS clients but require the client to pay us the scheduled NDIS fee at the time of the appointment. It is then the client’s responsibility to claim the fee from their plan manager using our receipt.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask at reception.