Fee schedule
NSW workers compensation psychology fees 2026-27
From 1 February 2026 SIRA's Psychology and Counselling Fees Order pays psychologists $23.70 per 5 minutes for an initial consultation (PSY001, max 60 minutes) and $19.80 for a subsequent one (PSY002). Counsellors are paid less, $17.60 and $15.80 per 5 minutes (COU002, COU003). Psychologist treatment is GST free; counsellor treatment is not.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Payer
- SIRA (State Insurance Regulatory Authority, NSW)
- Effective from
- 1 Feb 2026
- Official schedule
- Source document
What changed this year
- The billing unit for psychology and counselling consultations changed from 30 minute blocks to 5 minute blocks. Under the 1 February 2025 order, PSY001 was $135.80 per 30 minutes (so $271.60 for a full hour); under the 1 February 2026 order it is $23.70 per 5 minutes, which comes to $284.40 for a full hour, a rise of about 4.7 per cent once you allow for the unit change. The same restructure applies to PSY002 and to both counselling items.
- The finer 5 minute unit means pro-rata billing is more precise for shorter sessions. A 35 minute subsequent consultation, for example, now bills as 7 units of PSY002 rather than being rounded to the nearest 30 minute block.
- Psychologist and counsellor fees did not converge. A psychologist's initial consultation ($23.70/5 min) remains materially higher than a counsellor's ($17.60/5 min), and that gap held at roughly the same proportion as the prior schedule.
- Group or class intervention (PSY006) is the one fee that did not move, staying at $67.80 per participant.
All 16 psychology items
| Item | Description | Fee | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSY001 | Psychologist: initial consultation and treatment, in rooms. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes, pro-rata (was billed per 30 minutes) | $23.70 | |
| PSY301 | Psychologist: initial consultation and treatment, via telehealth. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes | $23.70 | |
| PSY002 | Psychologist: subsequent consultation and treatment, in rooms. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes (was billed per 30 minutes) | $19.80 | |
| PSY302 | Psychologist: subsequent consultation and treatment, via telehealth. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes | $19.80 | |
| PSY003 | Psychologist: report writing, requires pre-approval and must be requested by the insurer. Per 5 minutes, max 1 hour, plus GST | $19.80 | $18.90 |
| PSY004 | Psychologist: case conference. Over 2 hours per practitioner needs pre-approval. Per 5 minutes, plus GST | $19.80 | $18.90 |
| PSY006 | Psychologist: group or class intervention, 2 to 15 workers or family members. Per participant | $67.80 | $67.80 |
| PSY007 | Psychologist: trauma focused psychological treatment for a worker diagnosed with work-related PTSD. Rate agreed with insurer, must be pre-approved | by agreement | |
| COU002 | Counsellor: initial consultation and treatment, in rooms. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes, subject to GST (was billed per 30 minutes) | $17.60 | |
| COU302 | Counsellor: initial consultation and treatment, via telehealth. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes, subject to GST | $17.60 | |
| COU003 | Counsellor: subsequent consultation and treatment, in rooms. Per 5 minutes, max 60 minutes, subject to GST (was billed per 30 minutes) | $15.80 | |
| COU004 | Counsellor: report writing, requires pre-approval and insurer request. Per 5 minutes, max 1 hour, plus GST | $15.80 | $14.90 |
| COU005 | Counsellor: case conference. Over 2 hours per practitioner needs pre-approval. Per 5 minutes, plus GST | $15.80 | $14.90 |
| WCO005 | Copies of clinical notes and records held electronically, all records requested | $71.30 | $68.20 |
| OAS003 | Submission of an initial Allied Health Treatment Request (AHTR), per claim | $46.10 | $44.10 |
| OAS004 | Submission of the first subsequent Certificate of Capacity (psychologist only), per claim | $46.10 | $44.10 |
Billing moved from 30 minute blocks to 5 minute blocks
The 1 February 2026 Psychology and Counselling Fees Order changed how psychology and counselling sessions are billed, not just what they cost. Under the prior order, effective 1 February 2025, a psychologist's initial consultation was $135.80 per 30 minutes, capped at 60 minutes, so a full hour invoiced at $271.60. The new order prices the same service at $23.70 per 5 minutes, so a full hour now comes to $284.40, an increase of about 4.7 per cent once the unit change is accounted for.
The practical effect is finer-grained billing. A 35 minute subsequent consultation used to round to the nearest 30 minute unit; it now bills as seven 5 minute units against PSY002. Clinics that bill in Cliniko by exact session length will see invoice totals shift even where the underlying rate has not changed, so check your default appointment durations against the new unit before the first claim goes out under the new order.
Psychologists and counsellors are priced, and taxed, differently
SIRA pays two tiers on this schedule. A psychologist, someone registered with AHPRA and approved by SIRA to treat NSW workers compensation claims, bills PSY items: $23.70 per 5 minutes for an initial consultation, $19.80 for a subsequent one. A counsellor, defined as a full clinical PACFA member, an AASW Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, or an ACA member at level 3 or 4, bills the lower COU items: $17.60 and $15.80 per 5 minutes for the same consultation types.
The bigger practical difference is GST. Psychology treatment is GST free. Counselling treatment is not, so a counsellor's invoice needs GST added on top of the schedule fee for every treatment item, not just for reports, case conferences and travel. Getting this wrong either under-collects GST you are liable for, or over-charges the insurer against a fee order that sets the amount excluding GST as the maximum.
Where clinics lose money on this table
The most common error after this year's change is leaving a per-30-minute rate loaded in practice software and applying it to a per-5-minute item, which either overcharges or underdelivers depending on how the conversion was done. The second is charging a counsellor's treatment as GST free, which contradicts the Fees Order's explicit GST treatment for that practitioner type.
Trauma focused treatment for work-related PTSD (PSY007) sits outside the standard fee table entirely, agreed directly between the psychologist and the insurer once pre-approved, so it should never be billed against a standard consultation code regardless of how long the session runs.
Claiming notes
- GST is the key difference between the two practitioner types on this table: treatment by a psychologist is GST free, but treatment by a counsellor is subject to GST. Report writing, case conferences, travel and the AHTR/Certificate of Capacity fees carry GST on top of the schedule amount for both.
- A counsellor on this schedule means a full clinical member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), or an Australian Counsellors Association (ACA) member at level 3 or 4. A psychologist means someone registered with AHPRA. Both need SIRA approval to treat NSW workers compensation claims, except for interstate treatment or exempt workers.
- Insurer pre-approval covers face-to-face and telehealth services, with the same exceptions used across SIRA's allied health orders: up to 8 consultations without pre-approval for a new injury not previously treated, started within 3 months; up to 3 consultations if treatment starts more than 3 months after the injury; and single-consultation exceptions for a new episode of care or a change of practitioner.
- Trauma focused psychological treatment (PSY007), for a worker diagnosed with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder, has no set fee. Rate and session length are agreed between the psychologist and insurer, and the service must be pre-approved.
- The Certificate of Capacity item (OAS004) is psychologist-only, matching physiotherapy's equivalent code; counsellors cannot issue a Certificate of Capacity or bill for it.
- Group therapy (PSY006) needs a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 15 people, all workers or family members, under the continuous direct supervision of a psychologist.
- Invoices must reach the insurer within 30 calendar days of the service and include the worker's name and claim number, your ABN, SIRA approval number, AHPRA or professional association number, the payment classification code, service cost and dates.
Load these fees into your practice software
- Cliniko supports bulk import of billable items under Settings, then Data & docs, then Data imports, choosing Billable items.
- Add a GST tax type first if you have not already. Leave Taxable blank for PSY001, PSY002, PSY006 and PSY007 (psychologist treatment, GST free). Set the GST tax type on all COU items, since counsellor treatment is taxable, plus on report writing, case conferences, travel and the AHTR/CoC items for both practitioner types.
- Build a CSV with Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type. Because the fee is now per 5 minutes rather than per 30, name items to make the unit explicit, for example "SIRA PSY001 Initial consult (per 5 min)", and set your appointment durations in Cliniko so invoicing rounds to 5 minute multiples.
- PSY007 (trauma focused treatment) has no fixed fee; load it at $0 as a placeholder and enter the agreed rate on each invoice.
- Update prices each 1 February when SIRA republishes the Fees Order: export existing billable items as a CSV, keep the Item ID column, update only the price column, then re-import with just the price field enabled. Keep the original export as a backup.
Sources
- From 1 February 2026 SIRA's Psychology and Counselling Fees Order pays psychologists $23.70 per 5 minutes (max 60 minutes) for PSY001 (Initial consultation and treatment) and $19.80 per 5 minutes for PSY002 (Subsequent), excluding GST. State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Under the schedule effective 1 February 2025, PSY001 was $135.80 per 30 minutes and PSY002 was $113.40 per 30 minutes, both maximum 60 minutes. State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- From 1 February 2026 counsellors are paid $17.60 per 5 minutes for COU002 (Initial) and $15.80 per 5 minutes for COU003 (Subsequent), and counsellor treatment is subject to GST while psychologist treatment is GST free. State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- A counsellor on this schedule means a full clinical member of PACFA, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with AASW, or an ACA member at level 3 or 4, and must be approved by SIRA to deliver services in the NSW workers compensation system. State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Trauma focused psychological treatment for a worker diagnosed with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PSY007) has rates and session length agreed between the psychologist and the insurer, and must be pre-approved. State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's data import tool can create billable items from a CSV with the fields Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.