1. Referrals
Generally, you do not need a referral from your GP or anyone else to book an appointment with us.
If you are looking to access the Chronic Disease Management or Helping Children with Autism Medicare rebates, you will need an appropriate referral (see below).
If you are a Veteran looking to access Department of Veterans’ Affairs funded speech pathology services, see here.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
2. What rebates are available?
a. Private Health Funds
If your family has Extras cover that includes speech pathology services, you may be entitled to a rebate from your health fund.
For your convenience, we have a HICAPS terminal installed at the clinic. This means that if you have appropriate cover, you can process your private health fund claims on the spot and may only need to pay a gap. To find out if your health fund participates in the HICAPS scheme for speech pathologists, check here.
b. Medicare Rebates: Chronic Disease Management
Patients with chronic conditions may be eligible for a Medicare rebate for up to 5 sessions per calendar year.
A special referral from your GP is required to access the rebate. We can give you more information about this on request and also discuss it with your GP. Again, a gap may be payable above the maximum provided by the rebate for eligible clients.
c. Medicare Rebates: Helping Children with Autism
The Medicare items available through the Helping Children with Autism program are early intervention services for children undergoing assessment or treatment for autism.
A referral from your child’s paediatrician or psychiatrist is required to access this Medicare rebate. The paediatrician or psychiatrist is not required to use a specific Medicare form – a letter signed and dated by the referring practitioner will suffice.
Under the program, a child (under the age of 15) can be referred by their paediatrician or psychiatrist for a diagnosis/assessment from a speech pathologist and up to 20 speech pathology assessment and treatment sessions for the child.
We can give you more information about this program on request. A gap may be payable above the maximum provided by the rebate for eligible clients.
3. NDIS
We meet with participants accessing funds via the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), provided the participants are self-managed or plan-managed (as we are not registered for the NDIS, we cannot meet with agency-managed participants).
Please feel free to contact us, if you would like to discuss this further.
Banter Speech & LanguageBanter Speech & Language is owned and managed by David Kinnane, a Hanen- and LSVT LOUD-certified speech-language pathologist with post-graduate training in the Spalding Method for literacy, the Lidcombe and Camperdown Programs for stuttering, and Voicecraft for voice disorders. David is also a Certified PESL Instructor for accent modification.
David holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney, where he was a Dean’s Scholar. David is a Practising Member of Speech Pathology Australia and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP).