Dietitians and weight management

Dietitians provide a range of evidence-based nutrition services and dietary counselling. They can help you maintain a healthy weight and plan nutritional diets and menus.

The TAC can pay the reasonable cost of dietitian and weight management services provided to TAC clients which is required as a result of transport accident injuries.

Where a pre-existing condition has become aggravated as a result of a transport accident, the TAC will consider funding treatment for that condition. The level of treatment that the TAC can consider funding will depend on the extent to which the transport accident has exacerbated the pre-existing condition.

For accidents that occurred prior to 14 February 2018 a medical excess may apply.

The TAC will pay the reasonable cost of dietitian and weight management services. This includes:

• Dietitian consultations, which may involve:
  • Swallowing-related dietary assessment
  • Assessment of enteral nutrition requirements, including PEG feeding, dietary assessment for complex weight management
  • Nutritional assessment to support wound healing and recovery
• Provider travel when the client is medically unfit to travel or where treatment in the client’s functional environment is clinically justified
• Meeting attendance, at the request of the TAC, where the TAC client is present (applicable from 1 November 2026)
• Completion of an Allied Health Treatment Recovery Plan (AHTRP) when requested by the TAC.

The TAC will pay for treatment and services in accordance with the Dietetics Fee Schedule. If a provider’s fee is higher than the TAC rate, the client may need to pay a gap fee to cover the difference. Information about how the TAC pays for services can be found on the Paying for treatment and services page.

The TAC won't pay for:

• services that are not required for the treatment of transport accident-related injuries.
• services provided by individuals who do not meet the provider guideline requirements or comply with the Allied Health Policy
• services that are not evidence based, reasonable, clinically justified and outcome focused.

This includes:

• dietetics or weight management services provided by students or by practitioners who are not accredited with the Dietitians Australia
• commercial weight management programs or food and meal replacement services such as Weight Watchers, Light N’ Easy, Jenny Craig or Optifast

Within the first 90 days of a client’s accident, the TAC can help pay for dietetics services without the need for prior TAC approval. The TAC may contact clients or their service providers to discuss client progress and ensure that treatment is clinically justified, and outcome focused.

If a client needs a dietitian or weight management support beyond 90 days after their transport accident, the provider must seek TAC approval before funded treatment can be delivered. Prior approval is also needed if it has been more than 6 months since the client last received TAC-funded treatment.

Dietitians must complete an Allied Health Treatment and Recovery Plan to request further treatment. The TAC will use this information to consider if the client is receiving treatment that aligns with the Clinical Framework and continues to be reasonable, clinically justified and outcome focused. Based on this assessment, the TAC will inform the provider and client about what the TAC will help pay for and for how long.

To provide TAC-funded dietitian or weight management services, a provider must:

• be an Accredited Practising Dietitian who is qualified and accredited by Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), known as Dietitians Australia.
• comply with the TAC Allied Health policy
• adhere to the principles of the Clinical Framework for the Delivery of Health Services.

Promoting independence and avoiding treatment dependence

In line with Principle 3 of the Clinical Framework, the TAC expects that dietitians promote independence from treatment through early education, setting clear treatment expectations and encouraging active participation in daily activities. Strategies to empower the injured person to manage their condition and discourage overreliance on treatment should be incorporated in all phases of recovery. Further guidance on promoting injury self-management is available in the Clinical Framework.