Psychologist and neuropsychologist guidelines

These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the information at Working with the TAC.

Who can provide psychology and neuropsychology services?

Psychology services

You can provide psychology services if:

  • You are registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (e.g. AHPRA) to practice in the psychology profession (other than as a student/probationary/provisional psychologist).

Neuropsychology services

You can provide neuropsychology services if you are a psychologist who has:

  • An accredited qualification in clinical neuropsychology with endorsement as a clinical neuropsychologist in their registration.

Post-traumatic mental health

We prefer that treating psychologists have knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of people with problems relating to post-traumatic mental health.

What we can pay for

Within the first 90 days of a client’s accident, we can help pay for up to 6 psychology or neuropsychology sessions without the need for you or the client to contact us for approval first. The treatment or service must be recommended by a health professional, related to the client’s accident injuries and delivered in line with the Clinical Framework.

You should send us a Mental Health Treatment Plan at whichever point occurs first:

  • Your patient needs more than 6 sessions in the first 90 days after their accident, or
  • Your patient needs treatment beyond the first 90 days of their accident (regardless of how many sessions they have already had).

We will review our client’s treatment to ensure it’s reasonable, clinically justified, outcome focused and in line with the Clinical Framework. We will assess your request and let you and the client know our decision about what we can help pay for and for how long.

For clients who do not begin mental health treatment until after the first 90 days, please contact us to discuss their needs.

If our client has not received treatment in 6 months they will need to seek approval from us before we will pay for further treatment. Ask our client for a copy of their approval if you haven’t seen them in 6 months.

For details see What we can pay for and How to seek TAC approval.

Patient consultations

We can help pay for:

  • Individual consultations.
  • Group consultations.

Family counselling

We can help pay for:

  • Family counselling to family members of an eligible client, when paid as a part of the claim of a person who dies or is severely injured as a result of a transport accident. Contact us to check client or family member eligibility.

The Family Counselling Allowance applies per claim, regardless of how many eligible family members access this service. The applicable amount for each claim is dependent on when a family member first accessed the service. This allowance is the maximum amount we can pay for family counselling, as set out in the Transport Accident Act 1986. This amount is indexed annually.

Note: “Family member” refers to any member of the immediate family (i.e. partner, parent, sibling or child) of the person who dies or is severely injured as a result of a transport accident. A parent of a dependent child includes:

  • A person who has day-to-day care and responsibility of the child, with whom the child is normally resident.
  • A guardian of the child.

Travel

We can help pay for:

  • Travel to conduct treatment in the community, where this is clinically justified.

Travel time can be paid for travel to and from your practice address and your patient's residence. Where more than one patient is visited in a single travel period, total travel costs should be apportioned equally between patients.

Assessments and recommendations

The following reports and assessments require prior approval from us:

Psychologists and neuropsychologists:

Other things to note

Medical excess

For accidents that occurred prior to 14 February 2018 a medical excess may apply. Visit the medical excess page to see if it applies to your patient.  If the medical excess applies you will need to invoice the client directly.

Patients with a severe injury

If your patient has a severe injury, the discussion, referral and approval of services may form part of the independence planning process between your patient's treating team and our TAC coordinator.

If your patient already has an individualised funding package, psychology and neuropsychology services may be included as part of that.

How much we can pay

We can pay for services in line with our Psychology and neuropsychology fees.

If your fee is higher than our fee, you may choose to charge the client the difference in the form of a gap payment.

What we cannot pay for

We cannot pay for:

  • Services that are included as part of a hospital inpatient bed fee.
  • E-therapy services that are not endorsed by Head to Health, or are free to the public.
  • Neurotherapy treatment.

Also see general items we cannot pay for.

For more information

Access our policy for Mental health and wellbeing services.