Cancellation Policy

We understand that at times cancellations may be unavoidable. However, when clients do not attend a scheduled appointment without notice, or we receive a short notice cancellation, we are typically unable to fill this vacant appointment.

We require a minimum of two (2) clear business days* notice when cancelling an appointment. If the required notice is not given, a cancellation fee will be charged. 

Cancellation fees will be calculated at 100% of the scheduled session fee** for appointments cancelled with less than two (2) clear business days from the appointment, or no-show appointments. 

This cancellation policy is in harmony with the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Pricing Limits. You can review the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Pricing Limits here: https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements#ndis-pricing-arrangements-and-price-limits 

This policy applies to patients with NDIS funding and private paying patients.

If you need to cancel your child's session, please ensure your cancellation is in writing. You can do this by emailing our admin team at:

reception@believeandachieveot.com.au 

We offer alternative services in place of a cancelled session, so you are still receiving a service for the fee. Alternatives include:

• Telehealth
• Phone consultation with parent(s) or carer(s)
• Letter of support / recommendations
• Liaison with teachers (if this can fit into their appointment time slot)
• Multidisciplinary team meetings 
• Writing home programs 
• Writing daycare / school therapy programs 
• Resource making
• Report writing 

To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of your child's therapy program, it is important to maintain consistency and continuity in therapy. The frequency of therapy sessions will be determined through mutual agreement between you and your child's therapist, with sessions scheduled on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

To maintain your child’s ongoing therapy space, at least 80% of scheduled appointments during each school term must result in a billable service. We cannot hold your child's therapy space if planned absences exceed our 80% service provision requirement. This requirement applies only to school term appointments and excludes school holidays.

Planned Absences

A planned absence is a cancellation made with more than two (2) clear business days' notice.

• For weekly therapy, no more than two (2) planned absences per term are allowed.
• For fortnightly therapy, no more than one (1) planned absence per term is allowed.
• Short notice cancellations (less than 2 clear business days) due to illness or unforeseen circumstances are not included in the 80% requirement.

Exceeding Planned Absences

Believe and Achieve Paediatric Therapy will not hold therapy treatment slots where there are more than the allocated planned absences in a school term. If planning to take more than the allowed planned absences in a school term, families may request alternate services to be billed for in their usual therapy time slot, such as: 

• Telehealth 
• Multidisciplinary team meetings 
• Writing home programs 
• Writing daycare / school therapy programs 
• Resource making
• Report writing 
• Emailing / liaising with teachers or other support persons 

Alternatively, families who are planning to take more than the allowed planned absences in a term may opt to have a break from therapy to allow for another child to benefit from their therapy time slot. 

When engaging in group therapy, your child's enrolment will be effective for the duration of the school term or the designated period of the group's operation. 

Due to the nature of group therapy, cost is per term.  As a result, the full fee will be charged for any missed sessions within the term, including cancellations and no-shows.  

If your regular therapist has to cancel a session due to illness or scheduled leave, Believe and Achieve Paediatric Therapy will make every effort to schedule an alternative therapist in the same appointment slot so your child is not missing out on the therapy they require. The alternate therapist will follow a session plan written by your regular therapist. 

If your regular therapist cancels, and an alternative therapist is not available at your usual appointment time, an alternative time or day may be offered as a makeup session (subject to availability). If you are unable to attend an alternate time or day, a cancellation fee will not be charged. 

We understand that at times cancellations may be unavoidable. However, when clients do not attend a scheduled appointment without notice, or we receive a short notice cancellation, we are typically unable to fill this vacant appointment.

To cover staff pay and other outgoing costs, cancellation fees are charged for late notice cancellations, or when families fail to attend scheduled appointments without notice.

Should you need to terminate therapy services, we require fourteen (14) days written notice during the service’s operating hours. 

Any planned absences or short notice cancellations made during this notice period will be billed for accordingly.

The term "2 clear business days" means two full business days excluding the day the notice is given and excluding weekends and public holidays. For example: 

• If you cancel on Monday, the first "clear business day" is Tuesday, and the second is Wednesday. Therefore, the earliest appointment you could cancel without penalty would be Thursday.

• If you cancel on Friday, the next "clear business day" is Monday, and the second is Tuesday. The earliest appointment that meets the notice period would be Wednesday.

This term ensures there are two full, uninterrupted business days between the notice and the appointment.

Our therapists carefully allocate time for each child's appointment, which includes travel to and from the location. This ensures your child receives the dedicated attention they deserve. When scheduling appointments, we block out:

1. Travel time to the appointment
2. Time for the therapy session
3. Time to complete clinical documentation 
4. Travel time back to the clinic

When a cancellation occurs with short notice, this reserved time cannot always be reallocated to another client. Since the therapist's travel time is an essential part of providing the service, it is included in our cancellation fees.

This policy ensures our team is compensated for the time already set aside for your child and allows us to continue providing high-quality care to all families.