How this is regulated in Australia

Browse our available alternative therapy providers that offer in-person and/or on-line services.

Two systems, not one

People assume "natural health practitioner" means a single thing with a single standard behind it. In Australia there are two quite different arrangements, and which one applies changes your protections.

Nationally registered professions

Chinese medicine — acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine — is registered. So are osteopathy, chiropractic, physiotherapy and psychology.

Registration means AHPRA and a national board: a verified qualification, compulsory annual continuing education, mandatory insurance, enforceable advertising rules, and a complaints pathway that works whether or not the practitioner cooperates. The register is public.

Association-governed professions

Naturopathy, remedial massage, nutrition, reflexology and several others are not AHPRA-registered. Professional associations set training requirements, require insurance of members, and handle complaints internally.

This is not a judgement about whether the work is useful. It is about who guarantees the training and where a complaint goes.

What it means when you book

For a registered profession: look the person up on the AHPRA register before your appointment. It is free and takes a minute.

For the others: ask which association they belong to and check that association's directory. Health fund rebates usually depend on it anyway.

The advertising rules, which you can use as a test

Registered services may not use testimonials about clinical care, may not promise outcomes, and may not use scare tactics. A site breaking all three is telling you something — either nobody there is registered, or they are not complying.

Here

Ask who you are booked with and what they are registered for. The answer should come straight back.