Guides
Guides for Australian counsellors
Funder billing, registration, compliance and the practice decisions that come up most — written plainly, with sources, and kept current. Free templates and worksheets live separately in the tools library.
Getting paid & compliance
Funder billing, registration and income
Can counsellors bill Medicare?
Which counsellors can bill Medicare Better Access, and which can't.
Read the guide →NDIS billing for counsellors
Self-managed vs plan-managed vs NDIA-managed, and what it means for getting paid.
Read the guide →Become an EAP provider
How EAP panels work, who to apply to, and how billing actually works once you're approved.
Read the guide →Workers comp counselling in NSW
SIRA provider approval and invoicing with icare, explained.
Read the guide →Victims Services NSW counselling
What the Approved Counselling Program requires — and what's honestly still unclear about payment.
Read the guide →DVA and Open Arms counselling
Two different pathways, gated and paid in two different ways.
Read the guide →Private health fund rebates
The Clinical Registration bar, and HICAPS real-time claiming vs client self-claim.
Read the guide →Victoria's Financial Assistance Scheme
A capped fee schedule by practitioner type — not NSW's free-to-client model.
Read the guide →PACFA vs ACA vs AHPRA
Which registration actually unlocks which funder — Medicare, NDIS, DVA, workers comp, health funds.
Read the guide →Is AI note-drafting compliant?
What PACFA and AHPRA's published guidance actually says about AI-assisted session notes.
Read the guide →How much do counsellors earn?
Salaries vs private-practice income, and the group-practice split that determines your take-home.
Read the guide →Running your practice
Starting, leaving and comparing
Start a private practice
ABN, insurance, GST, rooms vs telehealth, bookings and billing — plainly explained.
Read the guide →Leaving a group practice
The split maths, restraint clauses explained plainly, and a transition checklist.
Read the guide →Group practice vs private vs Zenvia
A row-by-row comparison of billings share, client ownership, rooms and admin.
Read the guide →Switching to Zenvia
Moving from Halaxy, Power Diary or a spreadsheet — what the move actually involves.
Read the guide →Zenvia vs Halaxy
Pricing model, AI session notes, telehealth and more — sourced from Halaxy's own pricing page.
Read the guide →Zenvia vs Power Diary (Zanda)
Pricing, AI notes and group-practice scaling — sourced from Zanda's own pricing page.
Read the guide →Zenvia vs AI scribes
Heidi and Lyrebird draft session notes. Zenvia is a whole counselling practice.
Read the guide →Looking for free templates instead?
Session note formats, consent forms, intake questionnaires and client worksheets are in the tools library.