Assessment Terms of Service

1. Welcome

Welcome to Belconnen Psychological Assessments (BPA).

These Terms of Service explain how we work with clients, what you can expect from us, and what we ask of you when engaging our services. We encourage you to read these Terms together with our Privacy Policy, Billing & Cancellation Policy, Children, Young People and Families Policy, Wellness and Attendance Policy, and any other documents provided as part of the intake process.

We understand that attending a psychological assessment can sometimes feel unfamiliar or daunting for both children and adults. Our aim is to provide a professional, respectful and welcoming environment where people feel comfortable participating in the assessment process and asking questions along the way.

2. About our services

BPA provides psychological assessment, consultation, reporting, and related professional services.

We do not provide emergency or crisis mental health services.

Psychological assessments may involve:

• Clinical interviews
• Review of records and background information
• Questionnaires and rating scales
• Standardised testing
• Consultation with other professionals
• Report preparation
• Feedback sessions

The purpose of an assessment is to provide an independent professional opinion based on the information available at the time.

Assessment findings may confirm, exclude, clarify, or raise questions regarding diagnoses, strengths, difficulties, support needs, treatment needs, educational needs, workplace supports, and other relevant matters.

Assessment findings and recommendations are intended to assist decision-making but do not guarantee access to diagnoses, treatment recommendations, NDIS funding, educational adjustments, workplace accommodations, insurance benefits, government supports, disability services, legal outcomes, or any other third-party decision.

3. Becoming a client

Contacting BPA, making an enquiry, being referred to the practice, joining a waitlist, or participating in screening or intake activities does not automatically establish a psychologist client relationship.

You are considered a prospective client until BPA has:

• completed any required screening,
• accepted the referral, and
• booked your first appointment.

BPA may decline referrals, recommend alternative services, or determine that a referral is not suitable for the services offered.

4. Your rights

As a client of BPA, you have the right to:

• Be treated with dignity, courtesy and respect
• Receive services that are safe and professionally delivered
• Receive information that supports informed decision-making
• Ask questions about any aspect of the assessment process
• Request access to your information, subject to legal requirements
• Raise concerns or complaints without fear of disadvantage
• Participate in decisions affecting your care
• Withdraw consent where legally permitted

Additional information is available in the APS Charter of client rights provided with your intake documents.

5. Your responsibilities

To help us provide an effective service, we ask that you:

• Provide information that is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge
• Inform us if relevant circumstances change
• Attend appointments as arranged, in line with our Wellness and Attendance Policy
• Complete questionnaires and assessment materials within requested timeframes
• Provide requested documents and records where available
• Pay invoices on time
• Treat BPA staff, contractors and service providers respectfully
• Comply with reasonable administrative and safety requirements
• Raise issues early to give us an opportunity to resolve them

Clients are also asked not to search for, follow, attempt to contact, or add BPA practitioners through personal social media platforms. Maintaining professional boundaries helps protect privacy, confidentiality and the integrity of the professional relationship.

6. Appointments and attendance

Assessment services often involve multiple appointments, questionnaires, testing sessions, record reviews and information gathering activities.

Delays in attending appointments, providing requested information, returning questionnaires, or completing assessment requirements may delay the progress of an assessment and the preparation of reports.

Cancellation, rescheduling and non-attendance arrangements are outlined in your informed financial consent form.

6.1. Preparing for assessment appointments

We aim to provide a welcoming and engaging assessment environment.

Clinicians often wear comfortable, practical and sometimes colourful clothing to help reduce anxiety and create a relaxed atmosphere, particularly when working with children and young people.

Clients are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing. Children are also encouraged to bring familiar comfort items such as a favourite toy, blanket, teddy, book or fidget item if this helps them feel comfortable and secure.

If you have sensory needs, accessibility requirements, communication preferences, or other concerns that may help make the assessment experience more comfortable, please let us know.

7. Independent assessment services

BPA provides independent clinical psychological assessment services for clinical, educational, healthcare and disability-related purposes.

BPA assessments are not designed to:

• determine the truthfulness of allegations,
• resolve disputes between family members,
• advocate for any individual or outcome, or
• support a particular legal, funding or administrative position.

Unless expressly agreed beforehand, BPA does not provide:

• medico-legal assessments,
• expert witness services,
• family court assessments,
• parenting assessments,
• custody evaluations,
• forensic assessments,
• fitness-for-duty assessments, or
• assessments commissioned primarily for legal proceedings.

The existence of a BPA report does not convert the service into a medico-legal, forensic or expert witness engagement.

Assessment reports are written for specific referral purposes and may become less relevant over time as circumstances, health status, educational circumstances, functioning or diagnostic understanding changes.

8. Communication and telehealth

BPA may communicate with clients, referrers and authorised parties by telephone, email, SMS, secure forms, secure messaging systems and telehealth platforms.

Communication between appointments should generally be limited to administrative matters, appointment management, requested documentation, and information relevant to the assessment process.

As BPA is not a crisis service, we do not guarantee response times. We actively manage our caseload to remain reasonably responsive to client enquiries.

Email is not the preferred method for sending sensitive personal information. Secure forms and other secure options are available and should be used where possible.

Electronic communication should not be relied upon during emergency or crisis situations.

8.1. Telehealth

Where clinically appropriate, appointments may be conducted by telehealth.

Consent for telehealth will be obtained when booking or before clinical content commences.

BPA currently provides telehealth using Microsoft Teams configured to utilise Australian data residency and storage locations wherever supported by Microsoft.

9. Privacy and confidentiality

BPA is committed to protecting privacy, confidentiality and information security.

Personal information is generally used and disclosed only:

• with your consent,
• where necessary to provide services,
• where required by Medicare or funding arrangements,
• where required or authorised by law, or
• where there is a serious concern regarding safety.

BPA and some authorised service providers may use de-identified information for service improvement, quality assurance, research, analytics or professional development purposes.

Full details are contained within the BPA Privacy Policy.

10. Recording and artificial intelligence

To protect privacy, confidentiality and the integrity of the assessment process, clients, family members and other attendees must not audio-record, video-record, photograph, transcribe, summarise or process assessment activities using artificial intelligence (AI) tools without the prior knowledge and consent of the clinician and all participants where applicable.

Similarly, BPA clinicians will not record appointments or use AI-enabled recording, transcription or summarisation tools without any required consent.

11. Children, young people and families

Where services are provided in relation to a child or young person, the child or young person is the primary client of the practice.

This remains the case even where a parent, guardian, caregiver, school, organisation or funding body initiates the referral, provides information, or is responsible for payment.

Parents, guardians, caregivers and other involved parties are generally considered associated parties who may provide information, facilitate participation, provide consent where appropriate, and/or accept responsibility for payment, but are not themselves the primary client unless otherwise agreed.

BPA’s professional obligations remain directed toward the welfare, interests and assessment needs of the child or young person.

Clients engaging BPA in relation to a child or young person should also read the BPA Children, Young People and Families Policy.

Communication regarding appointments, forms, record requests and service coordination will generally be maintained with the person who initiated the referral unless a different arrangement becomes more appropriate.

12. Fees and funding

Applicable fees are outlined on the fees page, in the BPA Billing & Cancellation Policy, and in the Financial Consent documentation provided during intake.

Payment is generally required on the day of service for all clients unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Where services are provided to a child or young person, the person who accepts responsibility for fees remains responsible for payment unless alternative arrangements have been agreed in writing.

At present, BPA accepts NDIS referrals only where funding is self-managed.

12.1 Medicare and other funding

Where services are funded through Medicare, referrals must satisfy Medicare requirements.

Medicare-funded services generally require communication with the referring practitioner and may involve reports or clinical correspondence being provided as part of continuity of care.

While BPA is happy to provide general information regarding funding pathways, clients remain responsible for confirming their eligibility for rebates, referrals and funding arrangements.

13. Reports and information sharing

Reports are prepared to answer specific referral questions and are released in accordance with applicable consent arrangements, privacy obligations and legal requirements.

Reports are generally written for the purpose outlined in the referral and should not be relied upon for unrelated purposes without first discussing this with BPA.

BPA may delay the release of reports where:

• essential assessment components remain outstanding,
• requested information has not been received,
• invoices remain unpaid, or
• further clarification is reasonably required.

Further information regarding information sharing is contained within the Privacy Policy and Consent documentation.

14. Access to information and records

Clients may request access to personal information and records in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and the BPA Privacy Policy.

Identity verification may be required before information is released.

Some information may be unavailable or restricted where permitted by law or professional obligations, including copyright.

15. Practitioner availability and business continuity

If your practitioner leaves BPA, reasonable steps will be taken to support continuity of records and any necessary transition arrangements.

If BPA ceases operating, reasonable arrangements will be made for the secure retention, transfer or management of records in accordance with legal, ethical and professional requirements.

Further information is outlined in the BPA Privacy Policy.

16. Feedback, concerns and complaints

We recognise that providing feedback can sometimes feel difficult, and we welcome constructive feedback about any aspect of our service. We are committed to addressing concerns respectfully, fairly and professionally.

We encourage clients to raise concerns early, as many issues can be resolved quickly through discussion.

Email: admin@belcopsychassessments.com.au

If a concern cannot be resolved directly with BPA, you may also contact:

• ACT Human Rights Commission – https://www.hrc.act.gov.au
• AHPRA – https://www.ahpra.gov.au

Nothing in these Terms affects your right to make a complaint to a regulatory authority or seek
independent advice.

17. Changes to these terms

These Terms may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, professional requirements, service delivery arrangements, technology, or business operations.

The most current version will be published on this website.