Policies & Communication

Patient Rights

As a patient, you have the right to be treated with respect, dignity, and understanding, and to participate actively in decisions about your healthcare.

We encourage you to ask questions, discuss your concerns and preferences, and work collaboratively with your healthcare practitioner to make informed decisions about your care. Your healthcare practitioner will provide you with information about your diagnosis, treatment options, potential benefits and risks, and any appropriate alternatives, where relevant and appropriate. Information will be provided in a way that supports your understanding and allows you to consider your options before making decisions about your care.

You have the right to seek further information or clarification about your healthcare and, where appropriate, to involve a support person or advocate in your care. You have the right to provide or withhold consent for proposed investigations, treatments or procedures, where you have the capacity to make that decision. Your preferences and decisions about your healthcare will be respected, including your decision to decline recommended care, and your healthcare practitioner will discuss the potential implications of such a decision with you.

We aim to support shared decision-making and recognise that your values, preferences, circumstances and goals are important considerations in planning your care.

MIWM Appointment Policy

Current as of: 28/09/2026

  • Payment in full is required at the time of consultation.

    If an account remains unpaid, no further medical services will be provided.

    Payment of a non-attendance fee is an obligation to be a patient at this practice.

    If payment isn’t received within 28 days of the consult, further actions will be taken.

  • If you have more than one issue to discuss with your practitioner, please request a longer appointment.  If the practitioner cannot cover every aspect in a single consultation, you may be asked to come back for a subsequent visit. This is done to ensure the best quality care possible. While our practitioner’s do their best to run to time, we occasionally have emergencies and unforeseen circumstances that may result in delays beyond our control. We trust that affected patients will be understanding and in the rare event that significant delays occur, we will do our best to notify you to ensure you are not kept waiting.

  • In order to provide a fair and timely service to all patients, we require that patients who have made a booking arrive promptly for their appointment. If you are attending the clinic for the first time we ask that you arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your allocated time, to allow completion of your new patient paperwork if this hasn’t been completed online prior.  If you are more than 15mins late, your appointment will be rescheduled and a fee may apply. Arriving late deprives you of precious minutes, as each session will be finished on time as a courtesy to our next patient. We fully understand that sometimes being late is outside of your control, and we will always do our best to accommodate you. We ask that you contact us if you are concerned you may be late.

  • When you book your appointment or class, you are holding a space that is no longer available to other patients. We politely ask that you please respect that the practitioner often has limited appointment times, and that you contact us at least 24hrs* before your appointment should you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment.  Cancellation fees will apply as follows:

    • At least 24 business hours notice: no cancellation fee

    • Less than 24 busniess hours notice: 50% of your consultation or class fee will be charged

    • No-show: 100% of consultation or class fee.

    • If payment isn’t received within 28 days of the account, further actions will be taken and no further bookings will be possible until payment is received.

    We will send appointment reminders 1 business day prior to your appointment. Please remember to confirm your attendance. If you do not receive your reminder, your appointment remains your responsibility to attend, reschedule or cancel. If you need to cancel your appointment outside of 24 hours, we are of course understanding of this and will cancel or reschedule your appointment. If you need to cancel your appointment, please:

    Emails and contact us page submissions are monitored on a regular basis by reception staff.

    *Please note that a 48-hour cancellation policy applies to the MIWM Day Stay Experience due to the significant number of practitioners involved in delivering this service.

  • Although face to face appointments are preferred, the practitioner can offer a telehealth service (video consult) to patients.

    This is an option if you are unable to attend in the clinic (ie COVID-19, rural access).

    Please advise reception staff if you wish for your appointment to be changed to a video consult.

    Due to Medicare requirements, patients over 12 months of age need to have been seen by a health professional within the clinic for a face-to-face consult within the last 12 months to be eligible for a Medicare rebate (some exceptions apply).

    If you have not been seen in clinic, the full consult fee will apply. 

    If you are currently a hospital inpatient or are currently overseas, you will not be eligable for Medicare rebates, and full fees will apply.

    Fees for telehealth and face to face appointments are the same and can be seen on our fees page.

  • Maternal and Infant Wellbeing Melbourne is committed to providing safe, accessible medical care while minimising the risk of transmission of infectious illnesses within the Practice.

    To protect our patients, including newborns, infants and other vulnerable patients, as well as our staff, we ask all patients and accompanying persons to follow the requirements below.

    If you or your child has symptoms that may indicate an infectious illness, including:

    • fever or chills

    • cough

    • sore throat

    • runny or blocked nose

    • shortness of breath

    • unexplained fatigue or body aches

    • vomiting or diarrhoea

    • or other symptoms of a potentially contagious infection

    please advise our reception team before attending the Practice.

    Where clinically appropriate, we may arrange a telehealth/video consultation in the first instance. If a face-to-face assessment is required, we will work with you to arrange an appropriate and safe time for you to attend.

    If you or your child has a fever or respiratory symptoms and needs to attend the Practice, a surgical mask must be worn by all family members on entry, and remain on during all time in the Practice, including during the consultation.

    Surgical masks are available at reception free of charge.

    These arrangements apply to COVID-19 and other relevant infectious illnesses.

    Patients who are unvaccinated are welcome to attend the Practice. Vaccination status does not prevent patients from accessing medical care.

    If you are unable to attend the Practice because of COVID-19 or another infectious illness, we will continue to provide appropriate medical care. Where clinically suitable, this may be provided by video consultation, with face-to-face assessment arranged if required.

    We understand that these measures may occasionally be inconvenient and appreciate your cooperation. They help us maintain a safe environment while ensuring patients continue to have access to appropriate medical care.

MIWM Privacy Policy

Current as of: 28/09/2026

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that patients who receive care from Maternal and Infant Wellbeing Melbourne are comfortable in entrusting their health information to the Practice. This policy provides information to patients as to how their personal information (which includes their health information) is collected and used within the practice, and the circumstances in which we may disclose it to third parties.

Maternal and Infant Wellbeing Melbourne takes its obligations under the Victorian Health Records Act 2002 and the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 seriously and incorporates the Australian Privacy Principals (APP). The APP provide privacy protection framework that supports the rights and obligations of collecting, holding, using, assessing and correcting personal information. Maternal and Infant Wellbeing Melbourne collects and holds personal information about you.

The main reason that we collect this information from you is so that we may properly assess, diagnose, treat your illness properly and be proactive in your health care needs. The information we ask you is very personal. But not having it may restrict our capacity to provide you with the standard of medical care that you expect. The primary purpose of a clinical health record is to hold the information about a patient that is required for effective care: good patient information supports appropriate clinical decisions

  • When you register as a patient of MIWM, you provide consent for our practitioners and staff to collect, access, use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of providing you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff members who need access to your information to perform their duties will be permitted to do so. If we propose to use or disclose your personal information for any purpose not directly related to your healthcare, we will seek your additional consent unless permitted or required by law.

  • MIWM will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you.

    We collect, use, hold and share your personal information primarily to:

    • Provide healthcare services

    • Assess, diagnose, treat and manage your health

    • Communicate with you about your care

    We may also use your information for directly related business activities, including:

    • Medicare, private health fund and other billing or claiming processes

    • Practice accreditation, audits and quality improvement

    • Staff training and internal business operations

  • The information we will collect about you includes your:

    • Names, date of birth, addresses, contact details

    • Medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors

    • Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes

    • Healthcare identifiers

    • Health fund details

  • You have the right to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym where lawful and practicable, unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

  • MIWM may collect your personal information in several different ways.

    • When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration forms.

    During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.  Our practice integrates with other services which will utilise this data. This includes electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, Shared Health Summary, and Event Summary. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:

    • Your guardian or responsible person

    • Other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services

    • Your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

  • We sometimes share your personal information:

    • With third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy

    • With other healthcare providers

    • When it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)

    • When it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent

    • To assist in locating a missing person

    • To establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim

    • For the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process

    • When there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)

    • During the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

    Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so.

    Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

    MIWM will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

    Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data. We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia.

    You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

  • Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms including paper records, electronic records, visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos), audio recordings.

    Our practice stores all personal information securely in protected information systems with 2 factor authentication or in hard copy format in secure cabinets.

  • You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

    Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in to info@miwm.com.au and our practice will respond within 30 days. Fees may apply to cover administrative costs. Please speak to our admin staff for further information. 

    MIWM will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to info@miwm.com.au

  • We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. Please send correspondence to:

    The Practice Manager, Suite 2, Level 6, 369 Royal Parade, Parkville 3052, or info@miwm.com.au

    Complaints will be addressed within 30 days.

    You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992

  • This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.

    We will notify you of any changes via email when you book your next appointment.

Communication

Contacting the Practice

You are welcome to contact the clinic at any time. Our experienced staff are available to assist with your enquiry and will ensure that your request is directed appropriately.

Our doctors will only be interrupted during consultations where a matter is considered urgent. For non-urgent enquiries, you can generally expect a response within one business day.

Please note that communication via our general enquiry email is discouraged, as email is not a secure form of communication. For this reason, any medical or sensitive health information is best discussed directly with your doctor.

Communication From MIWM

We will most commonly communicate with you by telephone and email. Emails from MIWM may come from our general practice email address, or, when a message contains private or sensitive information, through our secure patient management system.

Secure messages may sometimes be directed to your spam or junk folder and may display a message such as “This is a secure message”, with a link to securely access the message.

If you are ever unsure about the authenticity of a message, please contact our reception team on (03) 8652 7222 before clicking any links.

Test Results

For best practice and to protect your privacy, unless otherwise advised, please arrange a follow-up appointment approximately one week after any investigations or tests have been completed.

It is your responsibility to book this follow-up appointment to discuss and receive your results with your doctor. Your doctor will review the results with you, explain any relevant findings, and discuss whether any further investigation, treatment, or follow-up is required

Reminder System

Our practice is committed to supporting preventative healthcare and uses an SMS and email reminder system to help you stay up to date with your healthcare.

Reminders may include test results and recalls, appointment reminders, immunisations, and, where applicable, cervical screening.

You will be automatically enrolled in our reminder system. If you prefer not to receive email reminders, please advise our reception staff.

Acess to Care

At MIWM, we want you to be able to access the right care when you need it. This information explains what to do if you need a same-day appointment, a home visit, or care when the clinic is closed.

MIWM does not provide routine clinical care outside our regular business hours, including weekends, public holidays and our Christmas closure period.

  • MIWM primarily operates by appointment.

    Appointments can be booked by phone, online and in person.

    When booking an appointment, our reception team may ask about the reason for your visit. This helps us arrange the most appropriate appointment and identify any urgent concerns.

    If you need to be seen urgently, please let our reception team know when booking.

  • MIWM does not routinely provide walk-in appointments. However, patients who attend without an appointment will be assessed according to their clinical needs and practitioner availability.

    Patients with scheduled appointments will generally be seen as planned. Patients with an urgent or clinically significant concern will be prioritised according to clinical need.

    If we are unable to see you when you arrive, our team will assist you with arranging an appropriate appointment or accessing an alternative service where appropriate.

    If you are experiencing an emergency or are at immediate risk of harm, call 000 or attend your nearest Emergency Department.

  • Home visits may be available to patients within a 5 km radius of MIWM.

    Home visits are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account:

    • your clinical needs

    • whether a home visit is safe and appropriate

    • the practitioner's scope of practice

    • practitioner availability.

    To request a home visit, please contact MIWM reception. The request will be discussed with the appropriate practitioner, who will determine whether a home visit is suitable.

    If a home visit is not appropriate or cannot be provided, our team will assist you with accessing alternative care.

  • If you are experiencing an emergency or are at immediate risk of harm:

    Call 000 or attend your nearest Emergency Department.

  • If you need mental health or emotional support, you can contact:

    • Lifeline: 13 11 14

    • Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636

    • SuicideLine Victoria: 1300 651 251

    These services provide free, 24/7 support.

  • For non-urgent health advice, contact Nurse-on-Call on 1300 60 60 24 for free, 24/7 telephone health advice.

  • If you need to be physically assessed for a non-life-threatening condition, you can attend your local Urgent Care Centre.

    Find your local Urgent Care Centre here.