Fees
Speech Pathology Services
Fees for speech pathology assessment and intervention services are charged in line with the NDIS price guide. Fees are aligned with the hourly pricing applicable to the region where services are delivered.
Commatters Speech Therapy charges fees for travel, reports, resource development, case conferences and correspondence (including email) in addition to face-to-face services. If travel is required for service provision any associated non-labour costs will also be charged. These may include: mileage, flights, accommodation and car hire.
Typically, sessions are booked for 1 hour, this allows for 45mins of face-to-face service provision and 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/caregiver/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.
Autism Diagnostic Assessment Fees
Autism diagnostic assessment fees reflect the comprehensive nature of the assessment process, including clinical interviews, standardised assessment components, scoring and interpretation, report preparation and feedback. The ADOS-2 is used as one component of the overall assessment process and is considered alongside clinical judgement and contextual information.
Stand-alone autism diagnostic assessments:
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Paediatric: $1,850
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Adult: $1,650
Combined autism diagnostic and communication assessment packages:
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Paediatric: $2,500
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Adult: $2,300
Which option is right for me?
An autism diagnostic assessment may be completed in different ways, depending on the referral question and the information needed to support the individual.
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A stand-alone autism diagnostic assessment may be appropriate if the primary goal is diagnostic clarification, particularly where recent, comprehensive communication assessment information is already available.
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A combined autism diagnostic and communication assessment package may be recommended where there are broader questions about communication strengths, support needs or functional impacts across settings. This option allows for a more detailed understanding of how an individual communicates, including expressive and receptive language, social communication, and use of AAC or other multimodal communication systems.
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Where appropriate, recommendations regarding the most suitable assessment pathway can be discussed prior to assessment, to ensure the process is clinically meaningful and aligned with the individual’s needs.​
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:
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Two no shows (i.e. missed appointments without a telephone call to cancel),
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Erratic and/or inconsistent attendance (including, arriving late for appointments),
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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:
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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
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Has given less than two (2) clear business days’ notice for a support.
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