Assessment

Bookings are available immediately with me for Psychology Assessments and Reports including neuroaffirming Autism, ADHD assessments.

Psychological assessments are an in-depth process requiring information to be collected, interpreted, analysed, and reported.

While diagnosis in Australia, to access supports such as the NDIS, DSP in particular, require meeting criteria according to the DSM-5-TR or ICD-11, a diagnostic label only provides a conceptual consensus as to a group of traits; a label or common language to describe these characteristics. The diagnosis or label, is not the person.

To reach a conclusion that an individual meets a set of diagnostic criteria, I use a combination of clinical interview, observations, standardised instruments, screeners, and other collateral information (such as school reports, information collected from teachers, parents, partner or siblings, and reports from other professionals such as your GP or other allied health). No single screening tool or online questionaire can diagnose. I work hard to ensure that I understand nuance, from typicality to subtlety, to complexity.

The other important thing is that if you are considering using a Psychology Assessment report to access government supports, like NDIS, you will generally need a Functional Capacity Assessment (which I am qualified to do as part of a comprehensive psychology assessment) and a second clinician to confirm your diagnosis. So, that might be a paediatrician, psychiatrist, or other allied health professional. 

Please scroll down to read about the Fees↓↓↓

So what’s the process? 

Assessment – Step 4 Feedback Session

I never provide my report to you without a feedback session. This gives us both an opportunity to ensure I have answered your concerns and gives you the chance to ask any questions.

Next Steps.

If you like, I also recommend returning a week or two later to give you some time to reflect and bring in other questions, and to support your journey post-assessment. This session is charged at a standard session fee. Alternately, I recommend taking your report to your existing supports and discussing where to from here with other professionals in your team.

Fees

Fees listed below apply to new assessment clients commenced on or after 1 June, 2025. Paediatric (ages 4-17) and Adult (18+) identification services:

All new assessment clients will be required to pay a fee of $360 for their initial session. In some cases, a medicare or private health insurance rebate may be applicable depending on your referral type. This fee is payable to confirm your appointment time and will incur a 100% session fee for cancellations or reschedules of less than 2 business days’ notice. (Assessments are usually booked on Tuesdays, which means you will need to cancel by Thursday afternoon).

Am I Autistic? 

Includes an ADHD screener, diagnostic summary (the summary of the assessment process and test results and any formal diagnoses made). 

(Option 1) Identification only, $1400 diagnostic service. Answers the question: Am I Autistic? and allows me to make a clinical decision to answer confidently either yes or no. You get everything included in the Autism assessment (as described below) with a brief 1-2 page summary report. 

(Option 2) Extended report, $1850 diagnostic service and neuro-affirming write-up of relevant background information, more detailed test results, evidence from clinical interviews, any formal diagnosis made and recommendations. 

(Option 3) I would also like to apply to the NDIS, diagnostic service and functional capacity assessment to determine how you are impaired by your eligible disability or disabilities and what reasonable and necessary supports do you need that can appropriately be funded by the NDIS. It takes many many hours to write these reports, and therefore the fee can be very pricey for the client.

Important information if you are thinking of applying to the NDIS:
(1) To apply, email your completed Access Request Form to your Local Area Coordinator (LAC). You’ll then have a meeting with your LAC to create a Community Connections plan, and you’re welcome to bring a support person. The LAC will submit your application. As at May 2025, there is a 9-month wait to find out if you meet eligibility requirements. If you are found eligible, a Planner will review your Community Connections plan about two months later and contact you for a planning meeting to discuss funding. A plan implementation meeting will follow a few weeks later to help you understand and activate your plan. This meeting will be with a Planner for complex cases or the LAC for simpler ones.

(2) You may need to have an OT conduct a functional capacity assessment and demonstrate why psychology is “reasonable and necessary” such as showing psychological barriers to functional capacity if you are hoping to have Psychology supports included as funded therapy in your NDIS Plan. Then you (the participant) or LAC or Support Coordinator will need to submit a “change of circumstances”, which can take 6 months+
(3) The NDIS expects the treating professional who provides evidence of your disability to have treated you for at least six (6) months. For example, for an Autism diagnosis as a “primary disability” a single clinician diagnosis by a Clinical Psychologist using the DSM-5-TR and one of three daily life assessment tools (Vineland, WHODAS or PEDI-CAT) is preferred. 

* An autism assessment includes approx. 4-5 hours of assessment appointments, completion of online questionnaires, feedback and your report. Occasionally, there may be instances where additional sessions are needed to complete your assessment (for example, clients with complex physical or mental health histories that require more in-depth querying in order to rule-in and rule-out differential diagnoses). This is usually able to be advised in your first session if this is required for you. 

(Option 4) Second opinion or Autism ‘level’ update. Available from September, 2025. Perhaps you already have had an Autism assessment and disagree with the outcome? Perhaps you have a formal diagnosis but the report does not meet the evidence of impairment criteria and support needs to access the NDIS.  This service is only available where you can provide a copy of a medical practitioner / psychology report and consent is provided for Victoria to communicate with and/or obtain assessment materials from the previous service provider(s).

What about ADHD? You might feel that Autism does not fit and you are an ADHDer. For adults, (anyone age 18+, but really 16+) I would recommend you book in to see a Psychiatrist for an ADHD assessment before seeing a Psychologist if you would like to explore medication. However, if you wish to understand your unique profile and neurotype, a Psychologist assessment may be suitable for you.

I need a Cognitive Assessment and/or Learning and Academic Assessment. I conduct WISC-V and WIAT-III (ANZ) assessments in person to individuals ages 8+ and WAIS-IV for ages 16+. Fees for a Cognitive Assessment are set at $2100 (paid in three instalments of $700 if a payment plan is required). Fees for an Academic Assessment are $2800 (paid in four instalments of $700 if a payment plan is required). As part of your detailed report, you’ll receive an understanding of your unique strengths and differences with examples of how these factors impact your daily life, you will also be provided practical recommendations for supports and adjustments and if relevant recommendations for Individual Learning Plans or PLPs for school aged students. 

Please note, for all assessments, payment in full is required before your report is released to you. Your report with all results, diagnoses (where applicable), and tailored recommendations, is provided to you in a one-hour feedback session appointment.