National Registration for Acupuncture and TCM

National Registration and what this means for Chinese Medicine Practitioners in Australia

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is currently an unregulated health profession in Australia. This means that anyone can call themselves an Acupuncturist or Chinese Herbalist and are able to treat patients with no proper uniform training or experience.  

There are many greatly skilled and fully qualified practitioners out there however it is difficult for patients to know for sure who these practitioners are and how to find them.

From the 1^st July 2012 Chinese Medicine practitioners must be registered under the national registration accreditation scheme with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia and meet all the Board’s Registration standards in order to practice in Australia. Therefore all acupuncturists, Chinese herbal medicine practitioners and dispensers will fall under the same national registration scheme as doctors, dentists and physiotherapists.

Registration means all practitioners will have undergone the proper training and are under government accreditation standards. This will better protect you as the patient. Under this registration you can trust the practitioners will provide you with a suitable level of care and products that are prescribed and dispensed properly.

As a qualified and experienced practitioner myself, this is great news for our profession and this means better patient care for all future patients. This is a huge step forward for all Chinese Medicine Practitioners.