Clients are informed of this policy at the time of booking and acknowledge the need to pay a late cancellation or reschedule fee. They will receive a text message 24 hours prior to their appointment which also reminds them of their appointment.
Aim:
The aim of this policy is:
To reduce disruptions to the psychologist diary and loss of psychologists’ time in preparation because of client late cancellations, late rescheduled and missed appointments.
Make sure that other clients do not miss out on the opportunity to access therapy.
Reduce the income loss as a direct result of client cancellations, late rescheduled and missed appointments. We are a private practice, therefore if a client cancels or reschedules late or does not arrive for their scheduled appointment the psychologist loses income.
To reduce the level of late cancellations, late rescheduled and missed appointments.
Policy Rationale
Sometimes there are good reasons for cancelling or rescheduling appointments. However, unlike brief medical appointments, it is impracticable to fill a psychology appointment that runs for 50 minutes at short notice. If several clients are late in cancelling, or reschedule or miss their appointments in one day, then the psychologist loses a large amount of their income. Imagine if a salaried employee was told they would only receive half of their salary for that day? If you consider the situation in these terms, as well as the overhead costs associated with private practice, then you can understand why we must charge a cancellation fee for late cancellations and late rescheduled appointments and missed appointments.
If for some reason you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please allow a minimum of 24 business hours’ notice, i.e. call, SMS or email prior to 9.00 am the day before your appointment, (48 hours’ business hours’ notice as of 1st February 2023), otherwise you will incur a fee. Cancellation fees will be calculated at 75% of regular session fee (100% of regular session fee for appointments cancelled within 24 business hours or no-show appointments, 75% cancellation fee for appointments cancelled within 48 business hours’ as of 1st February 2023).
New Clients: A 100% (NON-REFUNDABLE) is required to secure your booking
You should note that calling is the most effective way to ensure we receive appropriate notice. You are welcome to leave a message outside of business hours if it is before the cancellation deadline.
Please note that while we endeavor to remind you of your appointments through SMS reminders, these should not be relied upon and it is your responsibility to remember appointments you have made.
Cancellation fees are payable on the phone at the time of cancellation, or will be directly charged to the encrypted credit card account details stored, or invoiced. Outstanding accounts (maximum terms = 7 days) will be referred for debt collection and will incur an 18% + GST debt collection fee.

Our cancellation policy is based on the same rationale as many other industries, one example being the airline industry, where you pay for your seat whether you arrive at the airport or not. Given that the time has been set aside for you, if you do not use it, then it is unlikely at short notice it can be used by anyone else. We trust you will agree that this is a fair and reasonable policy and we thank you for your understanding.
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A late cancellation, late rescheduled appointment or failure to attend your appointment is a loss to three people:

Please, therefore, ensure that you attend your appointments!
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(The Office of Fair Trading states that a business is within its rights to charge a cancellation or “no-show” fee for appointments, so long as this has been communicated to a new patient or customer before making the appointment.)