Fees
One price, full panel
No per-substance surcharges for the categories other providers charge extra for. Attend our Melbourne clinic and there is no appointment fee on top — collection is included in the price shown.
- No appointment fee at our clinic
- No hidden extras
- Full panel as standard
Testing
Each price is the total for one test on a 3 cm sample, covering approximately three months of history. Longer windows are charged by the same rule — each additional 3 cm costs the base price again, so 6 cm is twice, 9 cm three times and 12 cm four times.
Check your hair length first. Measured from the scalp along the strand, 1 cm is about a month — so 6 months needs 6 cm and 12 months needs 12 cm. If your hair is shorter, the result covers less: the length decides the period, not the window you pay for. Unsure? Call (03) 9380 5434 before booking.
$599
3 cm sample — about 3 months
or $1,198 for 6 cm — about 6 months
$699
3 cm sample — about 3 months
or $1,398 for 6 cm — about 6 months
$899
3 cm sample — about 3 months
or $1,798 for 6 cm — about 6 months
$175
One-off — collection only
The collection kit covers the sample only — it does not include testing. Analysis begins once the sample is received and the testing fee is paid.
Where the sample is collected
- At our Melbourne clinic: no appointment fee. Collection by an AHPRA-registered practitioner is included in the prices above.
- At your own GP, using a posted kit: your GP usually charges their own consultation fee for the appointment. That fee is set and collected by their practice — we neither set it nor receive any part of it — so confirm it with them when you book.
- Postage on a kit: free by standard post anywhere in Australia, $25 for Express Post, or a flat $55 to any overseas address. Shown at the cart before you pay.
- Return postage from overseas: not included, and not something we can quote — we cannot prepay postage from another country. The kit carries a return-addressed envelope with no stamps on it, and we recommend buying a trackable satchel locally for your practitioner to post the sample back in. Within Australia the return is prepaid and there is nothing to buy. Import duty or customs charges raised in the destination country are set by that country and payable there.
Forensic interpretation
Dr Michael Robertson interprets hair, blood, urine, saliva and breath test results from any laboratory, with fees tailored to the legal matter's requirements. The full fee schedule for each option is below.
Expert consultation
$495 – $3,375
- Verbal advice on drug, alcohol or steroid results$495
- Verbal advice plus a brief email summary$1,100
- Verbal advice on supply or manufacture of illegal substances$2,100
- Court appearance — up to 2 hours by audio-visual link$2,100
- Court appearance — 2 to 4 hours by audio-visual link$3,375
Written forensic report
$1,375 – $4,950
- Family law — standard report$1,375
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids
- Family law — extended report$2,450
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids
- DUI charges$2,450
Covers: Alcohol
- DUID charges$2,450
Covers: Drugs
- CTP, personal injury or civil litigation$4,950
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids, Poisons
- Criminal law$3,375
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids, Poisons
- Employment law$3,375
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids, Poisons
- Healthcare law$3,375
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids, Poisons
- Environmental law$3,375
Covers: Drugs, Alcohol, Steroids, Poisons
These are standard-turnaround prices. Any consultation, court appearance or report needed within 7 days carries a 50% short-notice surcharge, added when you tick the within-7-days option in the shop — see the booking and cancellation policy. In-person court attendance is quoted separately. About the forensic service →
Everything goes through this office. Dr Michael Robertson does not take direct calls or correspond with clients and solicitors — he is giving evidence across Australia most weeks. Send instructions, documents and questions to us and we deal with him; the opinion and the report are entirely his own work.
Legal aid may pay for your test
If you have a grant of legal assistance — through Legal Aid, or the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing — it may cover the cost of the testing, the forensic report, or both. It is well worth asking before you pay privately, particularly where a court has ordered the testing.
You or your solicitor need to arrange it. Eligibility is decided by the funding body, not by us, and we cannot apply on your behalf. Once assistance is granted, bring your Legal Aid grant number to the appointment — we can collect the sample without it, but the laboratory does not begin analysis until payment is secured.
Who pays for court-ordered drug testing? — what legal aid and each child protection department will and will not fund, with the source documents.
Compare like with like
A cheaper headline usually means a smaller panel. Add the missing categories back and the position often reverses.
About the second column: our own observations of typical market pricing, not any named provider's published rates. Confirm current pricing, panel size and testing location directly with anyone you compare.
Drug panel size
Us
95-drug panel
Typical competitor
18-drug panel, as a base
Base cost
Us
$599
Typical competitor
$480 base
Appointment fee
Us
None at our clinic — collection is included
Typical competitor
Typically an extra $110
Synthetic cannabinoids
Us
Included
Typical competitor
Typically an extra $330
CBD
Us
Included
Typical competitor
Typically an extra $330
Highest-cost add-on elsewhere
Us
Included
Typical competitor
Typically an extra $440
Benzodiazepines
Us
Included
Typical competitor
Typically an extra $165
Turnaround
Us
5–7 business days
Typical competitor
14–21 business days
Testing location
Us
Australia
Typical competitor
Often overseas
Court-ready results
Us
Yes
Typical competitor
Check with the facility
AHPRA-registered collectors
Us
Yes
Typical competitor
Not necessarily — check
Online booking
Us
Yes
Typical competitor
Check with the facility
Total cost
Us
$599 inc. GST
Typical competitor
$1,745 inc. GST, plus any appointment fee
| Our facility3 cm of hair, no hidden extras | Typical competitor3 cm of hair, extras usually apply | |
|---|---|---|
| Drug panel size | 95-drug panel | 18-drug panel, as a base |
| Base cost | $599 | $480 base |
| Appointment fee | None at our clinic — collection is included | Typically an extra $110 |
| Synthetic cannabinoids | Included | Typically an extra $330 |
| CBD | Included | Typically an extra $330 |
| Highest-cost add-on elsewhere | Included | Typically an extra $440 |
| Benzodiazepines | Included | Typically an extra $165 |
| Turnaround | 5–7 business days | 14–21 business days |
| Testing location | Australia | Often overseas |
| Court-ready results | Yes | Check with the facility |
| AHPRA-registered collectors | Yes | Not necessarily — check |
| Online booking | Yes | Check with the facility |
| Total cost | $599 inc. GST | $1,745 inc. GST, plus any appointment fee |
Before you book
Why one test costs less than several
A hair test costs more than a single urine or saliva test. Over any period a court or an employer actually cares about, it costs less — and the money is only one of the four reasons.
One hair test, same 12 weeks (3 months)
$599
One appointment. 95 substances. No appointment fee, no per-drug extras.
Repeat urine testing, same 12 weeks (3 months)
$480–$720
8 appointments over 12 weeks, at a typical $60–$90 each — before counting time away from work.
Repeat-testing costs are indicative of rates commonly charged for supervised collection and are not a quote from any named provider. Our own fees are published in full on fees and pricing.
- One appointment, not a schedule
- A single 3 cm sample looks back about three months, and covers 95 substances in that one test. Repeat urine collection over the same twelve weeks is 8 separate appointments — and 8 chances for a missed or disputed one.
- No repeated time away from work
- One short visit, rather than half a day lost 8 times over 12 weeks. For anyone on shift work or paid hourly, that is usually the larger cost of the two.
- Nothing supervised, nothing invasive
- A small trim of hair from the crown, fully clothed, with nobody observing. Repeat urine collection is supervised by design, and the strain of that is the objection clients raise most often — particularly in family-law matters that run for months.
- Fewer disputed results to pay for
- Hair is very difficult to alter, so a result is less likely to be challenged, re-run or thrown out. A single contested test can cost more in legal time than the test itself.
Sensitivity, and reading units correctly
A cutoff of 20 pg/mg is ten times more sensitive than 0.2 ng/mg — the same as 200 pg/mg, written differently. Lower cutoffs reduce the risk of a false negative. Convert to the same units before comparing providers; see the note on units.
Payment
Testing fees are payable in full before the laboratory begins. Collection can happen beforehand, but analysis does not start until payment clears.
Collection kits are paid by direct deposit, details at checkout — use your order ID as the reference. International payments use SWIFT code CTBAAU2S.
Read the cancellation policy and refund policy before booking.
Is there any free testing?
No — the laboratory and expert costs make it impossible. Funding is a different question from free testing, though: if you hold a grant of legal assistance it may cover the cost. See legal aid may pay for your test above, including who has to arrange it, or read who pays for court-ordered drug testing for the position in each state.
Can I be re-tested free of charge if I'm concerned about my result?
The laboratory charges for each analysis it runs, so a second test is priced as a new test rather than provided free of charge or at a reduced rate.
It also answers a slightly different question. A new sample covers a slightly later period and is read against the same reporting levels, so what it settles is what has happened since — not what the result you are holding means. Where the meaning is the question, that is what a verbal opinion or a written report from Dr Michael Robertson addresses; the fees are in the forensic schedule above.
Where something has gone wrong with the service itself rather than with the result, the refund policy sets out where you stand, and nothing in it limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Book your test
Same-day appointments usually available. Results in 5–7 business days.