Changing clinics
How to switch clinics in Victoria
We request your records from your previous clinic with your written consent, and your first appointment is a transfer consultation with an AHPRA-registered Clinician at $69. Every treatment decision is made afresh, by your Clinician, after that consultation.
- Records requested on your behalf
- Transfer consultation $69
- AHPRA-registered Clinicians
If you are in Victoria and your care at another clinic has stalled, LeafLine Clinic can take it over. With your written consent our patient-support team requests your records and treatment summary from your previous clinic, and your first appointment is a transfer consultation with an AHPRA-registered Clinician at $69.
Two Victorian rules shape a transfer. Your new Clinician checks SafeScript before writing any prescription, and a Department of Health permit applies in the circumstances set out below.
How it works
Moving your care from Victoria, step by step
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Start with a call, or check your eligibility
Book a free 10-minute info call with our patient-support team, or complete the online eligibility check. The check asks where you are located, which for Victoria sets which of the rules on this page apply, and the screening questions every patient answers. No clinical advice is given on the call.
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Give consent and tell us where you were treated
Complete your intake forms and name your previous clinic. With your written consent our patient-support team requests your records and treatment summary from them. Anything you already hold, such as your approval letter or a recent treatment summary, can be sent to us straight away.
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A transfer consultation, $69
You meet your Clinician by video. They review your history and records with you, discuss your circumstances, and make an independent clinical assessment. Nothing carries over automatically, and any new approval is applied for after this consultation, not before.
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New approvals, then ongoing care
If your Clinician decides to prescribe, they lodge the federal application, and any Victoria application that applies to you, and nothing is prescribed until those are granted. Follow-up reviews are booked with the same Clinician, and with your consent your Clinician can write to your regular GP.
Before you book
What changes when your prescriber changes
The Therapeutic Goods Administration grants the approval behind your prescription to the practitioner who applied for it, for you, for the period written on the approval letter. Only that practitioner can prescribe under it. When you move clinics and your new Clinician decides to prescribe, they make a new application after your transfer consultation, and the TGA states it processes applications in 2 to 5 days.
Bring your existing approval letter and current prescription details to the consultation if you have them. They answer most of the questions the new application asks, and they let your Clinician see how long your current approval has left to run.
Victoria requires a Department of Health permit before a Clinician prescribes to a patient with a history of drug dependence. If that applies to you, your new Clinician applies for the permit and cannot prescribe until it is granted. Any permit your previous clinic held was issued to your previous prescriber and does not transfer.
On the face of the Act, a permit is also required to continue treatment beyond eight weeks unless a notice from the Secretary of the Department exempts the circumstance. The Department’s published position is that no permit is needed for a patient without a history of drug dependence. LeafLine works to the Department’s position and books a review at week seven for Victorian patients.
VIC
Transferring from a Victorian clinic
LeafLine Clinic is registered and run in Melbourne, so a Victorian patient deals with a team keeping Victorian hours. Consultations run by video or telephone from anywhere in the state, and the records request goes to your previous clinic the same way whether it was in Melbourne, interstate, or online only.
You have a right of access to your own health records. Australian Privacy Principle 12 requires an organisation that holds your personal information to give you access to it on request, within a reasonable period, which the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner says should generally not exceed 30 calendar days. In Victoria the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) sits alongside that. Your previous clinic may charge for copies; LeafLine does not charge for requesting or receiving them.
Switching clinics in Victoria: common questions
Do I need a new approval when I move my care to LeafLine in Victoria?
Yes. The Therapeutic Goods Administration approval behind your prescription names the practitioner who applied for it and does not transfer. If your new Clinician decides to prescribe after your transfer consultation, they apply afresh, and the TGA states it processes these applications in 2 to 5 days. A Victorian Department of Health permit, where one applies, is also issued to the prescriber and is applied for again.
Will my new Clinician see what I was prescribed before?
Yes. Your new Clinician checks SafeScript before writing any prescription, which shows your recent prescribing history for monitored medicines. That check is a statutory duty on the prescriber in Victoria. It does not replace your records, which we request from your previous clinic with your consent.
Does the eight-week rule affect me?
On the face of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic), a permit is required to continue treatment beyond eight weeks unless a Secretary’s notice exempts the circumstance. The Department of Health’s published position is that no permit is needed for a patient without a history of drug dependence. LeafLine follows the Department’s position and books a review at week seven for Victorian patients.
What does the transfer cost in Victoria?
The transfer consultation is $69. Follow-up consultations are $59 to $69. LeafLine does not charge for requesting or receiving your records; your previous clinic sets its own policy on copies. Fees are the same in every state and territory and are published before you book.
What hours can Victorians reach LeafLine Clinic?
Support and bookings run 9am to 7pm AEST, seven days a week. That is local time in Victoria during standard time; during daylight saving, Victorian local times sit one hour ahead.
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