Cancellation Policy

Sensational Kids endeavours to provide the very best in child therapy practice. As part of our service to you, where possible, we offer regular appointment times with your therapist(s). We also have a list of clients who are waiting for appointment times that are currently unavailable. These clients we call at short notice and offer appointments which have recently become available due to cancellations. When you forget appointments or are unable to attend and cancel at short notice, we are often unable to offer these appointments to clients on our waitlists. Out of consideration for these clients and our therapists, we have a cancellation policy in place. This policy is designed to improve communication and forward planning by reducing the number of unattended appointments or appointments cancelled at short notice. These fees are based on the NDIS minimal operational guidelines as per the most current price guide.

Sensational Kids cancellation policy for late cancellation or failure to attend an appointment is as follows:

A cancellation fee of 100% of the service fee is charged if a cancellation occurs within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment and 50% of the fee will be charged if the cancellation occurs between 24 and 48 hours of a scheduled appointment. Where possible, options are available for parent only sessions, telehealth or resource development in place of the session. Please speak with our admin team if you wish to convert the scheduled appointment to one of these options.

How to cancel appointments: We have several ways to get in touch should you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.  Please note for those clients who receive their SMS reminders on Saturday afternoon or Sunday when the clinic is closed, you are able to cancel using the options below as both our email and phone system time stamp the messages.  Please note, if you wish to cancel an appointment, you must contact our service via one of the options below – not responding to an SMS does not mean you are cancelling/ unable to attend. 

Sessions can be cancelled in one of three (3) ways:
1. Phone call to our clinic admin team (please leave a message if you can’t get through) – incoming phone calls are time and date stamped by our system.
2. Email info@sensationalkids.com.au with the request to cancel/ reschedule
3. Respond “N” or “No” to the SMS reminder sent to your phone. This is automatically recorded in our system and your appointment will be cancelled.

A fee of 100% of the service booking is charged if a client fails to attend an appointment with no notice.

Sensational Kids cancellation policy with respects to assessments is outlined specifically in our Assessment Agreement which is completed at the time of booking in an assessment.

Privacy Policy

Please click here for our Privacy Policy: Sensational Kids Privacy Policy

Complaints and Feedback

If you have any concerns about the way we have provided services or would like to provide feedback, please click here for further details: Compliments, Complaints and Feedback Google Form

Please note while we are always open to hearing your concerns or feedback, Sensational Kids has a zero tolerance policy for abusive, harassing or threatening behaviour.   In the event that any of these behaviours are demonstrated towards any of our team members, for any reason, services will be ceased and standard options for accessing our complaints process will no longer be available.  We ask that all communications and interactions with our team are polite, respectful and constructive as we are here to help.

Please see here for our conditions of entry. Conditions of Entry Poster 2024

Please speak with our friendly admin team should you have any queries in relation to our policies.

Working with Separated Families

At Sensational Kids, our utmost priority is the wellbeing of the children we see. We work with children from families of many different structures and arrangements, including those that are separated or who are in shared care arrangements. 

Our policy outlined below details our requirements, expectations and limitations working with families who are separated. 

Contact details and communications with parents

• We request that the contact details of both parents are provided, even when the parents are separated or divorced. It is important we have these details on file in the event we are contacted by either parent so that we can identify who they are and that they are able to access information in relation to our client(s).
• It is the responsibility of the parent initiating treatment to notify the other parent that they have engaged with Sensational Kids and we welcome contact from either parent (unless there are court orders limiting access to information). It is the parents’ responsibility to provide us with any relevant legal documents or court orders pertaining to the child’s care.
• We have an expectation of respectful collaboration and communication. We expect separated parents to work together respectfully and cooperatively regarding the care of their child. Major decisions concerning a child’s medical treatment, such as starting intervention therapy, should be made jointly by both parents whenever possible.

Consent for treatment

• We only require the consent of one parent to commence treatment unless a court order or parenting plan stipulates that both parents must give consent for medical or allied health treatment or that a specific parent must give consent. The onus is on the parent initiating therapy to ensure the other parent has consented should this be required. 

Scheduling appointments, cancelling appointments and keeping up to date

• Either parent or legal guardian can schedule an appointment for their child, be present at the appointment, be involved in goal setting, know home practice activities and/or receive a copy of their child’s reports and case notes, unless there is a court order limiting their involvement in the child’s care.
• If one parent schedules the appointment, they have assumed responsibility for informing the other parent and inviting them to attend (or deciding who attends). 
• Provision of notes and other correspondence is subject to the provisions of privacy legislation and the Sensational Kids Privacy Policy. 
• In the absence of any specific court orders to the contrary, either parent can speak with a therapist currently seeing their child including by phone or email dialogue. This includes updating each parent on current goals and progress being made. Costs of this contact with the therapists will be allocated to the funding program the child is accessing services under or by the enquiring party under private funding arrangements.

Payment for services

• Payment for the child’s appointment is expected on the day of the visit. If there is a legal agreement requiring the other parent to cover all or part of the treatment costs, it is the attending parent’s responsibility to settle the account and seek reimbursement from the other parent. We do not do split billing.

Court documentation and attendance

• We do not accept referrals where the purpose is solely to generate information for legal decision-making concerning custody issues in parental separation. We do not provide documentation including reports for court unless we required to do under subpoena. 

Management of disputes

• In cases of significant conflict, we reserve the right to request court orders, obtain signed consent from both parents, or limit our services until disputes are resolved. If necessary, we may discharge a family from the clinic if the conflict disrupts the clinic’s functioning or impedes the child’s care.
• Please do not request that our clinicans not speak to the child’s other parent about issues (unless there is a court order in place supporting this request) as this places the clinician in a position of discomfort due to the the request being at odds with what they are legally obligated to provide/ follow.   Please note the conditions of communication under the “contact details and communication with parents” section above.

By adhering to these principles, we foster an environment of collaboration, support, and understanding, which ultimately contributes to the well-being and progress of the children we provide services to. We encourage you to speak with one of our team if you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy. 

Our Commitment to Child Safety

Sensational Kids is a child safe organisation which welcomes all children, young people and their families. We are committed to providing environments where our clients are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. We have no tolerance for child abuse and take proactive steps to identify and manage any risk of harm to students in our clinic environments.  Every person involved in our clinic has an important role in promoting child safety and wellbeing and promptly raising any issues or concerns about a child’s safety. Sensational Kids has an extensive and current Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and actively works to exceed the 11 Child Safe Standards (2022). Our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy:

• demonstrates our commitment to providing environments where our clients are safe and feel safe
• provides information about our strategies and governance arrangements to keep children safe
• helps us create a shared commitment to keeping children safe
• supports everyone in our practice to know their responsibilities for keeping children safe

If you have any questions regarding our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy please contact our clinics.

 

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