Your first appointment will be a friendly consultation where you and Dr Aly will get to know each other and discuss your needs. The two of you will explore your psychiatric history and a preliminary treatment plan will be discussed. You'll have the opportunity to decide if you feel comfortable moving forward with treatment. If, for any reason, you don't feel it's the right fit, or if Dr Aly believes another approach might be better for you, Dr Aly will inform your referring doctor and provide other options for treatment that may meet your needs.

Regular follow-up appointments are important to ensure you receive the best care possible. These appointments can be either 30 minutes or 45 minutes long, depending on your needs and whether therapy will be performed. During sessions, Dr Aly might also spend some time writing letters to other healthcare professionals, like your GP, to keep them informed and involved in your care.

Dr Aly charges private fees for service and unfortunately does not offer any bulk-billing services. If you are experiencing any financial hardship, please discuss options with your GP.

All initial patients are required to upload a referral letter from their GP or specialist at your first appointment in order to be eligible for a Medicare rebate. GP referrals must be renewed every 12 months, whilst a referral from other medical specialist must be renewed every 3 months.

Two full business days' notice is required if you wish to reschedule or cancel your appointment, otherwise the full cost of the appointment will be forfeited.

A comprehensive mental health assessment requires gathering a collateral history of the patient. A collateral history is an information gathered from someone other than the patient, such as family members, friends, carers, or health professionals.

These interviews for collateral history may be carried out during the consultation or in a separate session. These interviews are usually bulk billed in conducted at the same time as the patient's appointment.

Whilst Dr Aly is not an emergency service provider, he will do everything he can to see you as quickly as possible. If you do not find a suitable timeslot for an appointment, please email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you. Please also update your preferences to be included on a cancellation list.

If you need immediate support, please call 000 or attend to your nearest Hospital Emergency Department.

If you are in NSW, The Mental Health Line (NSW Statewide) 1800 011 511 will connect you with your local area Acute Care Team.

You can also contact:

Lifeline: 13 11 14

BeyondBlue: 1300 22 46 36

Where appropriate, a General Practitioner (GP) should be contacted.

Urgent matters: If in crisis or requiring urgent care you should contact:  

Emergency Ambulance Services on 000, or attend the Canberra Hospital or Calvary Hospital Emergency Department. These hospitals are staffed by mental health clinicians including psychiatry doctors who can do immediate assessment and triage and make decisions about current treatment plans and further community support.

Access Mental Health team on 1800 011 511 which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and can offer home visits and outpatient assessments as well as the initial phone consultation. 

Lifeline telephone counselling 13 11 14 (24 hrs)

Suicide call back service 1300 659 464 (24 hrs)

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (24 hrs)

Men's Line 1300 78 99 78

Drug and Alcohol Counselling 1800 888 236 

Other online chat services:

MindSpot Clinic - free therapist guided mental health online support with phone consultations

kidshelp.com.au - Kids Helpline's web-based and email counselling service. Available 24/7 for young people up to 25yrs.

lifeline.org.au - Lifeline's online chat counselling service Available 7:30-10:30pm AEST Monday-Thursday.

Mensline.org.au - Men's help service with online counselling

counsellingonline.org.au - drug and alcohol online counselling 24hrs

Yes, Dr Aly consults at Hirondelle Private Hospital

There are a range of assessments that Dr Aly does not perform. These include:

1. Autism assessments

2. Urgent assessments, crisis interventions or emergency after-hours cover.

3. Intellectual disability assessments

4. Child & Adolescent assessments, although children 17 years and older may be considered

5. Cognitive and behavioural problems related to dementia or head injuries

6. Neuropsychiatric assessments

Dr Aly will discuss clinical issues during your appointment, and is not routinely available to return client phone calls or emails and cannot attend urgent matters.

Please upload a copy of your referral and your patient intake form prior to your initial appointment. If you are presenting for an ADHD assessment, please bring any school reports or academic results from university, if available.

To help improve affordability for patients, the Medicare Safety Net provides support for those patients that require more frequent care. Medicare keeps a record of all your services that have been funded by Medicare and your co-payments. When your annual co-payments from all your specialist, GP and psychology appointments reaches a certain amount, Medicare will pay the normal rebate plus 80% of the remaining gap fee for the remainder of the year. The threshold for individuals and families is currently $2,249.80 per annum in co-payments, or $717.90 per annum for Concession Card Holders and Family Tax Benefit Part A. Inpatient hospital treatment fees do not count towards the Medicare Extended Safety Net.

Dr Aly can provide specialist psychiatry reports or letters that the GP can use to assist any disability assessment process but will need to be convinced that these applications are genuine.