Category: How we work

About speech pathology, How we work

Welcome to the workforce new grads!

Danielle Watkins

To the Class of 2025: Welcome to my favourite profession in the world.

At Talking Fish Speech Pathology, we are beyond thrilled to see a new wave of clinicians entering the field. Our profession is growing, evolving, and most importantly helping more people find their voice than ever before. My sincerest hope is that each of you enjoys a long, prosperous, and deeply fulfilling career.

However, as you transition from university to the clinic, there are a few pearls of wisdom for the journey ahead that I want to share.

Build your support team

In your first year, support isn’t just a luxury; it’s a necessity. It is vital to have both formal and informal structures in place.

  • Peer Support: Check in with your fellow new grads. They are the only ones who truly understand the specific “first-year jitters” you’re feeling.
  • Workplace Support: Ensure you have a clear line of sight to your supervisors.
  • The Family Factor: While friends and family are amazing, if they aren’t in the “therapy world”, they might not fully grasp the complexities of a difficult session. I was incredibly fortunate to have my mum support me during my first year. She started her Occupational Therapy career in a similar special school setting as I did, and having someone who truly “got it” made all the difference.

Protecting your spark: Mental health & burnout

We are a caring profession. By nature, we are empathetic, driven, and invested. But this also means we are uniquely prone to burnout, vicarious trauma, and moral injury.

I want to give a huge shout-out to Michelle Bihary for her pioneering work on these topics. Before reading her insights, I hadn’t even heard of “moral injury,” but identifying it is the first step toward preventing it. Remember: you cannot pour from an empty cup. Taking care of your mental health isn’t a distraction from your job; it is your job.

The power of specificity

Your manager or supervisor wants you to succeed, but they aren’t mind readers. To get the best help, keep your communication professional yet open.

The more specific you can be about what is challenging you, the better we can support you. Instead of saying “I’m overwhelmed,” try: “I’m struggling with the documentation turnaround for my NDIS reports,” or “I’m finding it difficult to manage the behaviours in my 4:00 PM session.” Specificity allows for targeted solutions.

The “One small person” reality

This is perhaps the hardest truth to swallow: You are one person in a much larger system. You are a talented, dedicated clinician, but you are not a superhero. You will not be able to fix every problem or resolve every systemic barrier your clients face. Accepting that you are one piece of a larger puzzle, rather than the entire solution, is essential for your long-term wellbeing. Do your best, provide evidence-based care, and be kind to yourself when the “system” feels heavy.

Welcome to the fold, New Grads. We are so glad you’re here.

How we work

Changes to NDIS funding

Danielle Watkins

Every year in June, families and clinicians who rely on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) wait for an announcement from the government to find out what the next 12 months are likely to look like. Each year, The NDIA uses a mix of market data, research, and (apparently) public and industry engagement to inform changes to pricing arrangements and price limits through its Annual Pricing Review. This tells the disability sector what the government will pay, under the NDIS, for a long list of services.

As a clinician and a business owner, this annual announcement impacts what fees I will charge for my services over the next 12 months. I now no longer wait for it with any hope, but with dread. For the past 6 years the therapy cap has remained the same at $193.99 per hour, despite sky rocketing costs in all of our business overheads. This June, our worst fears were realised. The price guide showed a reduction in the amount the scheme will pay for clinical services. I am grateful that the hourly rate for speech pathologists has not dropped. I feel for my colleagues in physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics who have had their hourly rate decreased. What has dropped for speech pathology is the amount that the NDIS will pay for travel. They are now only going to pay 50% of the hourly rate for the therapist to travel to the client. Interestingly, the NDIS website states that they are “Increasing the price limits for psychologists, nurses and other supports based on how much wages and the cost of living have gone up.” – apparently this does not apply to most other clinicians.

There is a lot that could be said about these decisions, but I will stick to the facts:

  1. NDIS will pay for $193.99 per hour of service for speech pathology.
  2. NDIS will pay for $86.79 per hour of service for an Allied Health Assistant.
  3. NDIS will pay for 50% of the above rate for a therapist to travel to the appointment location. This was previously 100%. The new rates are:
    1. $97 per hour for a speech pathologist
    2. $43.40 per hour for an Allied Health Assistant
  4. NDIS will pay for $1 per km of provider travel.

For a number of complex reasons, Talking Fish Therapies has made the decision to NOT change its prices. We will continue to charge the following:

Speech Pathologist:

  • $387.98 for assessment and report
  • $193.99 for 1 hour therapy session (45 minutes face to face, 15 minutes admin)
  • $193.99 for support letters/application forms
  • $1.00 per km travelled for mobile therapy; and $193.99 per hour travelled for mobile therapy

Allied Health Assistant:

  • $87.79 for 1 hour therapy session (45 minutes face to face, 15 minutes admin)
  • $1.00 per km travelled for mobile therapy; and $87.79 per hour travelled for mobile therapy

We will be simplifying and clarifying how we charge for travel. From 1 July 2025, we will record the travel time and kilometers travelled to your appointment and include these in our invoice, as per the above fees. If your therapist needs to return to their office after your appointment, we will include that time and those kilometers as well. If there is more than one client seen at that location, the travel fee will be equally divided between those clients.

For example, if your therapist travels 30 minutes and 30km to a school and sees 3 clients at that school. The travel charge will be:

  • $193.99 x 0.5 hours = $97. A ⅓ share of this fee = $32.01
  • $1 x 30kms = $30. A ⅓ share of this fee = $9.90
  • $32.01 (time) + $9.90 (kms) = $41.91 (total travel fee)

Please be aware that travel fees often vary depending on the number of clients available at any given location on any given day. Where the therapist is travelling from can also change, so you will likely see different travel fees on different days. Any shared travel expenses will show on invoices as a discount.

We thank you for your kind understanding at this time as we make these complex and difficult billing changes. We understand that some families will be impacted and others will not. If you have any concerns about these changes that we are being forced to make, I encourage you to contact your local MP to let them know how the changes to the NDIS are impacting your family. You can find a list of who represents you on the Parliament of Australia website.

How we work

Talking Fish Therapies Hybrid Speech Therapy

Danielle Watkins

The hybrid speech therapy program is a way of combining the expertise of our Certified Practicing Speech Pathologists (CPSPs) and the availability of our Allied Health Assistants (AHAs).

We want to provide quality speech therapy to more children in our community. Our Speech Pathologists do not currently have enough time to see all the children that need our help but we still want to do as much as we can.

1. A Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP) assesses your child and writes a report.

2. Together with the family, the CPSP writes a therapy plan with clear goals for everyone to work towards.

3. An Allied Health Assistant (AHA) is instructed on how to provide the therapy to achieve these goals.

4. The AHA works regularly with the child and meets with the CPSP to make sure the therapy is going well.

5. The CPSP has an appointment with the child and family once per school term to support the child, family, and the AHA to continue working towards their goals.

This program is not appropriate for all children, please speak to your speech pathologist about whether your child is eligible for this program. 

All our Allied Health Assistants have been chosen as suitable for this role for a variety of reasons, many are speech pathology students who are working towards being Certified Practising Speech Pathologists themselves.

These therapy sessions are currently being offered at our clinic in Officer.

Your CPSP appointments will be one-off appointments once per term. 

Your regular appointments with your AHA are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

How we work

COVID 19 operations

Danielle Watkins

It’s a difficult time for everyone at the moment. Whilst allied health services such as speech pathology are eligible to still operate in person, Talking Fish Therapies has made the decision to operate completely via telehealth. Telehealth comes in many different forms, so we will be speaking to our families about what will work best for them during this time.

 

We are also working on some innovative solutions to get around some of the difficulties we are facing. Keep an eye out for updates on these!

 

Stay safe everyone, keep in touch, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any assistance.