Is podiatry treatment GST-free in Australia?

Yes, podiatry services provided by a registered podiatrist are GST-free medical services. Custom-made orthotics are also generally GST-free when supplied by the treating podiatrist as part of clinical treatment, but pre-made retail footwear inserts, footcare products and general retail items sold in clinic are taxable and need GST applied.

Are custom orthotics GST-free or taxable?

Custom orthotics made specifically for a patient by or under the direction of a registered podiatrist as part of their treatment are generally GST-free. Off-the-shelf orthotic inserts sold as a retail product without individual clinical fitting are taxable. This distinction matters for BAS accuracy and clinics should confirm the correct treatment with their BAS agent if their orthotics workflow is mixed.

How does the Medicare CDM plan work for podiatry billing?

Patients on a Chronic Disease Management plan from their GP can access a Medicare rebate for up to five allied health services per calendar year, podiatry included. This rebate is GST-free and should be tracked in its own category in Xero because it behaves differently to HICAPS or private billing, both in GST-free status and in payment timing.

How often should HICAPS be reconciled in a podiatry clinic?

Weekly at minimum. Podiatry clinics with high patient volumes, particularly those doing routine diabetic and aged care foot care, can accumulate significant unreconciled HICAPS batches quickly if this is left to month-end, making rejected or partial claims much harder to trace back to the specific appointment.

What KPIs should a podiatry clinic track monthly?

Revenue per practitioner hour, orthotics attachment rate and margin, HICAPS and CDM rebate turnaround time, recall/rebooking rate for ongoing care patients, and the split between GST-free clinical income and taxable retail sales.

Bookkeeping for Podiatrists in Melbourne

Published August 2026By True Tally Bookkeeping8 min read

GST: Treatment, Custom Orthotics and Retail

Podiatry treatment provided by a registered podiatrist is GST-free. Custom orthotics made specifically for a patient as part of clinical treatment are generally also GST-free, but this only applies to genuinely custom, clinically fitted devices. Off-the-shelf orthotic inserts and general footcare retail products sold across the counter are taxable supplies. This three-way split, treatment, custom orthotics, retail, needs three separate income accounts in Xero, not two, to keep BAS reporting accurate.

Income type	GST treatment	Xero coding
Podiatry consultation / treatment	GST-free	GST-free clinical income account
Custom orthotics (clinically fitted)	GST-free	GST-free, tracked separately from treatment
HICAPS health fund rebate	GST-free	Reconciled to appointment, same GST-free account
Medicare CDM rebate	GST-free	Separate tracking category
Off-the-shelf inserts / retail footcare products	Taxable	Separate taxable sales account

Watch: GST & Orthotics Bookkeeping for Melbourne Podiatry Clinics

Read the video transcript

If you run a podiatry clinic in Melbourne, the GST question we get asked most is about orthotics — and the short answer is, custom orthotics fitted as part of clinical treatment are GST-free, but off-the-shelf inserts sold as a retail product are taxable.

That means your Xero file really needs three income accounts, not two, treatment, custom orthotics, and retail, to keep your BAS accurate. Clinics that lump these together are usually either over or under-reporting GST without realising it.

On Medicare, CDM plan rebates are GST-free and worth tracking in their own category, they behave differently to HICAPS in both GST status and payment timing.

And with HICAPS, given how many routine and diabetic foot care appointments most podiatry clinics run, reconciling weekly rather than monthly is really the only way to catch rejected claims before they're forgotten.

If you're a Melbourne podiatry clinic and want your GST split and HICAPS reconciliation properly set up, book a free 20-minute call at calendly.com/truetally, or call 0468 159 950. No silly questions, we've heard them all.

Medicare CDM Rebates

Patients referred under a GP Chronic Disease Management plan can access a Medicare rebate for up to five allied health services annually, podiatry commonly included for diabetic and at-risk foot care. This rebate is GST-free and, because it has its own payment timing separate from HICAPS or private billing, should be tracked in its own Xero category so the clinic can see how much of its revenue is Medicare-dependent.

HICAPS Reconciliation for High-Volume Podiatry Clinics

Podiatry clinics, particularly those running routine and diabetic foot care programs, often see higher patient volumes per day than other allied health disciplines. That volume makes weekly HICAPS reconciliation even more important, unreconciled batches build up fast, and tracing a rejected claim back to a specific appointment gets progressively harder the longer it's left.

Three income types, one BAS, easy to get wrong

We set up Xero with treatment, orthotics and retail split correctly for podiatry clinics, so GST reporting reflects what's actually GST-free and what isn't.

Book a Free 20-Minute Call

KPIs Every Podiatry Clinic Should Track Monthly

✓ Revenue per practitioner hour
✓ Orthotics attachment rate and margin
✓ HICAPS and CDM rebate turnaround time
✓ Recall and rebooking rate for ongoing care patients
✓ GST-free clinical income vs taxable retail split

Compliance Calendar for Melbourne Podiatry Practices

Standard BAS obligations apply quarterly, due 28 days after quarter end, alongside superannuation guarantee at 12% for employed staff, paid quarterly. Clinics with associate podiatrists should review contractor versus employee classification annually, and any clinic paying contractors for admin or cleaning should confirm Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) obligations.

True Tally Bookkeeping, Melbourne

We work with podiatry and allied health clinics across Melbourne and Victoria on GST splits, Medicare tracking and HICAPS reconciliation.