Community Health Program fees policy and schedule of fees

Key messages

The Department of Health (department) has updated the fees policy and schedule of fees for Community Health Program (CHP) funded services.
From 1 July 2026 concession card status has replaced income as the basis for determining the fee a consumer can be charged for CHP services.
Inability to pay a fee cannot be used as a basis for refusing a service to people who are assessed as eligible and requiring a service.

Community Health Program fees policy

The Community Health Program (CHP) fees policy provides a consistent framework within which providers are to operate when making decisions about charging fees to consumers of CHP services.

Application: Community Health Program (CHP) providers are not required to charge fees for CHP services, however, where a provider does charge fees, they must only do so in accordance with this policy.
- Providers that charge fees are encouraged to reduce or waive fees for consumers facing financial hardship or other access barriers. Providers are also encouraged to reduce or waive fees for short (e.g., follow-up) appointments.
- Providers are encouraged to cap fees for consumers frequently utilising a given service. For example, for a consumer requiring five nursing hours per week for several weeks, providers may elect to only charge the consumer for two sessions per week.
- Inability to pay a fee cannot be used as a basis for refusing a service to people who are assessed as eligible and requiring a service.
Schedule of fees: The fees schedule set by the department is to be followed by all providers that choose to charge fees for CHP services; providers are not permitted to charge fees for CHP services that are greater than those specified by the department.
- Consumer concession card status has replaced income as the basis for determining the fee payable by the consumer.
- The department has standardised fees at the same maximum amount for similar services delivered across the CHP and HACC PYP (e.g., allied health services now have identical fees in CHP and HACC PYP)
- Providers may set low or medium fees at or below the maximum amounts set by the department and based on the consumer’s designated fee group but cannot set low or medium fees higher than the maximum prescribed by the department.
- The department has set all fee maximums at whole dollar amounts and providers are encouraged (but not required) to set their fees at whole dollar amounts.
Provider fee transparency: Providers must clearly document and publish their fee schedules. All service fees should be publicly available, listed on the provider’s website, and displayed at service sites so that consumers are aware of the fee they may be charged. Publicly available fee schedules promote transparency and consistency and ensure consumers can make informed decisions about their care.
Exemptions: Service providers must not charge fees for services delivered through the following CHP activities:
- 29090 – Multidisciplinary Centre Community Health Nursing
- 28080 – Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies
- 28076 – Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health
- 28015 – Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP)
- 28066 – Innovative Health Services for Homeless Youth (IHSHY)
Reporting fee data: Providers must report to the department on fees charged to consumers for CHP activities through the Community Health Minimum Data Set (CHMDS).
Full fee-paying consumers: Services delivered to consumers, where the consumer is charged a fee higher than the maximum fee set by the department (i.e., higher than the medium fee maximum), must not be reported as service hours under the CHP. If a consumer is paying a fee higher than the maximum set by the department, that service is being provided in a ‘private’ or ‘fee for service’ capacity, and does not count towards performance targets for Victorian Government funded activity.\

Community Health Program schedule of fees

Fees are charged per visit/session unless otherwise specified.

Table 1: Schedule of fees

Service	Low fee (maximum)	Medium fee (maximum)
Group sessions	$10	$20
Nursing	$14	$28
Allied Health	$14	$28
Care coordination	Nil	Nil
Interpreting	Nil	Nil
Initial needs identification	Nil	Nil
Other services and items (such as report writing, court attendance, orthotics, information materials, secondary consultations)	Where appropriate such service fees may be charged even when associated with a service which does not attract a fee (e.g. care coordination). Agencies may set these fees for each fee group at their discretion. Fees should be levied in a manner consistent with the exemptions and capping provisions included in this policy.

Table 2: Fee group determination

CHP consumers		Private / fee-for-service consumers
Low fee	Medium fee	Set by provider
Holder of any valid concession card (see below). Children of a concession card holder.	Consumer meets eligibility criteria but does not qualify for the low fee group (i.e., no concession card).	Consumer does not meet eligibility criteria for CHP and accesses the service in a private capacity.

Valid concession cards

Consumers holding any of the following concession cards are eligible to pay the low fee:

Pensioner Concession Card
Health Care Card
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
Victorian Seniors Card
DVA Veteran Gold Card
DVA Veteran White Card
Foster Child Health Care Card
Carer Allowance Health Care Card
Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card

Updated 1 July 2026