Our story
About Bao An Tang
Four decades of TCM practice, a father-to-son lineage, and an Abbotsford dispensary visible from the street.
A lineage clinic, since 1983
Bao An Tang was the first Traditional Chinese Medical clinic in Melbourne's Chinatown, founded by Dr Chan Hoa Duong in 1983. The name means "the healing temple" — a phrase that captures both the seriousness of the practice and the calm it offers to people living with stubborn, chronic conditions that Western medicine has not resolved.
In 1993, the clinic relocated to its present home on the corner of Victoria Street and Albert Street, Abbotsford — a ground-floor shopfront with a well-stocked herbal dispensary visible through the window. Today it is led by Dr Kevin Duong, the founder's son, who trained under his father and then pursued advanced clinical certification in China before taking over the directorship.
What has not changed in four decades: the same commitment to ethically sourced herbs, the same principle of treating the whole person rather than the isolated symptom, and the same pride in a lineage that patients from across Melbourne's inner east return to, year after year.
Four decades, one family
Founded in Melbourne's Chinatown
Dr Chan Hoa Duong opens Bao An Tang — the first Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic in Chinatown. The name, meaning "the healing temple", would become a landmark for Melbourne's Chinese-speaking community.
The move to Abbotsford
The clinic relocates to 401 Victoria Street on the corner of Albert Street, Abbotsford — a larger space with a dedicated herbal dispensary and consulting rooms, closer to the inner-east community the clinic has always served.
Dr Kevin Duong takes the helm
Dr Kevin Duong — son of the founder — assumes the role of Clinic Director. He brings over 20 years of clinical experience, advanced post-graduate training in dermatology at the Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning College of TCM in Shenyang, China, and a reputation for treating complex skin conditions that other practitioners have struggled to resolve.
Herbs prepared on site
Walk past the Victoria Street shopfront on any weekday and you will see the dispensary through the window: rows of glass jars, dried roots, goji and chrysanthemum, the Bao An Tang wordmark printed on every package. The herbs are sourced, verified and prepared on site — not shipped in pre-mixed from a wholesaler.
Alongside the dispensary, Bao An Tang offers its own Pearl Cream and Derma Cream — both steroid-free, both formulated with herbal extracts for skin conditions — as well as a range of Chinese herbal teas and soup mix packs that patients can continue at home between consultations.
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Registration & affiliations
All Bao An Tang practitioners are nationally registered with AHPRA and are qualified Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture practitioners. Private health fund rebates are available.
AHPRA
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency — the national registration authority for health practitioners in Australia.
CMRB
Chinese Medicine Registration Board — oversees the registration and standards of Chinese Medicine practitioners in Australia.
FCMA
Federation of Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Societies of Australia — Dr Kevin Duong is an accredited member.
AACMA
Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association — several Bao An Tang practitioners are accredited members.
ANTA
Australian Natural Therapists Association — Hongfang An holds accredited nutritionist membership with ANTA.
Private health rebates
Private health fund rebates are available for eligible services. Ask the clinic for details on what your fund covers.
Care in your language
Bao An Tang staff are fluent in both English and Chinese. Dr Kevin Duong also speaks Vietnamese. The clinic warmly welcomes clients from all cultural and language backgrounds — and has done so since its founding in Melbourne's Chinatown four decades ago.
