FaHCSIA FUNDING
Eligibility and accessing funding
‘Helping Children with Autism’ is a federal government funding initiative to assist families and carers of children aged zero to six diagnosed with an ASD.
The Autism Advisors will provide families a gateway to the $12,000 funding ($6,000 max per financial year).
Families applying for the $12,000 must provide eligibility documentation before application can be processed.
The eligibility criteria documentation that is required to be submitted for application of funding is copies of the following:-
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Copy of the child’s birth certificate (to confirm age)
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Copy of a rates notice or utilities bill (to confirm residency)
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Copy of child’s Centrelink reference number (found on child’s Health Care Card), not parents' CRN.
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Copy of definitive statement of diagnosis of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder as classified by the DSM-IV (i.e. Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, Rett's Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder). The diagnosis cannot be suggestive, indicative or provisional. The definitive diagnosis must be made by a Paediatrician, Psychiatrist or a Multi-disciplinary team only, and the diagnostic statement must be signed.
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Families must also sign or give written consent for Autism Victoria to enter your child’s details onto the FaHCSIA online funding management system. (Details will be collected using Data collection form.
* Please be aware all personal information will be stored and protected under strictest confidentiality and data protection.
Information packs, eligibility information and forms for application can be downloaded from this page. Please click below for downloadable forms.
PLEASE DOWNLOAD ALL DOCUMENTS TO ENSURE YOU HAVE ALL APPROPRIATE INFORMATION TO MAKE YOUR APPLICATION.
Helping Children with Autism information booklet
Medicare Benefit Schemes factsheet for parents
Data collection form, with permission/consent to put details on FOFMS
Membership application form for Autism Victoria
Once eligibility has been confirmed and the documents have been processed, a letter of introduction will be generated and printed which will be used as your proof of funding. You must retain this letter, as you will use this letter to take to Authorised Panel Providers that you wish to use for early intervention services and this will allow those providers to automatically invoice and apply for payment of fees direct, you will not need to worry about handling any of the monies or paying providers this will all be done electronically through the FaHCSIA online funding management system. It is important that you keep a track on how much of the funding you spend on early intervention as the maximum amount allocated per financial year is $6,000. If you spend over the maximum funding entitlement amount for the financial year you will be responsible to pay anything over and above the $6,000. To help families keep track of how much of their funding is remaining, FaHCSIA will issue a monthly balance statement for your child’s account. They will send this to your current email address which you are asked to provide on the data collection form. For families without an email address, FaHCSIA will post statements to families.
Authorised Panel Providers
As part of the funding agreement with FaHCSIA you can only utilise the early intervention services of the named panel providers on the panel providers list. All providers on the panel provider list have been through FaHCSIA's application and selection process, and have to provide a summary of the services they can deliver, the therapists involved, and how much of your funding each service will consume. FaHCSIA have also advised all providers that they will only pay for services in arrears and not in advance so a provider cannot charge any upfront costs. All providers and details of their services can be viewed on the FaHCSIA website. Please follow the link below for further information.
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/progserv/people/autism_panel/vic/Pages/default.aspx