The first appointment is 75 minutes — long enough to understand the full picture before we begin. From there, we work through a structured treatment pathway. Most major private health funds cover acupuncture — bring your details and we'll provide a receipt for your rebate claim.
Treatment is rarely just needles. Mal draws on the full breadth of integrative traditional Chinese medicine — combining modalities to match what your pattern needs.
Fine sterile needles placed precisely along the body's meridian system — supporting the flow of Qi and the body's own healing response.
The warming of the skin or heating of acupuncture needles with burning sticks or cones of ground young mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).
Carefully selected Chinese herbal medicines and nutritional supplements, integrated into your treatment plan where appropriate.
Tui Na and therapeutic massage techniques working with the body's meridian pathways to support Qi flow and ease musculoskeletal tension.
Dietary guidance and movement recommendations rooted in TCM principles — supporting digestion, energy, and long-term resilience.
A traditional technique using a smooth-edged tool applied to areas of tension — gently moving stagnation in the tissue, supporting circulation and easing muscle tightness.
Deep-penetrating infrared heat used to support comfort, ease muscle tension, and encourage tissue recovery.
Traditional cupping therapy used to support circulation, ease muscle tension, and encourage the body's natural clearing processes.
We're a registered provider with the funds listed below. Your rebate can be claimed through your private health insurer after your appointment — bring your card and details when you visit.
Concession rates available for Pension, Health Care, Defence, and Centrelink card holders. All major health funds accepted.
Assessment, diagnosis and first acupuncture treatment in one appointment.
Continued recovery and addressing underlying causes for established patients.
Initial consultation, assessment, diagnosis and treatment for Pension, Health Care Card and student holders.
Follow-up treatment for Pension, Health Care Card, Defence, and Centrelink card holders.
Intensive treatment for severe conditions or speedier recovery — front and back treatment included.
Your first consultation and treatment with a half-hour therapeutic massage added. Massage enhances acupuncture for joint, back and muscular pain.
A follow-up treatment with a half-hour therapeutic massage added, for joint, back and muscular complaints.
Remedial and TCM-principles massage. Effective for acute and chronic musculoskeletal injury and pain.
Shorter remedial and TCM massage session for targeted musculoskeletal relief.
Gentle non-invasive extraction of excess ear wax. Warming to the ear — can relieve sinus and ear congestion.
A gentle facial acupuncture treatment supporting skin tone and circulation, with a full first assessment.
Continued facial acupuncture sessions following your initial treatment.
Care plans let you commit to a full course of treatment as one booking. Both are follow-up programmes and do not include your initial consultation. Mal will recommend the right plan at your first visit.
| Care plan | Sessions | Best for | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6-Session Care Plan | 6 follow-ups | Continued recovery, booked as one committed course rather than session by session. | Around 10% |
| 12-Session Care Plan | 12 follow-ups | Fertility support or chronic conditions needing a longer, structured pathway. | Around 15% |
Care plans cover follow-up treatments only. Your initial 75-minute consultation is booked separately.
Most appointments are bookable online. Prefer to call? Reach us on 0420 437 156.
Care Plans let you commit to a full course of treatment. Mal will recommend the right plan at your initial consultation.
We ask for 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule — so we can offer your time to someone on the waitlist. Late cancellations and no-shows may incur a fee.
Concession rates are available for Pension, Health Care Card, Defence, and Centrelink card holders. Bring your card to your first appointment.
Book your first appointment →Everything we get asked at the front desk, with honest answers.
Acupuncture has been used to support illness and wellbeing for more than 3,000 years and is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is the art of anatomically inserting very fine, sterile, single-use needles into acupuncture points along the body's energy channels (meridians) to relieve pain, clear energy blockages and encourage the normal flow of Qi. As a natural form of healing it can provide drug-free pain relief, support a wide range of acute and chronic ailments, treat the underlying cause as well as the symptoms, and offer a holistic approach that links body, mind and emotions. Treatment may include auxiliary methods such as moxa, cupping, heat lamp, herbal patches, remedial massage, supplements and/or Chinese herbal medicine to enhance the effect.
Most patients describe the sensation as a dull awareness rather than pain. The needles are very fine — about as thick as a human hair. Most people relax deeply during a session, and many fall asleep.
Acupuncture needles are very fine and inserted into energy wells that absorb the stimulation without pain, so most clients make the transition to needles comfortably as a personal preference. Acupuncture is also not the only way to stimulate Qi — if you're concerned or anxious about needles, you can receive electro-acupuncture, moxibustion, manual point stimulation or Traditional Chinese massage as alternatives to needle insertion.
Most major private health funds (Medibank, Bupa, NIB, HCF and others) cover acupuncture under their extras cover. We process claims on the spot via HICAPS — you pay only the gap. Check your level of cover with your fund directly.
Yes — we provide treatment under NDIS, Work Cover and Motor Vehicle Insurance. We are not a registered first point of call provider, so we require a referral letter from your doctor (GP) for us to provide treatment under your cover.
Pensioner / Health Care Card: $105 initial — $83 follow-up. Defence and Centrelink card holders: same rates. School student follow-ups from $78. Bring your card to your first appointment.
It depends on what you come in for and how long the pattern has been there. We talk about it together at your initial 75-minute consultation. Most patients work through some form of the 12-treatment protocol — but we never lock you into open-ended commitments.
Your first consultation will generally include a health assessment and treatment. The health assessment involves an interview, health questionnaire and physical examination. Traditional diagnosis including examination of your tongue and palpation of your wrist pulses are further augmented with western clinical examination.
Such thorough enquiry using modern and traditional methods of analysis ensures we gain a deep understanding of:
Once an assessment is made, a series of acupuncture points is selected to improve the balance of yin and yang, to harmonise a deficient or excess condition, and to nourish the organ or channel involved in the disease process. Stimulation of the selected acupoints (situated along meridians in the body) by inserting needles promotes the flow of energy through the system, and thereby restores the body's balance and relieves symptoms.
Acupuncture needles are very fine and insertion is generally pain free. Report any discomfort, as it is important that you are relaxed and comfortable during treatment, which can last for 45 minutes. Many clients doze off to sleep, which is fine as it allows the body's energy to absorb the effects of the acupuncture. Depending on what is required, treatments are performed with the client lying down on a treatment table clothed or partially clothed, and administered to the back and/or front of the body.
Lifestyle advice may also be discussed and recommended, with the aim to assist healing and recovery processes.
We understand that the importance of health can be different from person to person. To cater for this, we have developed Levels of Care to suit your particular needs and health goals.
Symptomatic Care
Symptomatic Level of Care is for simple acute health problems, which can be dealt with quickly. Superficial complaints can be relieved in as little as one treatment. More long-term conditions may require a Treatment Plan of two acupuncture treatments per week for up to 3–5 weeks depending on the degree of the problem. This level of care is ideal if you want a quick fix and are not interested in treating the underlying cause of your health problem.
Corrective Care
Our Corrective Care Level takes more time, energy and commitment. A chronic or long-term condition may require a more intensive and/or long-term program. This level of care is ideal for clients who wish to improve and maintain their health with longer-term, quality health and lifestyle goals. At the end of the prescribed program you will feel renewed and understand what it takes to stay on top of your health in the future.
Health evaluations at your first consultation and results from any tests will determine the Specialised Corrective Care Program best suited to your needs. It is important that your core energy is at a level able to support deeper healing at this level of care, so the first stage often involves at least 3 weeks of 2 acupuncture treatments per week as a way to improve all system responses to the healing process required. It is expected that at the end of the first stage your condition will have improved markedly and moved into a less debilitating stage or process. Next, the underlying causes of your condition are addressed and deeper organ imbalances relieved by a program combining dietary modification, detoxification, nutritional supplementation and acupuncture treatments.
Programs at this level of care are designed to reverse a lifetime of damage to organs and prevent degenerative disease — the outcome being improved performance, enhanced standard of living and quality of life.
Disease Prevention and Maintenance Health Care
A Preventative and Maintenance Health Program for Life prevents health conditions developing. When the signs and symptoms of disharmony present, the disease is already active and has been for quite a while. It is only when our quality of life is lost that we seek alternative treatment; treatment at an earlier stage would prevent a debilitating disease crisis. Many clients adopt maintenance care programs as an effective way to reduce long-term health costs, prevent drastic health outcomes including surgery and long-term drug reliance, while increasing life force and quality of life. Preventative or Maintenance Care is less demanding on the body, as it doesn't deplete life-giving energy reserves to the extent that healing a disease does. Ask one of our practitioners for more information on our Maintenance Care Program.
Comfortable, loose clothing — easy to roll up sleeves and trouser legs. We'll guide you through what's needed depending on what you're coming in for.
Yes — and we encourage it. Acupuncture supports the body's own capacity to heal alongside conventional medical care. We never replace your treating doctor or Specialist.
We ask for at least 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. Late cancellations and no-shows may incur a fee, as the appointment time can rarely be filled at short notice.
The clinic at 87–89 Tweed Coast Road is at street level. If you have specific access needs, please call us before your first appointment so we can make sure things are set up for you.
Yes — children respond well to acupuncture, and we use gentle or non-invasive methods. Family Care is one of the programs we run; many older children describe acupuncture as relaxing rather than uncomfortable. We tailor the approach to what each child can handle.
Yes — Pregnancy Programme is one of our specialist programs. Acupuncture support during pregnancy is safe, gentle and tailored. Always tell us if you are or might be pregnant.
The WHO recognises acupuncture as supportive of a wide range of symptom areas — including musculoskeletal pain, headaches, women's health, digestive issues, and stress-related symptoms. Acupuncture is one of the most-researched complementary health practices.
Off-street parking is available at the clinic, and there is street parking on Tweed Coast Road. The clinic is a short walk from the Hastings Point bus stop.