Terms of Service

Consulta is scheduling and payment infrastructure connecting Australian telehealth clinics with AHPRA-registered consulting doctors. Consulta is not a clinical service, does not practise medicine, does not supply or advertise therapeutic goods, and is not a party to any doctor–patient relationship. Doctors on Consulta are independent practitioners; they are not employees or agents of Consulta, and Consulta does not direct or influence their clinical decisions.

Clinics and doctors each hold their own account. Doctors are listed only after Consulta has checked their credentials: a document review, a check of their registration against the public AHPRA register, a check that their indemnity cover extends to telehealth prescribing in the relevant vertical, and an identity check. A doctor whose registration or insurance status changes is suspended from listing. These checks are repeated on a schedule. Consulta verifies what is described here; it does not warrant a doctor's clinical competence, and "verified" means only that these checks were completed and were current when last run.

Bookings are instant: when a clinic books an open slot, the booking is confirmed and the clinic is charged one payment, the doctor's consult fee plus Consulta's platform fee in force at the time of booking. The consult fee is a standard rate set by Consulta and is the same for every doctor. After the consult, the doctor records the outcome; consult fees for completed consults are paid to the doctor in Consulta's weekly payout run, less any platform commission in force at the time of booking. No payout applies to consults the doctor records as unanswered.

Cancellations: if a booking is cancelled by the doctor, or by the clinic outside the cancellation window (currently 24 hours before the consult; the window in force is shown in the portal and at the point of cancellation), the clinic's payment is refunded in full. If the clinic cancels inside the window, the consult fee is refunded and a late-cancellation fee equal to the platform fee stands. A doctor who cancels is not paid for the slot, and doctor cancellations are recorded on the doctor's reliability record. Bookings made directly with Consulta by a member of the public are always refunded in full when cancelled, whoever cancels and whenever.

The review window (the period after the doctor records an outcome during which a payout is held before it is paid) is a timing mechanism only. It does not limit a clinic's right to raise a concern about a consult, to seek a refund, or to exercise any right it has under the Australian Consumer Law, at any time.

In collecting the consult fee, Consulta acts as the doctor's limited agent for collecting paymentof that fee; the fee is the doctor's, and Consulta passes it on through the weekly payout run. Consulta is principal only for its own platform fee. Payments are processed by a licensed third-party payment provider, which holds and settles funds; Consulta does not operate a banking or escrow service. Consulta's platform fee is subject to GST and a tax invoice is issued for it; the GST treatment of the consult itself is a matter between the clinic, the doctor and their own advisers, and Consulta makes no representation about it.

Consulta's fee pays for a real service: verifying doctors, matching them to clinics, and running the booking, document and payment workflow for each consult. This section protects that service; it is not a restraint on either side's wider practice.

It applies only to a specific clinic and a specific doctor who were introduced to each other through Consulta and who have transacted at least one booking on the platform. For those pairs, and for 12 months after their most recent booking, if the clinic and doctor arrange consults of the same kind directly rather than through Consulta, they may do so, but the clinic agrees to pay Consulta a continued-relationship fee for each such consult equal to the platform fee that consult would have carried on the platform. This is a priced option to deal directly, not a penalty, and it is the only charge for dealing directly.

The fee is capped: it stops once the clinic has paid, in total, the platform fees Consulta would have earned across the 12 months, and it does not apply to a relationship the clinic can show pre-dated the platform introduction. Consult documents (questionnaires, notes and scripts) are exchanged through the booking's document workspace so the consult record stays complete; this is an operational requirement, not a restraint.

Clinics are responsible for their patient relationships, for the accuracy of documents and notes they attach to bookings, and for obtaining any patient consents needed to share those documents with the booked doctor and to receive an appointment confirmation from the clinic. Doctors are responsible for their own clinical judgment, records, prescribing, registration, and indemnity cover, and agree to follow the recall policy for unanswered consults (at least two contact attempts inside the consult window, with attempt times recorded).

Neither side may use Consulta to advertise therapeutic claims about treatments or substances, or to publish the name of a prescription-only substance or class on any Consulta surface. Neither may direct the other to breach any professional, advertising or prescribing obligation. Consulta markets the booking service only and does not direct, reward or influence any prescribing decision.

A prescription document a doctor uploads to a booking is a copy for the clinic's records only. It is not a valid instrument for dispensing, and the clinic must not present or forward it to a pharmacy or use it to obtain supply. Dispensing is arranged by the prescribing doctor through the lawful prescription channel (a conformant electronic prescription or a signed original) directly with the patient or pharmacy; Consulta is not part of the dispensing channel.

Clinics are responsible for their own tax position, including any payroll tax that may apply to their engagement of doctors, and should obtain their own advice; Consulta's collection and remittance of the consult fee as the doctor's payment agent does not change that responsibility.

Consulta's services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law, including guarantees that the service is provided with due care and skill and is fit for its disclosed purpose. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies those guarantees.

Where the law allows Consulta to limit its liability, its liability for the platform service (scheduling, verification checks as described, document handling and payment processing) is limited to resupplying that service or paying the cost of resupply. Consulta is not liable for clinical outcomes, for the professional conduct of clinics or doctors, or for the content of consult documents; those rest with the practitioners and clinics who create them.

We may update these terms or the platform fee. We will give account holders reasonable advance notice (at least 30 days for any change that increases fees or reduces rights) before a change takes effect, and the change will not apply retrospectively to bookings already made. If you do not accept a change, you may close your account before it takes effect at no cost, and any pending doctor payouts are still paid.

Either side may close its account at any time. Consulta may suspend or remove a listing or account where there is an objective, stated reason: a lapse or change in a doctor's registration or indemnity cover, a failed re-verification, non-payment, or a credible report of conduct that breaches these terms or the law. Where Consulta suspends an account it will give the reason and a way to respond, and will restore the account if the reason is resolved. Suspension does not affect payouts already earned for completed consults.

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia, and the parties submit to the courts of that state. If any term is found to be wider than is reasonable or otherwise unenforceable, it is to be read down to the extent needed to make it enforceable rather than struck out, so far as the law permits.

Questions about these terms: hello@consulta.dev.