Alternative health therapies in Australia

Alternative health has changed from an unpracticed and little understood range of treatments to an increasingly accepted and common form of healthcare. However, many therapies are still largely unsupported by clinical trials, sometimes due to a lack of testing. The lack of a firm evidence base has been identified as a concern for Australian industry participants and consumer groups, and has resulted in increased funding to research efforts to either validate or dismiss some treatments.  The Australian National Health & Medical Research Council has committed to some 85 grants (and more to come) for research into alternative health therapies.

Consumer acceptance has been facilitated by increased regulation of the industry and societal change.  In some instances they are perceived to be safer, and more natural than conventional medicine. In turn more health insurance policies are covering treatments such as chiropractic, naturopathy, acupuncture and remedial massage. However government policy makers are concerned about the co-existence of alternative therapies & medicines and their impact on conventional medicine.

Conventional doctors, including General Practitioners and Specialists are reported to be increasingly accepting of alternative health therapies.

Medicines containing herbs, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, homeopathic medicines and some aromatherapy products are considered alternative medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Act which set out the regulatory framework for these products.  Products not covered by the TGA include traditional medicines such Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese and other alternative medicines.  The TGA is responsible for maintaining a register of therapeutic goods and has also developed regulatory guidelines for complimentary medicines.

The Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Complementary Medicines provides guidelines for medicines falling outside the primary Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.  The guidelines are intended to ensure that complimentary medicines meet a similar set of guidelines to other therapeutic goods.

The manufacture of herbal medicines is covered by the Australian code of good manufacturing practice for medicinal products.  The code covers quality requirements, and documentation which needs to be maintained by the manufacturer.

From July 1, 2009, rebates from private health insurance will only be paid for treatments undertaken by practitioners who are members of a professional association.  The professional Association must be responsible for the assessment of its members in terms of their level of training and education.

Relative to conventional medicine, Alternative Health Therapies are lightly regulated.  This has given consumers easier access to alternative treatments than to some treatments included in conventional medicine.  This lower level of regulation and ease of access has been raise as a concern by practitioners of conventional medicine.