Our Fee Schedule

If you have:

1. A Mental Health Care Plan and a referral letter from your GP from this calendar year or; 

2. Your private insurer covers the cost of psychological therapy; 

3. Psychological services indicated in your NDIS funding plan;

Please forward all relevant documentation before your first session to admin@chatcorner.com.au 

• The current Medicare Australia psychology rebate and NDIS Psychologist rate for the current year applies for individual telehealth therapy sessions.
• Please be ready 10 minutes before your appointment time.
• Therapy sessions are per 50 minute basis.
• There are clients scheduled before and after your session. If you are late, this reduces the total available time you have for your session.
• It is possible to extend your session. This is dependent on whether a cancellation has been made after your session. The extra time will be chargeable based on a pro-rated amount of time added.
• Debit and Credit Card are acceptable forms of payment.

Refundable Deposit

In order to secure your appointment, Chat Corner Psychologists will request a deposit of 55 Australian dollars to secure your scheduled appointment time. This amount is retained during the course of your treatment and then returned once your therapy has either concluded or when you decide to no longer continue with therapy. 

Kindly note that our payment processor charges a 2.08 Australian dollar fee in addition to the 55 Australian dollar deposit. This amount is non-refundable. 

Cancellation Policy for Medicare and Full Fee clients

We gently remind our clients that we have a cancellation policy where if less than two (2) clear business days notice is provided to cancel or change an appointment, or where you do not attend an appointment, you will be charged a full fee for the appointment that was scheduled. The Booking Fee of 55 Australian dollars will be applied to the therapy session you have missed. 

Subsequently, in order to re-book a new therapy session after a missed appointment, you agree to pay the difference between the Booking Fee of 55 Australian dollars and the cost of your session involved and, deposit a new Booking Fee for your next appointment. 

Cancellation Policy for NDIS clients

The NDIS Price Guide provides that NDIS Participants who notify us of a cancellation less than two (2) clear business days before a scheduled therapy appointment will be charged a cancellation fee of up to 100% of the agreed price. 

The number of short notice cancellations (or no-shows) that a provider can claim in respect of a participant is not limited. 

If you have a Medicare card or are registered with the private health provider, you may be eligible for a fee rebate for your therapy sessions. Please check and confirm if you are eligible for these rebates prior to your session.

For those accessing the Medicare Australia psychology rebate:

1. Please visit your GP and obtain a valid Referral Letter and Mental Health Care Plan. 

2. Your Referral Letter will allow you to obtain the Medicare Australia rebate for up to 10 sessions for the calendar year, which are distributed in a sequence of 6 sessions and subsequently 4 sessions. On your appointment day, a full payment for the session will be processed by Medicare.

Please forward this information to your GP immediately if you are requesting an early appointment.  

Kindly ask your GP to send a Mental Health Care Plan and Referral Letter from this calendar year to admin@chatcorner.com.au, addressed to “Chat Corner Psychologists“.

Medicare Australia requires the GP referral letter to be addressed to ‘Chat Corner Psychologists’ and the number of sessions approved to be specified. 

This will include either:

• 6 sessions if accessing the Medicare rebate for the first time this calendar year
• 4 sessions if interim report after initial 6 sessions

Forward this information to your GP if you’re obtaining a:

1. A new Mental Health Care Plan
2. A new referral for this year
3. A referral letter addressed to “Chat Corner Psychologists”

Contact us via phone or email if you have any questions.

Tel: 02 8091 1288 – NSW, QLD

Tel: 03 9013 6388 – VIC, TAS

Tel: 08 7200 6688 – WA, SA, NT

admin@chatcorner.com.au

www.chatcorner.com.au

4. If you incur a ‘Gap fee’, full payment for the session is required. The rebate will then be processed back to your nominated bank account with Medicare Australia.

The Department of Health has issued a statement indicating that Telehealth services will be available for all Australians. 

This means you have the option of obtaining your services by Telehealth. This is particularly beneficial for individuals considered vulnerable populations.

Vulnerable means a patient who:

•  is required to self-isolate or self-quarantine in accordance with guidance issued by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee in relation to COVID-19; or 
• is at least 70 years old; or
• if the person identifies as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent—is at least 50 years old; or
• is pregnant; or 
• is the parent of a child aged under 12 months; or
• is being treated for a chronic health condition; or 
• is immune compromised; or 
• meets the current national triage protocol criteria for suspected COVID-19 infection.

Important few key points you should be aware of:

• As providers, we can offer audio-only services via telephone if video is not available.
• Services can be provided through widely available video calling apps and software such as Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, Duo, GoToMeeting and others.
• Telehealth items allow providers to continue to deliver essential health care services to patients within their care.
• Patients are required to consent to their service being provided by Telehealth.
• A service may only be provided by Telehealth where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so.
• Telehealth services are for non-admitted patients.

Individuals, families and emergency response personnel who cannot easily access mental health professionals in person, will be able to obtain counselling and support through video telehealth services, with Medicare rebates.

You will be able to make an appointment without a GP referral.

If you have a private health insurance provider, please check if you are eligible for a rebate or if obtaining an insurer’s rebate requires a referral from the GP or a Mental Health Care Plan. It is important to consult your private health insurance provider in advance if you require further information regarding whether you’re eligible for psychological treatments and the amounts that you can claim. 

NDIS participants must meet key criteria:

1. Being under the age of 65.
2. Have a permanent disability – means your disability is likely to be lifelong.
3. Having a significant disability – substantial impact on your ability to complete everyday activities.

Any information information from your doctors, healthcare professionals you work with, support groups, networks and associated individuals will be great beneficial towards determining the form of therapeutic support your require. 

NDIS participants must complete a Service Agreement. Please refer to this article to find out more about “Finding the right NDIS Psychologist”.

We welcome plan and self-managed participants.