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Fees

Commatters Speech Therapy's fee schedule is in line with the hourly rate outlined NDIS price guide. As of January 2022, this is $193.99 per hour for the Darwin/Palmerston areas. If you are living outside of these areas, services are charged in line with the NDIS price guide remote/very remote rates (The hourly rate this will depend on the area so please contact us for confirmation).  

Commatters Speech Therapy charge fees for travel, reports, resource development, case conferences and correspondence (including email) in addition to face-to-face services.

Typically sessions are booked for 1 hour, which allows for 45min face to face during the session and then 15 minutes for completion of clinical notes. However, we recognise this may not be appropriate for all clients and can adjust the session time based on discussions between the speech pathologist and parent/carer giver/support person. 

Private paying clients and those who are self-managing their NDIS funding are required to make electronic payment for services on the day they are provided. Commatters Speech Therapy does not issue an invoice for self-managed participants and payment is required on the day.

We recognise the high cost of speech pathology services to private paying clients. if you are experiencing financial hardship, please email or call our Director - Yolande Burdekin for a confidential discussion. 

Attendance and Cancellation Policies

Attendance Policy
Your success in speech therapy can be greatly enhanced with regular attendance, communicating with your therapist and practicing the homework provided by your therapist.
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Commatters Speech Therapy is implementing an updated attendance policy to monitor and ensure that patients regularly attend their scheduled appointments for an overall successful speech therapy program. The policy states that sessions may be suspended and the client returned to the waitlist for any of the following reasons:
  • Two no shows (i.e. missed appointments without a telephone call to cancel),
  • Erratic and/or inconsistent attendance (including, arriving late for appointments),
  • Less than 80% attendance at scheduled appointments
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All of the above may adversely affect your progress and likelihood of achieving your communication or feeding goals. If you are experiencing challenges attending regular appointments, we encourage you to discuss this with your speech pathologist. Please note, re-admission to therapy will require approval of the Practice Director.
Punctuality for appointments allows adequate therapist/patient interaction and also time to report outcomes to parents. If you are 10 minutes or more late, you may not be able to be seen at that time and could have to wait until your next scheduled appointment. Due to scheduling constraints,  if your speech pathologist proceeds with the appointment, your appointment will still finish at the same scheduled end time.
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Cancellation Policy
Commatters Speech Therapy understands there are times when planned sessions cannot go ahead. If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, we appreciate as much notice as possible.
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To avoid a cancellation fee,  Commatters Speech Therapy requires a minimum of 48 hours notice if the participant cannot make a scheduled appointment. If the notice is not provided, 100% of the agreed fee will apply (as per the NDIS price guide). The fee will only be required if the clinician cannot find alternative billable work for the time that would have been spent providing the support.
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All cancellations must be made by either, phoning the practice on 0434 210 720, or emailing hello@commattersspeechtherapy.com. Please note, cancellations will not be accepted through social media channels.
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A cancellation is defined as; if the participant:
  • Does not show up for a scheduled support within a reasonable time, or is not present at the agreed place and within a reasonable time; or
  • Has given less than two (2) clear business days’ notice for a support.
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Privacy Policy

Commatters Speech Therapy is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.
 
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au
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What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect include: names, addresses, email addresses, phone and date of birth.
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This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone, by email, via our website www.learnandthrivetherapy.com.au, from cookies and from third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.
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We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you. When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
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Sensitive Information:
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
 
Sensitive information will be used by us only:
•           For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
•           For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
•           With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
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Third Parties:
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
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Disclosure of Personal Information:
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
•           Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
•           Where required or authorised by law.
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Security of Personal Information:
Your Personal Information is securely stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.
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When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
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Access to Your Personal Information:
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing.
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Commatters Speech Therapy will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.
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In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
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Maintaining the Quality of Your Personal Information:
It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will  take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
 
If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
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Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
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Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact our Director, Yolande Burdekin at:
9/22 Georgina Crescent, Yarrawonga NT.
hello@commattersspeechtherapy.com
0434 210 720

Commatters Speech Therapy  0434 210 720  hello@commattersspeechtherapy.com

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