Patient Information Sheet: Schedule of fees
This sheet is current as at 8 November 2023 and subject to change, please ensure to check prior to your appointment.
The Australian Psychological Society updates recommended session fees for clinical psychologists every year. For 2023/2024 it is $300 per session.
This is a sample of the most common appointments. Sessions involving reports, parent consultations or specific assessments incur different fees and Medicare rebates.
Click on the fee type to reveal more information
Mental Health Care Plan referral (by GP or paediatrician or psychiatrist)
Standard 50 min session (face to face or via telehealth): $220
Medicare rebate: $137.05
Rebates are typically available for up to 10 sessions (6 sessions + 4 sessions with referrals from your GP or doctor). If you have a valid Mental Health Care Plan referral, Karen will charge your card for the full amount and submit a Medicare rebate claim for you via Halaxy after the appointment.
If you are under the age of 14, we will be required to submit this invoice under an adult Claimant and will require their full name, date of birth and Medicare details for this.
Eating Disorders Management Plans (by GP or psychiatrist)
Standard 50 min session (face to face or via telehealth): $220
Medicare rebate: $137.05
If you have a valid Eating Disorders Management Plan referral (NB plans have 12 months validity), Karen will charge your card for the full amount and submit a Medicare rebate claim for you via Halaxy after the appointment.
Private paying without referral
Standard 50 min session (face to face or via telehealth): $220
NDIS
Standard 50 min session (face to face or via telehealth): $220
Karen will provide you with an invoice after payment which you can submit to NDIS for rebate.
Private Health Funds
Standard 50 min session (face to face or via telehealth): $220
Karen will provide you with an invoice after payment which you can submit to your private health fund.
RO DBT modules
Each live zoom module is $330. This fee is for all 6 classes including handouts and recordings. There is no refund for partial attendance. If you enrol for all 4 modules, the total cost is $1320.
Each self-paced module is $300 with the entire course being $1020 if enrolling in all 4 modules (including 20% existing student discount). Karen will monitor your participation for 6 weeks and provide active feedback.
NDIS and some private health funds will accept claims related to RO DBT classes. Karen will issue an invoice that you can use for these claims but it is up to individual fund managers to decide whether claims are accepted.
Reports
Billed at $220 per hour + GST
Cancellations or No shows
Cancellations with less than 2 business days’ notice will incur a $110 cancellation fee, less than 24 hours’ notice result in a fee equal to the full cost of the appointment.
Further details
It is important that parents be involved in the assessment and management of children and adolescents. Parents may need their own referrals or need to be included on the original referral in order for parent-only consultations to be eligible for a Medicare rebate.
Rebates will be higher once you or your family reaches the annual Medicare Safety Net threshold. Individuals are registered automatically, however couples and families must be formally registered with Medicare for this to take effect, and the family’s details need to be updated as family members change (for instance when a child is born). Call Medicare on 132 011 for more details.
Mental Health Care Plan
To be eligible for a Medicare rebate you must have a current referral either a Mental Health Care Plan referral from a GP or from a paediatrician or psychiatrist. These referrals entitle the patient to a Medicare rebate for up to 10 consultations per calendar year (6 + 4 each year).
You will need to make an appointment with your GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician, as they will need to assess whether you can benefit from counselling with a psychologist.
If your GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician agree that counselling would be beneficial, they will provide you with a Mental Health Care Plan so that you can access counselling with a Psychologist under the Better Access initiative.
The Better Access initiative covers people with mental disorders arising from:
- Alcohol use disorder
- Adjustment disorder
- Attention deficit disorder
- Bereavement disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Chronic fatigue
- Conduct disorder
- Co-occurring anxiety and depression
- Depression
- Dissociative disorder
- Drug use disorder
- Eating disorders
- Enuresis
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Mental disorder, not otherwise specified
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder
- Phobic disorder
- Posttraumatic stress disorder
- Psychotic disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Sexual disorders
- Sleep problems
- Unexplained somatic complaints
Your doctor must first assess that you require the services of a psychologist. They will specify the number of sessions you can obtain a rebate for before you have to be reviewed again by them. Under the Better Access initiative, eligible people can receive: Up to 10 individual sessions in a calendar year (1 January to 31 December).
Referrals cannot be provided for the full 10 sessions upfront. A referral is for a maximum of six sessions. Your referring doctor will assess your progress after the first six sessions and determine whether further sessions are needed.
Eating Disorders
People living with an eating disorder are eligible to Medicare rebates for up to 40 psychological sessions and 20 dietetic sessions within a 12-month period. You will require a review with your GP after 10 sessions and if further sessions are beneficial you will require a specialist psychiatric or paediatrician review.
If you are given an Eating Disorder Plan (EDP), you will be required to see a psychiatrist or a paediatrician after 20 Eating Disorder Psychological Treatment (EDPT) sessions. Due to the availability of these specialists, it is important that your GP makes this referral at your initial appointment or at your 10 session review.
Please refer to the following guide which can also be found at: Medicare eating disorders