Clinical psychologists and psychologists

Last updated:

24 May 2024

Find the information you need to deliver and claim for services to Veteran Card holders.

If you’re a member of the veteran community, please see Mental Health Care.

DVA Forms
Become a DVA health care provider
Services covered by Veteran Cards – Gold and White
Referrals and treatment cycle
DVA Provider Notes
Schedule of Fees
Claiming
Your obligations
Common compliance issues
Prior approvals
Non-Liability Health Care
Mental health resources for you and your clients
Useful links

DVA Forms

Visit Provider forms to access all the forms you need to do business with DVA. This includes forms for prior approvals, RAP orders and claims.

Become a DVA health care provider

Services covered by Veteran Cards – Gold and White

Please check full details about card entitlements to ensure your client’s condition is covered at What DVA health cards cover.

A Veteran Card – Gold or White covers treatment that is clinically necessary:

for all conditions, if the patient holds a Veteran Gold Card
for specific, accepted conditions, if the patient holds a Veteran White Card. White Card holders can also access treatment from a clinical psychologist and psychologist for mental healthcare conditions under Non-Liability Health Care arrangements.

If you are unsure whether a DVA client is eligible to receive psychology services, contact us on 1800 550 457.

Referrals and treatment cycle

If you are treating a Veteran Card holder, they will need a valid referral from their general practitioner (GP). For an initial treatment cycle, the referral could also come from a:

medical specialist
treating hospital doctor
hospital discharge planner.

Under DVA treatment cycle arrangements, a referral to an allied health provider will last up to 12 sessions or 1 year, whichever ends first.

Once a treatment cycle has ended, the client needs a new referral from their GP before you can provide further treatment. The client can have as many treatment cycles as their GP determines are clinically necessary.

Veteran Card holders with severe or complex needs may have tailored referral arrangements through the At Risk Client Framework, approved by their usual GP.

For full details about the treatment cycle and referral arrangements, please check Treatment cycle information for allied health providers.

DVA Provider Notes

By accepting a patient’s Veteran Card – Gold or White, you agree to follow the Notes that apply to your profession.

The Notes are legally binding, and it is your responsibility to become familiar with them. They are divided into two sections, and you need to comply with both.

Section 1: General notes for allied health providers

Section 2: Notes specific to mental health workers, including psychologists

Also refer to:

Referrals and treatment cycle
Schedule of Fees
Claiming

Schedule of Fees

The Schedule of Fees – Clinical Psychologists and the Schedule of Fees – Psychologists define the treatments and services you can provide to DVA clients and the payment amounts you can claim.

By accepting a Veteran Card - Gold or White, you agree to accept the DVA fee as full payment. You cannot charge the Veteran Card holder any ‘gap’ fee.

For your profession’s up-to-date schedule, visit DVA Fee Schedules.

Claiming

Visit Provider claims for full details on how to claim payment from us.

Please note you are responsible for your provider number and you will be accountable for any claiming errors.

If someone else submits claims on your behalf, you should ensure the information they enter is accurate.

Your provider number cannot be shared, and multiple providers cannot claim under the one provider number. The provider who owns the number will be responsible for any misuse.

For invoicing and billing enquiries, call 1300 550 017.

Your obligations

Each year, DVA reviews unusual provider claiming, which may result in an education process or financial recoveries.

For full details about complying with DVA requirements, please refer to Provider compliance.

Common compliance issues

Before you treat a DVA client, please check the Schedule of Fees and Notes for full details about limits and restrictions on psychology services.

Some common compliance issues are listed below. Please note these are not exhaustive and you must check your profession’s Schedule of Fees for complete details about item numbers.

Consultations

Multiple sessions with the same client within one week are not considered good practice, particularly on an ongoing basis. If you determine there is a need for multiple sessions per week for more than one week, you are requested to submit to DVA a prior financial approval form, justifying the sessions.

Trauma Focused Therapy Sessions

If utilising trauma focused therapy for your DVA client, and the session exceeds 90 minutes in duration, you may be able to bill DVA at a higher rate as per the DVA Schedule of Fees. Different item numbers apply.

Please note that these sessions are strictly for exposure work related to trauma-focused therapy (i.e EMDR, prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy), where a longer session may be necessary.

You may provide up to eight trauma-focused therapy sessions and bill DVA via the usual arrangements. If you wish to provide additional trauma focused therapy sessions after this, you must submit a prior financial approval request form with a detailed case review outlining your rationale for requiring further extended sessions.

Couples counselling

Please note that DVA does not fund psychologists or clinical psychologists to provide counselling for couples (i.e. relationship therapy). (Please note Open Arms provides couples counselling and information about building healthy relationships. Visit the Open Arms website or call 1800 011 046).

Clinical Notes

Please ensure adequate clinical notes are kept in relation to each session. In addition, the client file should include, as a minimum, an initial assessment of the client; a copy of the GP, medical specialist, treating hospital doctor or hospital discharge planner referral and treatment cycle reports back to the GP; and any other correspondence.

Prior approvals

In exceptional circumstances, you may claim payment for treatment not included in the Schedule of Fees, if the treatment:

can be clinically justified for the client’s referred condition
is evidence-based.

You must ask us for prior approval before providing the treatment.

To submit a request for prior approval, please complete the D1328 Treatment Prior Financial Approval Request Form and email it to health.approval [at] dva.gov.au (health[dot]approval[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au).

For inquiries, contact DVA on 1800 550 457.

Non-Liability Health Care

Psychologists and clinical psychologists can provide and claim for mental health care services provided to DVA White Card holders eligible to receive treatments under Non-Liability Health Care arrangements. This includes counselling and group work, and for all mental health conditions.

For further information, please refer to the Non-Liability Health Care page for health providers on the DVA website.

Mental health resources for you and your clients

The health professionals page on the Open Arms – Veterans and Families Counselling service website includes a suite of mental health resources and information to support you when treating DVA clients. These include case formulation tools, on-line training courses, and free, CPD accredited, webinars on veteran mental health.

Open Arms has also developed innovative self-help tools and resources for veterans and families, including mobile apps, videos, publications, case studies and peer stories.