Secondary victims are eligible for assistance to pay for costs associated with reasonable counselling services that have been incurred, or are reasonably likely to be incurred, in the future.[29] These services include counselling reports and counselling sessions. Evidence requirements for counselling expenses are explained further below.
Primary and related victims are also eligible for assistance to pay for counselling expenses.
Counselling services must be delivered by:
- an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registered psychologist
- counsellors who are a level 3 (minimum) member of the Australian Counselling Association or who are a ‘full clinical member’ or ‘certified practising member’ of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia
- mental health social workers who are accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers, or
- social workers who are accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers.
The FAS will consider other counselling professions who may not fit the above requirements, where the applicant has provided details about their skills and qualifications and the FAS considers them to be an appropriate counselling service provider.
As outlined in the interim assistance section, the FAS can pay for up to 5 counselling sessions to meet a victim’s immediate needs for counselling, without the need for a victim to provide documentary evidence of a psychological injury.
The number of counselling sessions the FAS may provide to an applicant will be based on the applicant’s needs and the information and evidence provided in the application.
Counselling sessions and evidence required
| Counselling sessions | Evidence |
|---|---|
Initial counselling sessions The FAS will provide up to 5 sessions as interim assistance for applicants’ immediate needs. See the interim assistance section for more information. | Applicants must provide details in the application form to detail the need for counselling, including an explanation of the psychological injury resulting from the violent act. Applicants must provide one of the following for the cost of the counselling expense:
|
| Additional counselling sessions (more than 20 sessions) | Mandatory evidence Applicants must provide a report which details the ongoing need for counselling. The report must be produced by an accredited mental health social worker, a non-psychologist/accredited social worker, a registered psychologist or psychiatrist and include:
The FAS may request and pay for the applicant to get a counselling report after 20 sessions have been used. |
Sometimes the FAS will approve an applicant’s future counselling expenses, rather than paying an applicant’s expenses that they have already paid for. In applications where the FAS has decided to pay future assistance for expenses likely to be incurred, the FAS will pay for each service provided (such as a counselling session) once the service has been delivered and notice of its delivery has been provided to the FAS. This is different to applications where the FAS is reimbursing an applicant directly for expenses which were already incurred and paid for.
Footnotes
[29] Section 10(2) of the Act.
Updated