There are many children living in NSW or ACT who require therapy for physical or behavioural disability, but cannot access clinicians due to financial hardship or ineligibility for NDIS support.
That’s why Variety – the Children’s Charity NSW/ACT has created the We Care Therapy grant, providing financial assistance towards therapy costs to assist children who need it most.
Grants of up to $2000 are available over a twelve-month period and applications are open all year round.
Eligible therapy requests include:
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Hydrotherapy
- Psychology
- Exercise Physiology
- Assessments or reports by eligible therapists
The Guidelines for the We Care – Therapy Grant were updated on October 1st 2023 and the eligibility criteria has changed Please ensure that you download the latest version.
If your child has an assessed mental health condition like anxiety, depression anger management, sleep and self-esteem issues, OCD or other behavioural issues, your child might be able to get Medicare rebates for up to 10 mental health sessions from psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists each calendar year.
To get these rebates, your child will need a Mental Health Treatment Plan from a GP (this covers the services your child needs and the goals of the treatment) or a referral from a psychiatrist or paediatrician. It doesn’t matter how old your child is.
For more information, please see the Department of Health website.
If you are the parent or guardian of the child applicant – please click here:
ApplyIf you are a health professional, support worker or support person submitting an application on behalf of a family or child applicant – please click here:
Health Professional ApplicationIf you have already started an application and are wishing to resume – please click here:
Resume applicationTo stay in touch, sign up to our newsletter or join our Facebook group. You can also email the team directly with any questions you may have to [email protected]
Translated We Care Therapy Grant Guidelines
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Arabic.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Assyrian.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Dari.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in English.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Hazaragi.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Kurdish.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Pashto.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Persian.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Swahili.
Click the button below to download the We Care Therapy Grant guidelines in Tibetan.
Frequently Asked Questions
- reside in NSW or ACT
- be aged between 0 and 18
- be medically diagnosed with a condition that requires therapy
- be ineligible for an NDIS plan or have extenuating circumstances that mean you require financial assistance for therapy while waiting for an approved NDIS plan.
- A GP or Paediatrician signed letter on their official letterhead, outlining the child’s diagnosis/condition and the referral to the therapy (i.e. OT, Physio etc.). This document must be dated within 3 months at the time of submission
- Household Income – For each parent/carer who is financially responsible for the child, we require a Centrelink Income Statement and/or your most recent payslip showing annual income.
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Hydrotherapy
- Psychology
- Exercise Physiology
- Assessments or reports by eligible therapists
Please note the requested therapy will form the basis of the grant and if successful, cannot be amended after the approval date.
Invoicing
Provide your chosen supplier with a copy of your outcome letter and ask them to issue an itemised tax invoice addressed to Variety – the Children’s Charity. They should also include your child’s name or the grant reference number on the invoice.
Upload the invoice into your Variety account.
Once the invoice is received into your Variety account it will be processed by Kids Support and paid directly to the supplier. Payment takes up to 3 weeks.
Reimbursement
The family purchases the approved item(s) as listed on the outcome letter. Please ask for itemised tax receipts issued by the supplier. The reimbursement process is the same as the invoicing process.