Frequently asked questions

Here are all our frequently asked questions.

Our process

Do you produce reports for all assessments?

Yes, all assessments will include a report to summarise the assessment and observations. This is important for reporting purposes to all stakeholders and for baseline measurements.

What are the cases where we require more in-depth assessments as in Step 2 of your process?

View Step 2 here. On occasions where there are multiple areas that require assessment or the use of more assessment tools, we advise to utilise additional sessions to obtain more information to ensure the best assessment. This is also common in more complex cases.

Can I request progress reports throughout the therapy process?

We provide therapy notes, including the notes after each therapy session. Should a progress report be required for family or funding purposes, we can produce a progress summary. These type of progress summary reports will incur a report writing fee.

How often is the entire therapy process?

The therapy process is very different and varies with each individual depending on their goals and severity. It is advised that you discuss progress with your clinician from time to time as we value your time and investment.

Government Funding & Rebates

What are your fees for NDIS managed sessions or NDIS plan managed sessions?

Our fees for these sessions are in accordance to the NDIS set fees at that time. Please refer to the updated NDIS fee guide on the NDIS website.

How much is the rebate for Enhanced Primary Care/ Chronic Disease Management sessions?

The rebate amount for these sessions are approximately $55.10. This amount will be rebated after the full fee is paid.

How do we claim under Private Health Insurance for sessions?

At present, these claims require manual claiming by clients. As soon as fees are processed and a receipt is issued, you can use this for claiming purposes.

Speech Therapy Services

Do I have to stay onsite for my child’s therapy session?

Yes. All parents, caregivers or guardians are required to stay onsite either at the clinic or at home to ensure the best safety and effective therapy. At the clinic, all parents, guardians or carers are encouraged to sit in the therapy session, but as an alternative you can wait in our waiting spaces. Please refer to our staying onsite policy for further information.

Do all your Speech Pathologists have the same specialised training and qualifications?

Each of our Speech Pathologists have the same collaborative approach to support each client to be their best. However, each Speech Pathologist can differ with specific specialised skills, trainings and personal areas of interest. If you do have a specific area of training required, please do let us know during the intake process.

How do you allocate referrals?

Referrals are allocated based on the requirements of each case to ensure best quality of support. Specific areas of training and experience for each clinician is also considered closely before referral allocation.

Do I need to do homework or home practise?

Yes. Home practice is a very important part of the therapy process and is a big factor that results in success or decline in therapy outcomes.

I have a carer and therapy assistant, can they attend or learn from sessions?

We encourage all parents, carers, assistants or guardians to attend sessions at all time as we honour you and love to empower you with the skills required to assist your child, family member or support person.

Can you attend team meetings with other key stakeholders?

Yes, we can attend team meetings to ensure collaboration to achieve best therapy success. These meetings are scheduled and reported as per other therapy sessions. These meetings can occur either in person or via Telehealth.

Are Speech Therapy services funded by NDIS or Medicare?

Yes, Speech Pathology services are funded by both NDIS and Medicare depending on your eligibility or package. Please refer to our Government Funding and Rebates page for more information.

Is there an age range or limit to attend Speech Therapy services?

We support all ages for Speech Therapy services. The process, approach and service delivery is likely the only difference when we support different age groups.

Why do Assessment sessions cost more?

Assessments and reviews are an essential part of identifying baselines and goals for the best intervention moving forward. This process involves pre-planning, possible utilisation of formal assessment tools, conducting the assessment session (which can sometimes involve multiple Clinicians), analysis of the assessment (this can include the scoring of an assessment) and provision of a report and therapy plan. We take absolute care and work to our best throughout these steps, therefore we have an assessment fee that considers the time and resources for the entire assessment process.

Why do I pay for travel for out of clinic sessions?

Travel can be an essential tool that helps provide better convenience and logistics to provide therapy services at locations to assist client accessibility. Our travel fees take into account the time and distance needed to be travelled by our team members for them to attend the sessions. Our travel fees have been carefully considered in line with the set NDIS pricing guidelines and travel expenses.

I am overseas and interstate, can we still do sessions?

Yes, we can potentially conduct sessions via Telehealth as a service delivery. Please do enquire with us regarding its suitability as a service delivery for your case.

Allied Health Assistant Services

How are Allied Health Assistants supervised and accountable to the Allied Health Professional?

Allied Health Assistants must only provide the therapy support that has been prescribed to them to follow from the Allied Health Professional. Allied Health Assistants are supervised by Allied Health Professionals by attending regular meetings with them to monitor, discuss and review the progress of each client they assist under their supervision. 

Allied Health Assistants are trained to understand the goals and requirements of the clients they assist, as well as how to deliver the goals and track their progress. Allied Health Assistants are also provided with specific documents and notes to assist in the provision of a prescriptive therapy program for each client. 

Allied Health Assistants will have opportunities to contact their supervising Allied Health Professional to assist in ongoing problem solving. After each session, Allied Health Professionals will monitor the completed progress notes and tracking information to monitor the progress as well as the current and future requirements of a client.

Are Allied Health Professionals in the session as well?

What is done during the session is under the prescription and supervision of the Allied Health Professional, so Allied Health Professionals most likely will not physically be in all the sessions. Allied Health Professionals will be in sessions to review or assess a specific skill that needs teaching or supervision.

How are Allied Health Assistants chosen for a client?

All clients that are considered suitable to be working with an Allied Health Assistant, must be screened and assessed by an Allied Health Professional. At Voice Within Therapy Centre, all our referrals, including for suitable Allied Health Assistant cases are screened by Allied Health Professionals to ensure suitability and effectiveness, both in the assessment phase, as well as during the intervention process at intervals through ongoing reviews and supervision with the Allied Health Assistant.

What are Allied Health Assistants not allowed to do?

Allied Health Assistants are not allowed to conduct any assessments, change the client’s goals or do any independent therapy planning, these tasks can only be done by an Allied Health Professional.

How can I understand my or my child's suitability for Allied Health Assistant sessions?

We welcome any discussion or queries regarding your or your child’s suitability for Allied Health Assistant sessions. Our Clinic Administrator and Speech Pathologists can assist you through the discussion to identify suitability.

The most important aspect of suitability is if we can have a set of goals that can be tracked and prescribed by the Allied Health Professional and that can be clearly implemented and tracked by an Allied Health Assistant through engaging tasks. Should we be able to achieve or plan to achieve this goal, we would have a good chance at providing effective therapy and positive change by working with an Allied Health Assistant.

Can I see an Allied Health Professional as well as an Allied Health Assistant?

Yes you can, depending on the availability of both the Allied Health Professional and Allied Health Assistant.

What am I billed if an Allied Health Professional is running the session?

You will be advised if an Allied Health Professional is running the session by themselves or with an Allied Health Assistant and you will be billed the Allied Health Professional rate instead of the Allied Health Assistant rate. You will also be advised if therapy assessments and reviews need to be run by Allied Health Professionals as appropriate for development or to update therapy goals and these sessions will also be billed at the Allied Health Professional rate. Our current rates can be found in our client information pack.

Why do I pay for travel for out of clinic sessions?

Travel can be an essential tool that helps provide better convenience and logistics to provide therapy services at locations to assist client accessibility. Our travel fees take into account the time and distance needed to be travelled by our team members for them to attend the sessions. Our travel fees have been carefully considered in line with the set NDIS pricing guidelines and travel expenses.

Am I able to claim Allied Health Assistant sessions via Medicare or Private Health Insurance?

Allied Health Assistant sessions are not claimable via Medicare or Private Health Insurance at this present time as Allied Health Assistants are not recognised as a Medicare Health Provider. Allied Health Assistant services can however be claimed via the NDIS.

Do I have to stay onsite for my child’s therapy session?

Yes. All parents, caregivers or guardians are required to stay onsite either at the clinic or at home to ensure the best safety and effective therapy. At the clinic, all parents, guardians or carers are encouraged to sit in the therapy session, but as an alternative you can wait in our waiting spaces. Please refer to our staying onsite policy for further information.

Telehealth Services

What sessions can be more difficult via Telehealth and can it be managed?

There can be some cases involving severe attention difficulties and behavioural challenges that are challenging to be conducted via Telehealth. In these cases, we can potentially find solutions for participation and/or conduct parent/carer training programs to empower parents, carers or guardians to incorporate the targeted skills. Please do enquire either way regarding the suitability for Telehealth during the intake process.

I only have a phone, can I still access Telehealth?

Most Telehealth tasks can be challenging at times via phone, however it is suitable for some individuals particularly adults. This is due to some restrictions in the ability to interact and engage with screen functions during the session. We do recommend an iPad, tablet, laptop or desktop computer for Telehealth sessions. Meetings can certainly be accessed with a phone for Telehealth sessions.

Pre-School & School Screening Services

Is there a minimum amount of children you screen in a cohort?

We recommend screening children within entire age or grade groups. This allows us to compare strengths and weaknesses both individually and as a group, as well as providing group support. Please do enquire with us in the cases of a few children as it can be considered or a different approach might be best utilised for screening and assessment.

How do you inform parents?

Depending on the organisation we support, we always obtain consent pre screening to speak to both teachers and parents. Once we flag students that required further communication or information, we communicate with the parents following another check in with educators or teachers. This can be done via email or a scheduled phone call. Guidance and resources to assist can be discussed at this point. The reports for the entire cohort will be provided to the Kinder and/or School after summarising results.

Can we contact you to engage with services following the screening process if support is required?

Yes, we would be very happy to advise or engage with you should any support services be required that we can provide. This can be discussed at any time post screening.

Social Skills Group Services

What is your process of screening children that are suitable for each group?

Each child is screened by the Social Skills Groups clinician either via a phone call, questionnaire or both prior to confirmation. This is to ensure the best experience for your child and the other children present for skill development. There can be instances where we attempt trialling a session for a new child which can be discussed with the clinician.

How long do I need to commit to a Social Skills Group?

The skills development and teaching of the groups occur over multiple sessions. We ask that all our families commit to a minimum of 12 sessions during a block of social skills sessions.

How many children can be in a Social Skills Group?

The number of children in each group can be between 3-6 depending on the requirements of each group.

Do I have to stay onsite for my child’s therapy session?

Yes. All parents, caregivers or guardians are required to stay onsite either at the clinic or at home to ensure the best safety and effective therapy. At the clinic, all parents, guardians or carers are encouraged to sit in the therapy session, but as an alternative you can wait in our waiting spaces. Please refer to our staying onsite policy for further information.

Can children still attend Social Skills Group sessions during Covid-19 lockdowns?

Groups at the clinic can only proceed if allowed during the level of restrictions. Some groups can be adapted online for Telehealth group sessions depending on the requirements of the children and clinicians. We will advise regarding these options and happy to proceed as possible.

Hanen® Training for Parents

How do I know if I am suitable for the Hanen It Takes Two To Talk® program?

There are multiple Hanen Programs and the ‘It Takes Two To Talk®’ Program is specifically designed for children between the ages of 2-5 with language delays. Kindly enquire regarding your suitability as we would love to connect with you to discuss if it’s relevant or suitable for your families needs.

Is the Hanen It Takes Two To Talk® program suitable for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?

There are various Hanen programs. The Hanen It Takes Two To Talk® program is not specifically tailored to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) however some elements could be suitable. This can be discussed at your enquiry. Please refer to this link for the various Hanen Programs.

Do I need to commit to the entire program?

Yes, as the program is carefully structured and relies on all learning components as well as group members, it is important that you commit to the entire program including the individual feedback sessions. Families are also welcome to organise follow up sessions after completing the program.

How do you organise the specific times and dates?

The times above are examples of times that are recommended by Hanen for best participation and availability of parents. However, we do attempt to speak to potential participants to discuss changes of times that could suit the group and clinicians.

Are both parents required to attend the program?

Hanen recommends at least one parent to attend all the sessions.

What can I expect being part of the program?

You would be welcomed into a group of parents doing the program which is facilitated by 1-3 clinicians. The primary clinician will be the main clinician running and leading the program, being facilitated by the supporting clinicians. As per the Program Structure above, there will be a combination of group sessions and individual sessions. The individual sessions will be organised based on the availability of each family and clinician. These sessions will be more personalised and involve feedback on videos that you take of your child of your interactions throughout the program. There will also be resources and handouts provided to you for the entire program regarding the program. We also welcome families to connect with us after the workshop for any follow up required.

Workshops & Events

Can workshops be conducted via Telehealth?

Yes, we welcome workshops via Telehealth as it can assist organisations with participation and active interaction.

Can my team request a specific training tailored to our requirements?

Yes, you are very welcome to discuss with us any specific topics or requirements for your team and/or stakeholders.

Can you recommend workshop topics for our team?

Yes, we would love to speak to you and suggest topics that could be relevant including any that have been useful or successfully run within our team.

Can we contact you post training to receive advice or resources?

Yes, we would be happy to be contacted post training for you to be directed to any resources or advice as workable.

Referral

Can I directly send referrals for Speech Therapy?

Yes, you can send a referral directly to us. However, should you be eligible for a Chronic Disease Management Plan from your GP that attract partial medicare rebates for 5 sessions, it would need to be completed prior to the upcoming session. Please refer to the funding section in our website for more details regarding this GP plan.

How do you allocate referrals?

Referrals are allocated based on the requirements of each case to ensure best quality of support. Specific areas of training and experience of each clinician is also considered closely before referral allocation.

Contacting us

What’s the best way to contact you?

You can contact us with the below contact form, as well as by emailing us ([email protected]) and calling us (03 9596 7962). As we are unable to take every call, getting in touch with us through our contact form or emailing us would be our primary preference for contact.

If you call us and we are unable to answer at that time, please leave a voicemail and/or email us at [email protected]. We will aim to respond to you as quickly as possible.

Do you have a waitlist?

Yes, we do have an existing waitlist which can be short or long depending on time of contact. Should there be a long waitlist, you are welcome to stay on the waitlist however we do encourage you to attempt looking for other service providers to access sooner than later as we respect your time.

Do you also offer Behavioural Therapy services?

Our clinical partner and affiliate, ABA Kids do offer behavioural support services via their organisation and ABA team. We are happy to direct anyone interested towards them or you can contact them directly for any potential support via their website.

Do you also offer Tutoring services?

Our clinical partners, Readability Hub and Bayside Dyslexia do offer Tutoring services via their organisation and team. We are happy to direct anyone interested towards them or you can contact them directly for any potential support via their websites.

Please get in touch

We would love for you to get in touch to determine the best next steps for you. Please kindly fill out and submit this contact form.

General Contact (FAQ page)

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