Frequently Asked Questions

New Step Podiatry is located in Florey at the local Florey shops on the ground floor, in the double storey building right next to Domino’s pizza. New Step Podiatry is located at unit 1 of Racom House, 37 Kesteven Street. Look out for the orange flag that says ‘podiatry’.

There is plenty of free parking available at the Florey shops including at the back of the shops behind Domino’s Pizza.

Click on the links below to view the applicable. Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Medical Disclaimer

Yes. It is a lengthy document that details our procedures related to the wellness of staff and patients, hygiene and cleaning, physical distancing and record keeping.

Booking in to see a Podiatrist has never been easier! Simply click HERE to book and follow the prompts to book an appointment online, alternatively, you can call us on 02 6198 4818 and one of our friendly Administration team members will assist you.

When you arrive at New Step Podiatry, our friendly administration team will greet you and provide any paperwork that we require to be filled out. You can take a seat on our comfy chairs in the waiting room while you complete the paperwork; our admin assistants are there to answer any questions you may have. One of our amazing Podiatrists will come and greet you and invite you to the consult room and take the time to listen to your concerns, find out what the pain or problem is stopping you from doing, thoroughly assess what’s wrong and then explain all of this in non-technical ways.

Where possible, we will always provide some form of treatment to try and get you more comfortable straight away. You will also always leave with a clear written plan of any further treatment required, costs and importantly anything you need to do such as exercises, footwear etc.

Bring along the applicable items

• DVA, Medicare and compensation claim clients will need a referral from your GP
• Specialist reports on your condition or previous surgeries
• X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT scan results and images relevant to the injury
• The shoes that you wear the most often
• Runners/joggers that demonstrate your usual wear pattern
• Current and previous orthotics -Loose fitting pants or shorts

Your first consultation will take between 40 – 60mins.
Generally, 30 mins or less is required for any follow up appointments. Your Podiatrist will notify you if they will require more or less time.

Podiatry consultations and services are covered under private health insurance. If you are referred to us by your GP with a Medicare referral, there will be a gap. For further information please contact the practice so we can learn more about your problem and then give you a specific on fees.

Payment is accepted via credit card (Mastercard, Visa and AMEX), EFTPOS or cash.

If you have extras cover for Podiatry through your Private Health Insurer, we have HICAPS facilities to process these claims at the time of your payment; the client is required to pay the gap fee. Electronic claiming is also available for Medicare clients (as long as the client has the correct referral, please see “Can I claim Podiatry services through Medicare like at the doctors?” for more information)

There are no out of pocket expenses for podiatry consultations and orthoses for holders of a DVA Gold Card or a DVA White Card given the specific condition relates to podiatry. If your podiatry services are managed by a third party operator (case manager, NDIA) please mention this when booking an initial podiatry consultation. New Step Podiatry is affiliated with multiple agencies and case managers. Payment must be made on the same day as the consultation.

New Step Podiatry is not a bulk billing practice.

Yes we do. In order for our small business to keep thriving, we rely on our clients to attend their appointments. Our policies are stated in our Terms and Conditions.

There is a misconception that a podiatrist is a medical specialist that requires a GP referral to access the service, however, this is not true. Podiatrists are allied health professionals just like physios, speech pathologists and dentists.

To access our Podiatry Services a referral from your GP or Health Care provider is not required.

However, if you are DVA, Medicare, Compensation claims e.g. workers compensation or motor accidents you will need a referral. Please see below for further information.

DVA:
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) clients will need a referral from their General Practitioner. We require our clients to bring their gold card or white card to their podiatry consultation.

Medicare:
If you wish to claim your Podiatry services under Medicare, you will need to get a ‘Referral Form for Individual Allied Health Services under Medicare for patients with a chronic medical condition and complex care needs’ referral from your GP. Please note only specific conditions are eligible to claim Podiatry services through Medicare. Electronic claiming is available for Medicare clients. Please note: We require all appointments to be paid in full by the client at the time of the appointment; and then we will process the claim to Medicare for the partial reimbursement.

Compensation Claims:
Compensation claims Motor accidents and Workers Compensation claims will need a referral from their General Practitioner. Additional details required include the name of the insurer, contact details of the claims officer, claim number and date of injury. When booking the initial podiatry consultation please mention that the patient will be covered under insurance.

Yes, New Step Podiatry consults participants of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provided their package is self managed or by a support coordinator. When booking the initial podiatry consultation, it is essential that the client inform New Step Podiatry of your NDIS Support Coordinator prior to your appointment. This is to ensure that we can process the claim under NDIS, as opposed to being charged the full fee at the time of the consultation and then having to manually put the claim through .

Clients cannot claim Podiatry services the same way as they do at their GP. In order to claim medicare, client’s will need to get a referral from their GP. Please see “Is a referral required?” for more information.

A podiatrist is a university qualified, registered healthcare professional who can assess, diagnose, manage and treat foot and lower limb conditions.

These conditions include musculoskeletal injuries, skin conditions, sporting injuries, foot arthritis, paediatric foot problems, the effects of chronic disease on lower limbs and feet along with many other injuries and ailments related to the feet and lower limbs.

We tend to use our fingernails a lot more than our toenails which makes us wonder why we have toenails apart from being an evolutionary leftover. Our toes are full of blood vessels, nerve endings and tendons. Toenails create a hard film to protect these sensitive structures.

Toenails also assist in telling you what position you are in. The pressure between the flesh of the toe and the toenail helps to communicate to our brain what we are doing. For example, if you stand on your tippy toes you can feel a much higher pressure underneath your toenails compared to when you are leaning back onto your heels

The cuticle at the base of the toenail is there to create a barrier to prevent bacteria and fungus from entering the nail structure. By removing excessive cuticle, you are removing the body’s natural defence to infection. Loose cuticle skin can be removed as this skin isn’t reducing the risk of infection.

Corns are thickened layers of skin that at first develop to make the skin more resilient to pressure. Thicker skin means you can absorb more force, but, that same thicker skin may get too thick or be in a tender area and cause pain. Podiatrists can easily remove corns, but they will come back if the excessive pressure is still there. Addressing the cause of the excessive pressure is a preventative measure to corn development.

I don’t know, try shaking a magic 8 ball to get an answer (jokes). The cause of bunions is multifactorial so there are many different factors that contribute to whether someone will develop bunions or not. Genetics are definitely one of those factors. If you are 50 years old or older and don’t have bunions chances are you won’t develop bunions or if you do it will be a small enlargement that won’t give you too much grief.

The size of a bunion doesn’t directly dictate how painful they are, so this person may be in no pain at all

Foot orthoses are devices that are inserted into shoes to redistribute forces associated with the foot and lower limb to improve the functioning of your joints, muscles and ligaments. The feeling of improved alignment is often reported. Orthoses aim to reduce pain, prevent injuries and increase foot and leg comfort

When you are standing fewer muscles are being used whereas walking involves a greater number of muscles to take on effort and weight bearing load. Those standing muscles get fatigued and tell you about in the form of discomfort and pain.

Absolutely, flat feet are a normal part of development. Humans start to walk before they have fully formed all their bones and supporting structures so there is no visible arch. If flat feet persist and your child reports pain, a limp or walks asymmetrically, please see a podiatrist.

For Podiatrists and administration assistants, you can head to our Join our Team page and complete our form and we will be in contact.

We are always keen for people to put applications in! If you are the right fit for our team, we will keep your name on a list and contact you when a job does come up, if we do not have a position available.

Our administration team are a “jack of all trades” they do reception duties such as answering phones, booking appointments, responding to emails etc. they do a lot of the behind the scenes administration tasks such as liaising with 3rd party providers, mailing/faxing letter to GP’s, various cleaning tasks etc. All of our administration team members are trained in sterilisation and are responsible for sterilisation of all of the podiatry instruments. Our administration team members also get to be creative and create content for our social media accounts.