Fees & Rebates

Supports and Support Fee Policy

The policy outlines a comprehensive range of supports tailored to paediatric clients and their families. These include therapeutic services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech/language therapy. Our services can also include educational support, nutritional guidance, and family coaching. Additionally, this encompasses social work services for advocacy and care coordination, developmental assessments, trials and assistance with specialised equipment, and home-based, school or community services when accessible. Parent education, support groups, and efforts in research and advocacy further enhance our clinic's commitment to a holistic approach to care and improved outcomes for children.

Rates for Services are as follows:

Therapeutic Supports (0128) and Early Intervention Support (0118) $193.99/hour

Travel time up to 30 minutes (maximum $97.00) $193.99/hour

Travel distance charged at a rate of $1/km for each kilometre travelled by the clinician for any community, home or school visits.

Lifespan Therapies operates on a 45/60 model to support the preparation and provision of resources that occurs outside of therapy time to ensure quality client sessions. This price applies for all chargeable services including:

• Direct therapy provision

• Late cancellations and no shows

• Regular session related Indirect supports (goal setting and review of goals, legally required documentation for all service delivery, therapy preparation and liaison to enable successful provision)

• Additional supports including reports, AT Applications, resource production, stakeholder meetings and phone calls/emails. Case conferencing occurs on a quarterly basis (can vary depending on the client) to ensure all supports align to ensure maximal service quality and goal attainment.

Therapy Provision and Schedule of Supports

After completing initial assessments , the therapy team will organise with the participant and nominee to complete goal setting, determine suitable supports to achieve the NDIS goals and allow completion of the Schedule of Therapy. Supports suggested may not be delivered by the same therapist at all times. Allied Health Assistants are often utilised to maximise therapy outcomes.

When the leading therapist is unavailable (eg. sick or on leave), we may allocate an Allied Health Assistant when suitable to ensure continued progress of therapy. Should this occur, it will be charged at the AHA rate of $86.79 + travel and km fees. If continued AHA services are wanting to be explored, a separate agreement and schedule of supports will be provided.

All clients have a standard allocation to their Schedule of Therapies. Please note this time allowance may not always be fully used or utilised. Should more than this allocated amount be required, therapists will discuss the recommended support time/funding required prior to complete before proceeding.

• 5 hours Annual reporting and non-contact supports: this is to cover the annual progress and/or summary report that therapists provide for clients and the NDIS to provide support of funding and appropriate supports. Where you require a complete report (including a NDIS progress report), our therapists require minimum 4-6 weeks’ notice to complete these assessments and reports. Our therapists will recommend a summary progress report to be completed as a minimum. This will ensure you have documented evidence of your child's progress for your own records.

• 5 hours for Resources: This allowance can cover letters, summary documents and indirect services as time spent by the team for tasks specific to the child, such as individual resources.

• 5 hours Stakeholder collaboration for progress updates and reviews with the clients family/guardians. As well as other clinicians within the multidisciplinary care team, including external supports. Phone calls or emails to schools/supports services/ stakeholders meetings for collaboration and therapy planning.

Goals will be reviewed at regular intervals appropriate for the participant, to ensure goals are on track to being achieved. These goal reviews are an important to communicate progress to all members of the care team and maximise outcomes. Charges will be made based on the duration of these meetings, in line with our price guide.

If a client is seen without their primary caregiver in a community setting, a quarterly review is required during school holidays. At least one session will be dedicated to this review, focusing on the treatment plan, updated coaching, and NDIS contributions. This policy ensures clear communication and supports your child's development, with face-to-face or telehealth options available. For clients receiving services from multiple therapists, joint sessions can be requested, subject to management approval.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

As a supplier of services and supports registered for GST, most services provided to the NDIS participant will be GST-free in accordance with the New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. Specifically, under section 38-38 of the Act, supplies of disability supports are GST-free if they are provided to a participant of the NDIS under a plan approved by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Self-Managed Clients

If you are self-managed:

• Payment is required on the day for private clients with these appointments to be held in the clinic unless prior arrangements have been made. All invoices are to be paid within 7 days of being received. 

• Should accounts be more than two invoices outstanding, appointments will be placed on hold and clients returned to waitlist. This policy allows us to continue being able to offer high quality, tailored support for all clients to achieve their goals. 

• You are solely responsible for  submitting a Payment Request to receive the funds under your NDIS Plan/NDIS Budget.

• We reserve the right to reduce the Supports or stop providing the Supports to you if payment is not in accordance with this Agreement and we may refer you to a collection agency.
  
  IMPORTANT PAYMENT INFORMATION: You must put the invoice number LT… in the second reference line of any bank transfers to ensure we accurately match your payment.

Plan-Managed Clients

If you are plan-managed, we will send invoices to your Plan Manager for payment.

• If your funds are NDIA-managed, we create a Service Booking in the NDIS Portal in accordance with this agreement, then make subsequent payment requests after providing Supports.

Cancellation Policy

At Lifespan Therapies, we require 2 clear business days’ notice of any service cancellation, as therapists prepare sessions ahead of time. Although NDIS have a policy outlining all appointments that are cancelled within 7 clear days 100% fees are to be charged, we understand 7 days can be hard to plan ahead for families. Lifespan feels this 2 clear days cancellation notices allows us to remain a viable business and continue supporting many other children and participants in the community. For NDIS participants, charges apply as per the NDIS guidelines. In the event where a therapist arrives at the therapy location and the session cannot occur, both the session fee & the travel cost will also be charged for this appointment.   

• Cancellations less than 48 hours before the time of your appointment incur a 100% cancellation fee.

• Failure to attend an appointment without providing prior notice incurs a 100% cancellation fee.

Repeat Cancellations

As a reminder, fees are charged for appointments cancelled within our cancellation period of two business days. 

To provide a fair and timely service, as per the Lifespan service agreement if the client/family cancel or do not attend more than 3 appointments within the 3 months, management reserve the right to cease services or place the client back onto the waitlist and the existing spot given to someone else on our waitlist.

Please note all the above decisions are purely at the discretion of the Lifespan Management Team and not our therapist or admin team. If you have any concerns please contact management directly at management@lifespantherapies.com.au