Fees and FAQs

*Please note, appointment duration includes clinician time to support care (e.g. documentation).

*Please note, appointment duration includes clinician time to support care (e.g. documentation)

1. Important to know

   There are a large number of patients requesting services from the Mater health and Wellness Clinic. To ensure patients can receive services as quickly as possible, please let us know as soon as possible if you need to reschedule an appointment. This will allow us to offer the appointment time to someone else.

   Cancellations made with more than 24 hours’ notice can be re-booked at no additional cost.

   If you do not attend or if you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment, a cancellation fee of 50 per cent of the scheduled fee will be charged.

2. Cancellations within 24 hours due to Illness/extenuating circumstances

   We understand that there are times when you become unwell or are unable to make an appointment, for reasons outside your control. Where this happens within 24 hours of your appointment, we will waive the cancellation fee if this is the first time you have cancelled late and you book another appointment at the time of cancelling.

Mater Health and Wellness is not registered as an early childhood service.

This means:

• We can support participants aged 0 - 6 years whose NDIS plan funds are managed by an NDIS financial planner.
• We can support participants aged 0 - 6 years whose NDIS plan funds are self-managed.
• We cannot support participants aged 0 - 6 years whose NDIS plan funds are NDIS portal managed.

We offer the following services for NDIS participants aged for 0- 6 years:

• Dietitian support for nutrition and diet
• Occupational therapy for support with feeding and meal times
• Speech Pathology for support with sucking, swallowing and chewing
• Complex nutrition, feeding, swallowing and meal time support.

Mater Health and Wellness offers the following services:

• Hand and upper limb function therapy for adults including splint fabrication
• Lymphoedema management therapy for adults including garment and equipment applications.

NDIS participants that are Financially Plan Managed and Self-Managed (9-65 years)

Mater Health and Wellness offers the following services:

• Hand and upper limb therapy for adults including splint fabrication
• Lymphoedema management therapy for adults including garment and equipment applications.
• For children and adolescents requiring
  • Dietitian support for nutrition and diet
  • Occupational therapy for support with feeding and mealtime
  • Speech Pathology for support with sucking, swallowing and chewing
  • Complex feeding, swallowing and meal time support.

NDIS portal managed participants

Mater Health and Wellness requires a copy of your NDIS plan and the following Mater NDIS documents to be completed:

• Mater NDIS service agreement (once at your first session)
• Mater NDIS service booking (at your first session and ongoing as required)
• Mater NDIS Service Delivery Record (after each service at time of invoicing).

If regular therapy is agreed, then we will also discuss completing a Services Support Plan.

Mater Health and Wellness Services Support Plan outlines what we discuss in your assessment session including the goals you want to work on and how we will best work together to achieve these.

It is important to read your Services Support Plan and tell us if the information is not right or you would information changed. You are welcome to share your Services Support Plan with your NDIS Local Area Coordinator and other people that support you.

Sharing your NDIS Plan

We will ask all participants to share their NDIS plan before an assessment session to ensure our service is a good match to a participant's goals and therapy needs.

NDIS portal managed participants

Mater Health and Wellness requires the following Mater NDIS documents to be completed:

• Mater NDIS service agreement (completed once at your first session)
• Mater NDIS service booking (completed at your assessment session and ongoing as required)
• Mater NDIS Service Delivery Record (completed after each service is delivered as proof of service delivery).

If regular therapy is agreed, then we will also discuss completing a Services Support Plan.

Service booking and invoice payment information

• Families/participants can request a Mater NDIS service booking to assist them with managing appointment hours and the cost of Mater Health and Wellness services.
• Families/participants are responsible for ensuring NDIS plan funds are available to cover the cost of Mater Health and Wellness services.
• Families/participants self-managing NDIS plan funds will be asked to pay their invoice immediately after the Mater Health and Wellness service is provided.
• Families/participants using a NDIS financial plan manager will be asked to complete a Service Delivery Record (SDR) as proof an invoice should be emailed to your NDIS financial plan manager for payment.

Appointment cancellation fees and information

A 30 minutes cancellation fee will be invoiced, if you have not called to cancel or reschedule your appointment BEFORE the appointment is expected to start. 

A 30 minute cancellation fee will be issued to cover:

• time taken by clinician to prepare for the appointment
• calling the participant/family to explain you have missed your session and check you are safe
• complete medicolegal progress note.

Mater Health and Wellness will send you a SMS reminder 48 hours before your appointment. If you do not receive the SMS, your appointment is still booked. If you are unsure, please call our service to confirm your appointment.

If you need to reschedule, please call our service 48 hours before the appointment to reschedule. If you reschedule within 24 hours, and the Mater Health and Wellness clinician is unable to find other work to complete, you may be invoiced a 30 minute late cancellation fee.

When you leave Mater Health and Wellness

• If you decide to leave Mater Health and Wellness and move to another therapy provider, please notify our team as soon as possible to avoid any cancellation fees.
• Mater Health and Wellness can support you to complete any final therapy needs and or a transition letter for your new therapy team.

Your Mater Health and Wellness first appointment is an assessment. The clinician will ask the participant about their NDIS plan and goals and their home and community routines and activities. An assessment fee includes the assessment session time, the cost for your clinician to complete assessment notes, scoring any results, interpreting your assessment findings and developing recommendations.

• An extra fee will be required if you request an email, letter, report or written recommendations.
• Consent and an extra fee will be required if you ask your clinician to contact a doctor or teacher to collect more information or discuss assessment findings.
• An additional fee will be discussed if a Mater NDIS Services Support Plan is required.

Information about having multiple therapy providers

Let your clinician know if you are working with:

• Another therapy service to support participant with the same or similar NDIS goals.
• A service provider to support participant in the home or community with the same or similar NDIS goals.

Mater NDIS Services Support Plan

• Outlines what we discuss in your assessment session including the goals you want to work on including the steps we agree to work on together to achieve goals.
• Outlines how we will work together including a participants' network of support.
• It is important to read your Mater Services Support Plan and tell us if the information is not right or you prefer to change information.
• You are encouraged to share your Mater Services Support Plan with your NDIS Local Area Coordinator, Early Childhood Partner and other people or organisations that support regularly the participant.

Providing feedback to Mater Health and Wellness

• If you have any questions relating to your goals, how therapy is being delivered or how we could improve how we work with you, please discuss this with your clinician.
• If you have any concerns relating to your experience at Mater Health and Wellness please contact the Mater Patient Representative.
• If you are a NDIS participant and you do not believe your concerns are being addressed you can contact NDIS Commission directly.

To organise an NDIS funded interpreter to attend your therapy session please contact our administration team for further information.

Read more about NDIS interpreter services

For assistance with reading and understanding the Mater NDIS service agreement you can contact:

• The Mater Health and Wellness administration team and manager will contact you. 
• Share your Mater Health and Wellness correspondence and NDIS service agreement with your: NDIS Local Area Coordinator or Early Childhood Partner.  Read more about starting your NDIS plan.

Contact a Disability Advocate

Research tells us that patient/client treatment outcomes are the same or similar. Your clinician will let you know if telehealth is not appropriate and if they need to see you in the clinic.

Yes. Conversely can also change your clinic session to telehealth if you prefer.

When you receive your telehealth link in an email you will also receive information to help you set up and use telehealth. You will also receive a support contact number.

Contact your private health insurance and check with your GP about Medicare plan telehealth rebates.

Yes.