Keeping FCAs more affordable
without cutting corners

Cost is often the reason people wait

After more than 15 years working as an occupational therapist, I have seen how often people delay getting the support they need because of cost. These decisions are rarely simple. For many people, the cost of therapy or an assessment is not just inconvenient — it becomes the reason they wait. And when people wait, things often become harder.

This is one of the reasons we have made a very conscious decision at Seeds OT to keep our Functional Capacity Assessment fees lower where we can. At the time of writing, our standard FCA fee is $969.95 — intentionally lower than many assessment fees in the sector.

That does not mean doing less. It does not mean rushing the work. It means being very thoughtful about how the assessment process is designed.

More than listing diagnoses — explaining real daily life

A good Functional Capacity Assessment should explain how the person is actually managing in everyday life. It should describe what they can do independently, what they can only do with support, what they cannot do safely or consistently, and what happens when the right support is not available.

For NDIS participants, the report also needs to explain the functional impact of disability in a way that is clear, practical and useful for decision-making. That requires careful listening and clinical judgement — not just a good questionnaire.

That kind of reasoning cannot be rushed. But it also does not always require a long, expensive assessment process with many hours of appointment time.

A structured process that uses clinical time well

Over time, we have developed a structured assessment process that allows much of the background information to be gathered before the interview. This means the clinical interview can be used more carefully — focused on the areas that need clinical judgement, not on collecting basic background details.

Lower cost does not mean lower quality

Keeping the cost lower is not about making the assessment thinner. It is not about doing a quick interview and producing a light report. It is not about using a one-size-fits-all template.

It is about reducing unnecessary cost while protecting the quality of the clinical reasoning. A lower fee is only ethical if the report still properly reflects the person's functional needs — detailed enough to be useful, clear enough to explain the link between disability, daily function, risk and support, and specific enough to make recommendations that are proportionate, realistic and clinically justified.

We would also rather be transparent about what an FCA can and cannot do. It can help explain a person's functional needs and support an NDIS application or plan review — but it does not guarantee an NDIS decision, and it does not replace medical evidence where medical evidence is required. Our role is to provide a clear, honest and clinically reasoned opinion.

When our standard model may not be enough

Most people who book with us are suitable for our structured assessment model. However, not every situation fits neatly into a lower-cost process. A lower-cost model is only appropriate when it can still produce a safe, useful and clinically sound report. If someone needs more than that model can reasonably provide, it is better to say so.

If extra work is needed, we will try to explain that clearly and early. This is not about excluding people with higher needs — it is about being honest. If someone needs more than our standard model can reasonably provide, it is better to say so than to offer a service that may not properly meet their needs.

A Functional Capacity Assessment should open doors, not close them

Seeds OT is a small practice. We cannot remove every barrier, and we cannot make every service low cost. But we can be thoughtful about how we work.

We can avoid unnecessary appointment hours where information can be gathered safely in another way. We can use structured forms to help families and participants share their story properly. We can keep the clinical interview focused. We can make our pricing clear. We can write reports that are practical, respectful and clinically reasoned.

Most importantly, we can remember that behind every assessment request is a person or family trying to move forward — trying to keep a child safe, to explain why a parent can no longer manage at home, to prevent carer burnout, to make daily life more manageable, safer and more sustainable.