Terms & conditions

Informed Consent By booking and attending an appointment, you consent to receive acupuncture and/or Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments. The nature, purpose, and potential effects of treatment will be explained in the session, and you may ask questions at any time. You may verbally withdraw consent and stop treatment at any point during a session. Medical History & Disclosure You agree to provide complete and accurate information about your health history, current symptoms, medications, supplements, pregnancy status, and any relevant medical conditions. This information is essential to ensure safe and appropriate treatment. Appointments & Punctuality Please arrive on time for your appointment. Late arrival may result in a shortened session to avoid delays for other clients, with the full appointment fee still applying. No show appointments or late cancellations (less than 24 hours) will be invoiced at full fee. Responsibility for Care You agree to follow reasonable treatment recommendations and to communicate any changes in your health or response to treatment. Confidentiality All personal and health information is treated as confidential and handled in accordance with relevant privacy legislation. Scope of Practice Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are complementary health modalities and are not a substitute for medical diagnosis or emergency care. No guarantees are made regarding treatment outcomes.

Privacy policy

Southwest Acupuncture is committed to protecting your personal and health information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Collection of Information We collect personal and health information that is necessary to provide you with healthcare services. This includes your name, contact details, date of birth, health history, treatment records, and payment information. We collect this information directly from you, or with your consent, from other healthcare providers. Use and Disclosure Your personal and health information is used for the purpose of providing you with healthcare services, managing your appointments, processing payments, and communicating with you about your care. We will not disclose your information to third parties without your consent, except where required or authorised by law, or where necessary to provide you with treatment (for example, referrals to other healthcare providers). Storage and Security Your information is stored securely using Daobook, a cloud-based practice management system. Your data is protected by industry-standard encryption and security measures. Access to your information is restricted to authorised practitioners and staff involved in your care. Access and Correction You have the right to request access to your personal information and to request corrections if it is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. Please contact us to make such a request. Retention We retain your health records in accordance with applicable state and territory health records legislation. In most cases, health records are retained for a minimum of seven years from the date of last entry (or until a minor patient turns 25 years of age). Complaints If you have a concern about how your information has been handled, please contact us directly. You may also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au. Contact If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us. The services our practice software uses We keep your records in Daobook, a practice management system that stores them with Amazon Web Services in Sydney, Australia. The services below handle some of your information for us. Daobook keeps this part of our policy up to date. • Text messages, such as appointment reminders, are sent through Mobile Message in Australia. Messages to overseas numbers, and any Mobile Message cannot deliver, go through Twilio in the United States. • Emails, such as booking confirmations, receipts and forms, are sent through ZeptoMail (Zoho), which may process them in India or elsewhere outside Australia. • Some features of our practice software use AI from Anthropic, in the United States, for example to tidy or translate our notes. We check what the AI drafts before we rely on it, and Anthropic does not use your information to train its AI. • We may write up your treatment as a case report for a professional journal or for other practitioners, using AI from Anthropic to draft it from our notes. The AI is not given your name, date of birth, contact details, address or appointment dates, and we will not publish a case report without your consent. • Card payments are processed by Square in the United States, which receives your name, email address and payment details. • Some of our practitioners keep their diary in Google Calendar, in the United States, which then holds your name, contact details and appointment times. • If you agree to receive our newsletters, your name and email address are kept in Brevo, in the European Union, which we use to send them. • When we order herbal medicine for you from Empirical Health, your name goes with the order to its online store, which runs on Shopify outside Australia, and your address and phone number too if it is sent straight to you. We take reasonable steps to make sure these services handle your information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.