What I do, in one paragraph
I'm an occupational therapist. For children, that usually means working on sensory regulation, fine motor and handwriting, school participation, and self-care routines - the everyday things that, when they aren't working, make family life harder than it should be.
How most families find me
Through a paediatrician, GP, school learning-support coordinator, or Support Coordinator. A handful find me through this site or because another family mentioned me. The route in doesn't matter - what matters is that we work out whether I'm the right fit before you commit to anything.
What happens at the first appointment
The first appointment is mostly listening. I want to understand what brought you to OT, what your child is finding hard, what you've already tried, what other professionals are involved, and what you'd want to be different by the end of a therapy block.
I'll often do some informal observation - play, fine motor tasks, a conversation with your child if they're comfortable. I'm not running standardised tests at the first appointment unless we've agreed in advance that this is an assessment.
By the end of it you should have a clearer picture of: whether OT is the right next step, what goals we'd focus on, roughly how long a block would be, and what the funding would look like.
What NDIS-funded therapy actually looks like
For plan-managed or self-managed participants: I send the family or the plan manager an invoice per session. The plan manager pays it from the participant's plan. The family doesn't pay out of pocket and isn't out of pocket waiting for reimbursement.
I charge per the current NDIS Price Guide - the published hourly rate for OT services. No surcharges, no extra fees outside that rate.
AHPRA registration vs NDIS registration
These get confused a lot. They're different things:
- AHPRA registration is clinical. It means I've met the national qualification and ongoing competence standards for occupational therapy in Australia. Every OT in Australia must be AHPRA-registered. Mine is
OCC0000000000(illustrative for this demo). - NDIS registration is a program-level thing - a decision the OT (or business) makes about whether to register with the NDIA as a provider. It is not a clinical credential. Many excellent allied-health practitioners choose to work as unregistered providers because the administrative burden of NDIS registration is significant.
I am AHPRA-registered. I am not currently NDIS-registered. That means I can see plan-managed and self-managed participants, but I can't take agency-managed referrals directly.
What I do well - and what I don't
I'm a good fit for:
- Paediatric sensory regulation, fine motor, handwriting, and school-readiness work.
- School visits and classroom consultation where they support a clear OT goal.
- Adult functional capacity assessments and assistive-technology prescription for NDIS plan reviews.
I'm not a good fit for:
- Hand therapy or post-surgical rehabilitation.
- Mental-health OT programs as a primary referral reason.
- Complex home modifications (I'll refer to a specialist team).
- Early-intervention work with children under 4 - a different skill set, and there are excellent practitioners in Brisbane who specialise in it.
What to expect from a first call
Fifteen minutes. No commitment. I'll ask you a handful of questions, tell you whether I think OT is what you're actually looking for, and - if I'm not the right OT - point you toward someone who is.