Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition and Dietetic services

Appointment Procedure

  • In Australia, all dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionist are dietitians.

    The title ‘nutritionist’ is not regulated by law and regulation, anyone who completed a day course to a program contain nutrition element may claim themselves as ‘nutritionist’

    On the other hand, dietitians (Accredited Practising Dietitian/APDs) are governed by law and reinforced by Dietitian Australia and uphold the credential of Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs). APDs have to complete 4-5 years of full-time study with supervised clinical training and a 12-month mentorship. Dietitians are required to maintain a commitment to professional development, uphold a set of national competency standards and follow a code of conduct, including guidelines on how we advertise.

    Only APDs are recognised healthcare professionals and registered with Medicare and all health funds, meaning that eligible people can receive a rebate from Dietitian visits.

  • We take a individualised approach when working with our clients. The frequency and duration depend on a number of factors, including motivation for change, goal, current state, level of understanding, and complexity of the condition. Often appointments are more frequent at the start and gradually spaced out further as you build confidence.

    The best practice for care frequency is 2 weeks, as it helps you build momentum and make sustainable change and progress. But everyone is different. Most of our clients touch base every 3-4 weeks at first, then slowly decline and eventually cease treatment.

  • Providing clients with a one-and-done meal plan seems a good idea to save both practitioners’ and clients’ time. However, research consistently shows meal plans have low compliance, poor long-term outcomes and negatively impact people’s relationship with food.

    However, we are very open to discussing personalised meals, snacks and recipe options that suit your own lifestyle. A ‘personalised dietary plan’ may be provided to capture individualised recommendations.

  • ​​As much as we love to meet our clients in person 1:1, we currently only offer telehealth consultations to improve accessibility and keep our appointment fee affordable.

    If we have a physical location, we will update on all platforms.

    In the meantime, we do offer on-site corporate nutrition talks/workshops. Please contact malcolmtang@timelessdietetics.com.au to discuss a nutrition program tailored to your work team.

  • Yes - our dietitian is qualified and trained in HAES and support our clients with a non-diet approach.

  • No, a referral is not needed. We welcome anyone to book an appointment

  • In the appointment confirmation email and reminder emails for each appointment, you can click on the link ’manage booking’ to adjust your appointment.

  • Currently, we only accept debit or credit card payment. In the pre-appointment survey, the secured healthcare management system will ask for you card details. At the end of each appointment, the dietitian will ask for your permission to process payment before a request is submitted to the system. After the payment is being processed, you will receive an email containing the invoice, which you can us for rebate.

  • No - you will not be charged when making an appointment.

    At Timeless Dietetics, all client ’ personal information, including card details, is stored in Halaxy. Halaxy is a professional patient management software that collects and encrypts your card details in the pre-appointment survey.

    However, NO charge will be incurred before the end of each appointment without your permission.

  • Medicare rebate is available for patient under a GP management plan, including Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDMP/EPC) and Eating Disorder Plan (EDP). Current Medicare rebate for each dietetic visit is $58.30. All care plans are managed by GP, you can talk to your GP to learn your eligibility.

  • If you are having trouble, please email us at malcolmtang@timelessdietetics.com.au , call us at +61 0435894212, or direct message us on any social media platform.

  • When an appointment is successfully made, you will receive a ‘Booking Confirmation’ email.

    And to best use our time together in the appointment, we will send you a secured link to your pre-appointment survey, where we gather basic and essential information (name, dob, contact, payment method, goals) to build your medical profile.

    Last but not least, you will receive a Zoom meeting invitation at least 24 hours before your appointment. Please contact us if you have trouble access.

  • In your first appointment, you can expect a judgement-free, welcoming and safe environment where you will be supported. The dietitian will ask questions about your motivation, reason for booking, etc. You are more than welcome to share your experience and story.

    Throughout the appointment, we will continue to learn more about you, including your lifestyle, goals, barriers, struggles, medical history, living situation, current diet, and movement, so we know how to support you best.

    Toward the end of the appointment, we may start brainstorming some first steps of making changes together. We bring both of our expertise (*your understanding of your body and self; our understanding in most relevant research and science*) together to make changes that you feel comfortable. In this process, you are the expert on yourself, and we are here to guide you to where you want to be in a supportive way.

    Before the session ends, we will discuss the best frequency for touching base in the next few weeks and may book in the next session together.

    Everything we discuss during the appointment will be put into writing for you during the session so you don’t feel the pressure to remember it all.

  • Review appointments are incredibly important for maintaining momentum, working with motivator and barriers to change and allow us to monitor your goal.

  • You can upload any relevant documents, e.g. referral plan or recent blood test results, in the Pre-Appointment Survey before the first appointment. At any point of time during our work together, you can send us your updated documents to malcolmtang@timelessdietetics.com.au

Booking and Fees

About Timeless Dietetics’ Policies

  • If you arrive at your appointment late, the session will end at the scheduled time regardless of when it started, and no partial refund will be provided

    However, please contact your practitioner (call or message the contact number in your appointment confirmation email) as soon as you know you are running late. We will try our best to adjust your appointment schedule, so you get the full appointment time, but we cannot guarantee due to our schedule.

  • We offer free cancellation and rescheduling with 24 hours or more notification. A cancellation fee of 75% of the regular session fee will incur if cancellation and rescheduling are notified within 24 hours prior to the appointment. A fee of 100% of the regular session fee will incur for no-show appointments.

    However, we know that life happens sometimes, so we try our best to understand your situation and accommodate accordingly.

  • At Timeless Dietetics, we take privacy and confidentiality very seriously. We provide healthcare services in accordance with the Privacy Amendment (private sector) Act Guidelines.

    Appointments are conducted privately. Every patient will get a dedicated meeting link each time so no other people can join our appointment without your permission.

    All your personal details, medical record and financial information will be encrypted and only be stored in a professional healthcare patient management system (Halaxy).

    your details will not be disclosed to third parties without your permission, and informed consent needs to be obtained. This includes sharing details with other healthcare professionals in the clients’ care team. In the case when clients’ medical files are used for educational purposes, all information will be disclosed as de-identified documents.

    All clients’ records (personal details, medical information, and treatment) are kept for at least 7 years with self-encrypted software and will be audited and destroyed after 7 years upon discharge from dietetic service as per Privacy Amendment (private sector) Act Guidelines.