FEES

Irregular / One-Off Bookings:
$235 (i.e., one off cancellations)

Regular Appointment time-slots:
Off-peak: $255-260 / Peak: $275-280 (weekends, after hours)

Initial /First Appointments: additional $50 cost (additional administration)

Visit the Australian Psychological Society or Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. to find out more about up-to-date recommended psychological fees.

  • Report writing, external communication to other professionals or behavioural observations (i.e., school): Pro-rata charges based on time required at $75/15mins. Services less than 15 minutes are free.

  • Medicare rebates are available with a valid referral. Rebates are available for Zoom sessions and up to 2 parent only sessions per year.

  • Self Managed & Plan managed NDIS clients are welcome. Additional charges may apply if additional administration is required for setting up plan managed payments.

MEDICARE REBATES

Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP): If you have a ‘mental disorder’ you are eligible for 10 Medicare rebated sessions per calendar year via a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP). These are generally broken into 2 referrals (maximum of 6 sessions per referral). You need a new referral from your GP each time you have used all sessions on your referral.

The Australian Government offers access to 10 rebated psychological sessions per calendar year (resets from January 1) for those with an eligible 'mental disorder' (for more details about Medicare & Psychology).

It is the client’s responsibility to keep track of how many rebated sessions are remaining on a referral, remaining for the year and the need for a new referral. Failure to do so may result in being required to pay the full fee for a session. To claim and manage these rebated sessions, you will require the following:

  1. Visit your GP to obtain: 1) a Mental Health Care Plan/Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHCP/MHTP, only needed once if a current MHCP is still in place) & 2) a Referral Letter (Only psychology sessions dated on/after the date of your referral can be claimed)

  2. Send/Bring the Referral Letter to your psychologist. If your psychologist does not have a copy of your referral they cannot process your referral for you and you will have to pay the full fee of the session. Whilst the MHCP/MHTP contains valuable information that your clinician may benefit from having for treatment purposes, in order to process your rebate only the Referral Letter is necessary.

  3. Obtain a new Referral Letter from your GP when the allotted amount of sessions have been used. Referrals are given out in groups of sessions, usually the first referral being for 6 sessions, requiring another GP visit to receive your remaining 4 sessions once you have completed your first referral (check your referral for session amount as this can vary depending on the GP). Your psychologist will need to send your referring GP a progress report.

  4. Keep track of your rebated sessions. As a courtesy, Chris Gilbert Psychology assists in processing Medicare rebates for services at Chris Gilbert Psychology and keeping track of rebates processed at Chris Gilbert Psychology via listing sessions used and remaining on your receipt (i.e., 4th of 6 appts) and generally sending reminder emails about the requirement for a new referral after the final session on your referral. Chris Gilbert Psychology may only be aware of sessions claimed at this service. As such, if a client claims psychology services outside of Chris Gilbert Psychology or processes a claim themself for a service at Chris Gilbert Psychology, estimates of sessions claimed and/or remaining reported by Chris Gilbert Psychology may be inaccurate and Chris Gilbert Psychology does not assume responsibility for keeping track of your used Medicare rebates.

You will need to keep track of how many Medicare sessions you have claimed. If you have no more sessions remaining on your current referral, you have completed all 10 available sessions for the year or your referral is invalid (i.e., dated after your session, more than a year past your session, invalid information, etc.) you will not be eligible for a Medicare rebate and you will be required to pay the full amount for the session. You can manage your Medicare claims online, via the app or by phone.

For more information, visit the Medicare website.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDM): Some chronic conditions qualify for an additional 5 sessions per year. Check if your GP offers CDMs. The rebate is significantly less than a MHCP.

Private Health Insurance: Some health providers (depending on your coverage) provide rebates for psychology services. Check with your provider to see if you are eligible.