FAQ’s

No, you do not need a referral to see a physio or occupational therapist.  You can call and make an appointment with us directly.

Yes, as long as your private health plan includes physiotherapy and/or occupational therapy as part of your extra’s cover and you have not reached your rebate limit for the year.

Please contact Move and Play Paediatric Therapy for a current fee schedule and to discuss your child’s needs. Fees vary depending on the length and location of the appointment.

If your child has a disability, a chronic health condition, or complex care needs, then there may be funding options available to help pay for or subsidise your child’s therapy sessions:

Medicare Rebates:

Chronic Disease Management/ Enhanced Primary Care Plan

This plan is available for people who have a chronic health condition (one that has been, or is likely to be, present for six months or longer) or complex care needs.
Medicare rebates are available for up to five (5) eligible allied health sessions per calendar year (January 1st-December 31st). The current rebate per physiotherapy or occupational therapy session is $52.95. A referral from your GP is necessary to set up these services. Further information is available from the Medicare website, or by contacting your GP.

NDIS funding:

Children with developmental delay and disability may be eligible for funding for therapy, as well as many other supports, under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).  Move and Play Paediatric Therapy is a registered provider for therapy services under the NDIS.

Please contact our clinic if you would like an assessment and report from one of our therapists to support your child’s eligibility and funding under the NDIS.  Please also contact us if you would like further guidance about how to access the NDIS and prepare for your eligibility and planning meetings.

Further information regarding the NDIS is available on the  NDIS website.

Your first appointment is used to get to know you and your child, to assess your child’s current abilities, and develop an understanding of their strengths and difficulties.  From this information, we can then work together to develop a plan to help to optimise your child’s overall abilities and well-being.

Here is a general outline of what we might do during your first therapy session:

Ask you and your child questions, using an information sheet and face to face questions

Questions we will ask might include what your child can and can’t do, what they like to do and play with.  We will also ask questions about your child’s medical and developmental history, and what you would like to get out of therapy for your child.

Perform an evaluation of your child’s strengths/abilities and weaknesses/difficulties

For our physiotherapists, this might include watching how they move and play; testing their muscle strength, joint movements, and their balance and coordination; challenging their movement abilities; and reviewing their sensory systems.

For our occupational therapists, this might include watching how the do daily tasks such as dressing and getting on and off the toilet; observing how they sit at a table and use their hands for drawing, cutting, threading, turning the pages of a book; assessing their play skills and problem solving skills; and reviewing their behaviour and attention.

Develop goals for therapy and a treatment plan

We will collaborate with you to decide what goals are the most important to your child, to you as their parent/s, and to your whole family, in order to optimise your child’s overall abilities, function and participation.  Together with you, we will also come up with a treatment plan that suits your child and family, and works towards positive outcomes for your child.

Initiate therapy or treatment to start working towards your goals

That will depend on how complex your child’s condition is, as well as how long they will tolerate treatment for. However, most sessions will be between 45 to 90 minutes long.

We understand that travelling into the clinic is not possible for some of our clients due to health or transport issues.  We also recognise that some children cope or perform better with therapy at home.  And for some children, although most of their clinic appointments are held at the clinic, sometimes it is important for us to be able to see how your child manages their daily activities at home.  So in those instances, we will organise home visits.  There is a travel fee associated with home visits, and this will be discussed with you when you are developing your child’s treatment plan with their therapist. 

Your child should wear something comfortable for their therapy appointment. As children’s therapist, we are interested in helping children to play, and that play can sometimes be very active!  Our therapists might sometimes require your child to perform stretches and exercises, so you should make sure your child is not wearing something too restrictive.