At SECAP, we have always strived to keep our costs affordable, enabling as many people as possible access to our services. Our out of pocket expenses are lower than many providers. Sometimes, there will be no out of pocket cost at all.
FEE SCHEDULE
Effective 1 August 2023
General Psychologist
Monday-Friday: 9am – 4pm = $170
Monday-Friday: 5pm onwards = $200
Weekends = $200
Clinical Psychologist
Monday-Friday: 9am – 4pm = $210
Monday-Friday: 5pm onwards = $240
Weekends = $240
Relationship & Family Counselling
Relationship (Couples) and Family counselling = $200 per session at all times.
Note: Medicare rebates are not available for this service.
Medicare Rebates
General psychologist = $93.35
Clinical psychologist = $137.05
The Medicare rebate applies if you have a valid referral (a Mental Health Care Plan) for individual sessions from a GP, psychiatrist or a paediatrician, issued within the past 12 months. Otherwise standard fees under the schedule apply.
If you have a valid Mental Health Care Plan for individual sessions, you are eligible for up to ten Medicare-rebated visits per calendar year (initial 6 x visits, with a further 4 x sessions following a GP review).
You do not need to have a referral in order to make an appointment.
You also do not need a referral if you are claiming under your Extras cover within your private health fund.
Third Party Funding
If your psychology sessions are NDIS funded, there is no out of pocket expense.
Some of our psychologists also accept funding through TAC, WorkCover, DVA and VOCAT. Again, there is no out of pocket expense.
You may also choose to claim under your Extras cover within your private health fund, However, you will need to self-claim, so please ask us for a receipt.
Bulk Billing
Bulk billing is offered to eligible clients, i.e Services Australia (Centrelink) concession card holders with a valid referral (Mental Health Care Plan).
If we have capacity, bulk billed appointments are offered Monday-Friday, last appointment 3pm.
If we have no capacity, we can offer appointments with a much lower gap fee Monday-Friday, last appointment 4pm. Please enquire for more information.
Payment
The fees quoted are payable in full on the day of the appointment by cash or EFTPOS facility.
You may instruct your psychologist to procees fees using the payment information already stored on your file if you choose.
Medicare rebates are generally processed within one business day into a bank account of your choice, generally to the bank account stored under your Medicare profile within MyGov.
If your payment is unsuccessful for any reason (e.g. insufficient funds available or incorrect card details provided by you), we will attempt to contact you by phone, text or email and provide you with an opportunity to process the payment again. You will not be able to attend another appointment until payment is successful.
Medicare Safety Net
After reaching a threshold of out of pocket medical expenses, Medicare can provide higher rebates, Please visit
https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/medicare-safety-net for more information.
NON-ATTENDANCE AND CANCELLATION POLICY
Your appointment time is reserved for you. If you wish to change or cancel your appointment, we would be grateful if you could provide 48 hours’ notice. This will allow us to offer your appointment to other clients who may be waiting.
Cancellations or changes less than 24 hours before your appointment (not including weekends or public holidays) are subject to a cancellation fee – refer below.
e.g. if you have an appointment on a Monday at 2pm, please advise us ideally by Thursday 2pm but by no later than Friday 2pm.
Please note we cannot claim from Medicare or third parties for appointments not attended.
Cancellation / Non-Attendance Fees
Appointments cancelled or rescheduled with less than 24 hours’ notice will incur
50% of the appointment fee.
Appointments cancelled or rescheduled with less than 4 hours’ notice will incur
100% of the appointment fee.
The fee is a fee associated with cancellations, rescheduling or non-attended appointments. The fee applies to ALL types of appointments, including bulk billed.
The fee will be charged to your debit or credit card, per your signed consent provided on the Client Registration Form*.
*Note: We are currently aligning all existing clients to our new processes (introduced mid August 2023 for new clients). This includes our Client Registration Form and reqiurement for payment information (debit or credit card) for the purpose of short notice cancellations or non-attendance, where a fee applies.
If your payment is unsuccessful for any reason (e.g. insufficient funds available or incorrect card details provided by you), we will attempt to contact you by phone, text or email and provide you with an opportunity to process the payment again. You will not be able to attend another appointment until payment is successful.
Reminders
We offer a text reminder service prior to your scheduled appointment. However, you should not rely on this. It is your responsibility to record and remember the timing of any appointments you make.
Changing or Cancelling Your Appointment
Amendments to appointments should be made directly with your psychologist via phone, voicemail, text or email. Alternatively you may contact our Reception during opening hours (10am – 4pm, Monday – Friday).
Please keep in mind that all in-person appointments can be shifted to Telehealth (phone or video), even at the last minute. This can sometimes be a useful way to avoid unnecessarily cancelling or rescheduling a session with too little notice.
Finally, please note, insufficient notice and/or non-attendance on more than two occasions may result in a discontinuation of our service, even in cases where a cancellation fee has been incurred and paid.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
For further enquiries, please call 1300 554 662 or email us using the Quick Inquiry form located at the bottom of our Home page.
Last updated August 2023.
