Open Arms assists health providers to understand the military experience and maintain clinical best practice.

VERA login

VERA is our clinical practice software. Clinicians can access VERA online.

Outreach Program Provider Notes

The Outreach Program Provider Notes contain detailed information on the provision of Open Arms Outreach Program services and outline the terms of agreement for Outreach Program Counsellors, Group Program Facilitators and Clinical Supervisors.

Outreach Program Fee Schedule

Payment is based on the current Open Arms Schedule of Fees for the relevant service. The Fee Schedule is indexed in accordance with the indexation rate applied to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) of fees.

As of 1 July 2024:

As of 1 November 2023:

• Supervisor Fee Schedule Clinical Psychologist 1 November 2023 (203 KB)
• Supervisor Fee Schedule Psychologist and MH Social Worker 1 November 2023 (264 KB)
• OPC Fee Schedule Clinical Psychologist 1 November 2023 (203 KB)
• OPC Fee Schedule Psychologist and MH Social Worker 1 November 2023 (275 KB)

As of 1 September 2023:

• Supervisor Fee Schedule Clinical Psychologist 1 September 2023 (239.6 KB)
• Supervisor Fee Schedule Psychologist and MH Social Worker 1 September 2023 (242.52 KB)
• OPC Fee Schedule Clinical Psychologist 1 September 2023 (278.55 KB)
• OPC Fee Schedule Psychologist and MH Social Worker 1 September 2023 (279.73 KB)

As of 1 July 2023:

• OPC and Supervisor Fee Schedule 1 July 2023 (55.21 KB)
• OPC and Supervisor Clinical Psychologists Fee Schedule 1 July 2023 (56.71 KB)
• Group Program Facilitator Fee Schedule 1 July 2023 (57.21 KB)

Previous Open Arms Schedule of Fees for the relevant service.

ADF orientation

The following guides provide an overview of the Australian military experience, ranks and terminology, as well as the arrangements and resources for the provision of Open Arms and Defence services to veterans and current serving ADF members:

Mental health advice

Open Arms draws on the latest Australian and international best practice guidelines for treatment of common mental health problems.

Open Arms (VVCS) Practitioner’s Guide

Open Arms provides comprehensive training prior to engagement:

• The Open Arms (VVCS) Practitioner’s Guide is an online training program for Open Arms centre counsellors, Outreach counsellors and other Open Arms contracted providers.
  The guide highlights common mental health impacts that may result from a client’s exposure to military service and provides an overview of Open Arms clinical treatment expectations. It also alerts the practitioner to modern military psychological training enabling integration into treatment regimes if clinically indicated.  
• The Understanding the Military Experience online training introduces practitioners to the military experience and potential traumatic exposure/s of current and former veterans and their families.

New users can access both The Open Arms Practitioner's Guide and Understanding the Military Experience through DVAtrain.

Online service delivery guide

Open Arms clinicians and peer workers can provide online mental health support to clients, according to their need, preference and situation:

COVID-19 self-service space

As COVID-19 continues to impact and reshape our daily lives, we have put measures in place to ensure that we can continue supporting our veteran community and each other through this pandemic.

The Open Arms COVID-19 self-service space provides a single source of truth and allows easy access to COVID-19 information and support documentation in one online, up to date location.

Managing challenging behaviours

We've produced a quick reference guide for dealing with challenging client behaviours. The guide contains a list of practical do's and don'ts to help you manage difficult situations.

A hardcopy version for your desk is also available to order by contacting us or you can download the PDF version:

See also