FEES AND REBATES
“To seek psychological treatment is a great investment in your overall wellbeing. The
journey into discovering and healing yourself and moving towards happiness is of no greater
gift.”
PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES
Appointments
Appointment bookings can be made in person or via telephone, Website contact form, email, or with our online booking system.
Once an appointment has been added to our Client diary, our booking system will automatically send the Client an appointment confirmation email.
Vitality Unleashed Psychology will endeavour to send the Client a courtesy email appointment reminder four (4) days prior and a courtesy SMS reminder two (2) business days prior to the next scheduled appointment date. The Client is required to action this SMS by replying ‘Yes’ to confim, or ‘No’ should the Client need to cancel or reschedule. Should the Client require a change to their next scheduled appointment time and date, the Client is required to contact Vitality Unleashed Psychology at minimum no later than 5pm, two business days prior to their scheduled appointment to advise of the change to avoid a cancellation fee.
To cancel or reschedule an appointment the Client must contact Vitality Unleashed Psychology in person, by phone, by text or by email.
We want to make sure that you commit yourself to your treatment so that you get the best possible outcomes, thus we try to encourage you to keep your appointment where possible. If you do need to change your appointment, it helps us and our clients who are on a waiting list to have an earlier appointment when we have sufficient notice of cancellation. Vitality Unleashed Psychology operates a Cancellation Policy with cancellation fees incurred for non-attendance without notice and late cancellation of all scheduled appointments with Vitality Unleashed Psychology.
For full information about our Cancellation Policy.
It is the Client’s full responsibility to ensure they provide their correct email address and mobile phone number to Vitality Unleashed Psychology and update any changes to these contact details with us to ensure they receive the email and SMS appointment confirmations and reminders.
All email and SMS appointment reminders and confirmations are provided as a courtesy to help the Client remember their appointment. Whilst Vitality Unleashed Psychology endeavours to ensure all Clients receive email and SMS appointment courtesy reminders and confirmations, Vitality Unleashed Psychology is released of all responsibility for the Client failing to receive any and all email and SMS appointment reminder and confirmation messages, whether due to technical issue or other reasons.
For psychology, we offer 4 tiers of consultation fees depending on the qualifications and experience of the practitioner.
Principal, Clinical Psychologist – This is the Owner/Director of the clinic who is also a Clinical Psychologist with 15 years of experience.
Clinical Psychologist – This is a Psychologist who has achieved their full endorsement as a Clinical Psychologist with AHPRA.
Registered Psychologist – This is a Psychologist who has achieved General Registration as a Psychologist with AHPRA.
This also includes ‘Clinical Psychology Registrars’ who have general registration currently, but are working towards their clinical endorsement.
Provisional Psychologist – This is a Psychologist who has completed 5 years of tertiary qualifications and initial training, and are undertaking a program of supervised training (Internship) as they develop their skills to gain their General Registration. They are Provisionally Registered with AHPRA.
Fees below are effective as of 1st July 2024.
TYPE |
FULL FEE |
MEDICARE REBATE(IF APPLICABLE) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Initial Consultation – Principal, Clinical Psychologist |
$315 | $141.85 | |
Subsequent Consultations – Principal, Clinical Psychologist |
$295 | $141.85 | |
Initial Consultation – Clinical Psychologist |
$300 | $141.85 | |
Subsequent Consultations – Clinical Psychologist |
$280 | $141.85 | |
Initial Consultation – Registered Psychologist |
$260 | $96.65 | |
Subsequent Consultations – Registered Psychologist |
$240 | $96.65 | |
Initial Consultation – Provisional Psychologist |
$150 | — | |
Subsequent Consultations – Provisional Psychologist |
$140 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 1 Attendee – Initial Consultation |
$315 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 1 Attendee – Subsequent Consultations |
$295 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 2 Attendees – Initial Consultation |
$325 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 2 Attendee – Subsequent Consultations |
$305 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 3-4 Attendees – Initial Consultation |
$335 | — | |
Relationship/Family Therapy 3-4 Attendees – Subsequent Consultations |
$315 | — |
Consultation fees are payable at the time of attending the consultation, before the session commences, with the exception of Telehealth consultations, which must be paid prior to commencement of your session.
We will process payment for Telehealth sessions to your card on file on the morning of your scheduled session. Or, in the event your appointment is early in the morning we may process it the day before.
You can pre-pay your fee ahead of time, or use a different payment method, by contacting the clinic at any time during office hours.
Vitality Unleashed Psychology is not a bulk billing practice.
If you are pre-approved by a Third-Party (eg DVA, NDIS, WorkCover), your approved sessions will be payable by them. You must provide documentation to support this for us to be able to bill directly to any Third-Party.
Extended Appointment Times
All sessions are strictly 50 minutes in duration. If your consultation runs over time and you wish to continue past the allocated time providing the Practitioner is able to facilitate this, additional fees are payable at a pro-rata rate of the standard consultation fee.
If you would like to request a longer than usual consultation, please discuss this with reception or your practitioner prior to your appointment.
Please note; additional Medicare rebate amounts do not apply for extended consultations.
Case Conferences
We often receive requests to consult with third-parties such as caregivers, schools (eg: guidance officer), support workers or other professionals involved in a clients treatment. These consultations are referred to as a ‘Case Conference’ and are charged at a pro-rata rate of the full consultation fee, in 10 minute increments. Where these costs are not covered by a Medicare rebate or other third party, they will be payable by the Client personally.
You will be asked to sign a form giving authority to consult with the requested third party, and will be given the opportunity to discuss the details of the Case Conference, and its expected duration, before giving approval.
Psychology Reports, Letters & Forms Fees
Fees for the preparation & writing of psychological letters & reports and completion of forms (requested by clients or third parties), including completion of insurance reports, that require time outside of consultation to be completed, are charged at the current hourly APS rate of $311/hr + GST (pro-rata rate per 60 minutes).
Please discuss your letter/report/form requirements and associated fee with our practice. Please be aware that reports/letters/forms that require time outside of your consultation generally will not be able to written that same day and may take up to 2+ weeks or more to complete depending on the nature of your request, so please ensure that you allow enough notice provided to your Psychologist for your request.
A 50% deposit is required to commence writing your report and full payment is required before we are able to release the document to you.
Release of Client Files
We charge a fee to provide a release of a copy of aspects of a client’s file. This fee is charged at $163.00 + GST. This fee is charged to the client if the client is requesting the release of a copy of their file. This fee is charged to the third-party if the third-party is requesting this release.
Debit/Credit Card Details
At the time of booking your initial consultation, we require the details of a valid your debit/credit card to be held on file. We will use these card details to deduct any outstanding invoiced amounts (including cancellation fees) that remain unpaid past their due date, as well as process any payments for Telehealth consultations. You will be notified of any outstanding invoices that are payable. Your card details provided will be stored in a secure SSL-encrypted database.
Transaction fees
Transaction fees apply for payments made to your card on file via our medical software, or via our eftpos machine.
- Payments via Halaxy (medical software) = 1.7% per transaction
- Payments via Eftpos (Tap – credit function) = 1.65% per transaction
- Payments via Eftpos (insert – sav/chq account) = $0.30 per transaction
To avoid these fees, payments can be made via bank deposit but must be received prior to consultation or at the time of consultation.
Third-Party Billing
Our clinic provides psychological services for people who receive funding for their treatment by third-party providers including but not limited to:
- Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA)
- WorkCover QLD
- QPS Early Intervention Program
- CTP Insurance (e.g., Allianz, Suncorp etc)
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
- Victim Assist QLD
- Legal
- Professional Sporting Clubs (e.g., Football, Swimming)
- and more..
Please ask our reception to confirm if we provide psychological services under your third-party cover at the time of your booking enquiry. If your psychological services are covered by a third party, you are typically not liable to pay us directly for invoices incurred, as it is usually that we send the invoices to your third-party provider for payment. However, please confirm this with us first.
Medicare Rebates
Accessing a Registered Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist has never been easier with the help of the Medicare rebates for Psychology sessions making it much more affordable to come and see one of our Gold Coast Psychologists.
Clients with a valid Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) psychology referral provided by their GP/Psychiatrist are eligible for up to 10 (MHCP) Medicare Rebated psychology sessions per calendar year. MHCPs are designed to help provide financial assistance to those people with mental health difficulties to access the services of a Registered Psychologist & Clinical Psychologist. Book an appointment with your GP to discuss getting a MHCP if you feel you would benefit from psychological help.
Note; GP Referrals are not necessary to see Provisional Psychologists as no Medicare rebate is applicable. You can self-refer at any time.
Clients with an eligible Eating Disorder Management Plan (EDMP) can access up to 40 Medicare rebated psychology sessions per calendar year.
Note: Medicare does not provide a Medicare Rebate for ‘Relationship Counselling/Couples Therapy’ under the MHCP as the Medicare rebates are for the treatment of mental health issues. If you require couples counselling the above consultation fee is payable in full by the client. If you have private health cover, you may receive a rebate from your Private Health Care Fund.
For information about how the MHCPs under Medicare work, click here.
Private Health Fund Rebates
If you have a private health fund cover, you may be eligible to receive a rebate from your fund for psychological or dietetics services you receive from our clinic. You will need to discuss how much your fund will cover you per session and per year directly with your fund as your fund determines this information.
Outstanding Payments
Invoices due will be emailed (or posted to your nominated address if you have not supplied an email address) and payment will be deducted from your nominated card on file and is required by the due date to avoid the following fees in addition to your original invoiced amount:
Late payment fee: $10.00. This fee will be applied to the outstanding invoice following the non-receipt of payment past the due date of the invoice.
Debt recovery fee: $15.00. This fee will be applied to the outstanding invoice in addition to the late payment fee should the outstanding invoice remain unpaid and require debt recovery action by an external debt collector.
If you are having difficulty paying your invoice on time, we do offer payment plans that are suitable for your financial situation. Please contact us immediately upon receipt of your invoice to avoid these additional overdue account fees.