Presented at ResearchED Canberra, Saturday 29 August: Beyond the Pencil. The slides, the session handout and the three research briefs are now on the Research​ page.
CLINICAL SERVICES
Paediatric OT for children who deserve to thrive
“FIRST Occupational Therapy is a Canberra-based paediatric OT practice founded on the belief that early, targeted support can change a child’s learning trajectory.”
FIRST Occupational Therapy uses a Parent-Coaching Model in which families actively participate in every session and learn the strategies and techniques used in therapy, so they can continue supporting their child between appointments. At the end of each session, a comprehensive home learning folder is provided, offering extensive practice and consolidation opportunities between sessions.
IN CLINIC
Clinic sessions
75-minute sessions
Clinic sessions are held at the FIRST Occupational Therapy clinic in Fyshwick, Canberra, fortnightly during school term. The clinic is equipped for assessment and intervention across fine motor, gross motor, sensory, and literacy goals.
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Comprehensive and review occupational therapy assessments
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Individualised intervention programs developed from assessment data
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Parent coaching in every session, with home practice resources
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Collaboration with schools, paediatricians, and other treating professionals
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$320.00 per session
Billed at 1.6 hours. NDIS plan-managed $310.38
HOME OR SCHOOL
Mobile Therapy
45-minute sessions
Mobile sessions are delivered at the child's home or school across Canberra and surrounds. Seeing a child in their environment provides valuable clinical information and makes it easier to build strategies that transfer into daily life.
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Sessions at home, school, or the early childhood setting
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Observation and intervention in the child's natural environment
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School consultation and attendance at ILP or care team meetings
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Travel charged for the time actually travelled, one direction, capped at 30 minutes
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$200.00 per session, plus travel
Billed at 1 hour. NDIS plan-managed $193.99
ONLINE
Telehealth
45-minute sessions
Telehealth sessions are delivered via Zoom to families across Australia. They suit families in regional areas, those with limited transport, and children whose needs can be met through a coaching and consultation model.
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Available to families anywhere in Australia, no travel needed
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Parent coaching, strategy review, and program monitoring
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Well suited to follow-up sessions and school consultation
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All that is needed is a quiet space and a reliable connection
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$200.00 per session
Billed at 1 hour. NDIS plan-managed $193.99
SCHEDULE OF FEES
What a session costs, and what is in it
Every service at FIRST Occupational Therapy is billed against a single hourly rate, and each appointment is billed as the time with your child plus the time spent on them outside the room: planning the session, preparing and printing the home learning folder, writing clinical notes, and the short calls and emails that come up between appointments. Clinic appointments carry a little more of that, because the room is set up and reset around each child.
A clinic appointment is billed at 1.6 hours: 75 minutes with your child plus about 20 minutes. A mobile or telehealth appointment is billed at 1 hour: 45 minutes with your child plus 15 minutes. Travel is charged for the time actually travelled, so a short trip costs less than a long one. Invoices are issued on the day of service and payment is due within seven days, by direct bank transfer or credit card.
IN-CLINIC SESSION
TIME WITH CHILD
75 Minutes
BILLED AS
1.6 hours
FEE
$320.00
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$310.38
MOBILE SESSION - HOME OR SCHOOL
TIME WITH CHILD
45 Minutes
BILLED AS
1 hour, plus travel
FEE
$200.00 + travel
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$193.99 + travel
TELEHEALTH SESSION
TIME WITH CHILD
45 Minutes
BILLED AS
1 hour
FEE
$200.00
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$193.99
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
TIME WITH CHILD
2 X 60 minutes
BILLED AS
3.5 hours
FEE
$700.00
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$678.97
REPORTS / REVIEWS
TIME WITH CHILD
Not Applicable
BILLED AS
Time Taken
FEE
$200.00 / Hour
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$193.99 / Hour
TRAVEL - MOBILE SESSIONS
TIME
One direction, capped at 30 min
BILLED AS
Time actually travelled
FEE
$100.00 / Hour
NDIS PLAN MANAGED
$97.00 / Hour + $1.00 / KM
RATES AS OF 2027
The hourly rate rises to $210 on 1 January 2027, and to $220 on 1 July 2027, then by 5 per cent each July. Families already on the books are told a full term ahead of any change. NDIS rates follow the price limits set by the NDIA and change when those do.
NDIS
FIRST Occupational Therapy is not a registered NDIS provider. That means we can work with participants whose plans are self-managed or plan-managed, but not with participants whose funding is NDIA-managed, sometimes called agency-managed. If you are not sure how your child's plan is managed, your plan or your plan manager will tell you.
The NDIS price limits apply to plan-managed claims, so plan-managed participants are billed at the NDIS price limit for occupational therapy, currently $193.99 an hour, with travel at $97.00 an hour for the time actually travelled and $1.00 a kilometre for the distance actually driven. Those limits do not apply to self-managed participants, who are billed at the standard rate. Fees are confirmed with you in writing before anything begins.
AVAILABILITY
A small caseload, and what that means for you
FIRST Occupational Therapy is a solo practice, and the caseload is deliberately small so that every family gets the planning and preparation described above. Clinic appointments run in odd weeks of term and mobile appointments in even weeks; telehealth fits either. That means places are genuinely limited and there is often a wait.
Several places are expected to open at the end of Term 4 2026. Assessments can sometimes be booked sooner than ongoing therapy, so it is worth ringing to ask where things actually stand rather than assuming the answer is no.