Chinese medicine in Australia
Where are we now?
by Glenys Savage
The Lantern: Volume V, Issue 3 - Article #1
In Chinese culture the number eight (ba) is significant; it is associated with “expanding wealth”. I reflected on the fact that it is eight years since the introduction of the Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000 in the state of Victoria. This was a significant milestone in the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Australia. Victoria was the first jurisdiction outside of China to introduce statutory registration to protect the use of the titles Acupuncturist, Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner and other titles that could convey the impression of a person being registered.
As with many significant events, the registration evolved out of a long political process, which was due to the previous activities consistently conducted by dedicated practitioners who believed in the need for registration. It also required foresight and initiative by those in the Victorian health department and government who recognised the need and value of registration.
I have been privileged to be involved with the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria from its inception as a practitioner member. It has been challenging, rewarding and, at times, confronting.
What is the purpose of registration and what have been the implications of the legislation? The primary aim of registration is to protect the public from ‘unsafe’ practitioners. The role of the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (CMRBV), as established by the legislation, is to register suitably qualified practitioners, approve Chinese medicine courses, regulate advertising, set practice standards and deal with complaints. To date, the board has registered over 1000 practitioners (most are from Victoria with a small number from other states) and it has received some 120 complaints about practitioners from members of the public. It has approved six courses of study.
Feedback from many practitioners, however, indicates that there are still many who do not realise the board’s role is defined by the legislation and as such it has certain limitations. After eight years the board’s role is still often confused with the role of other bodies such as professional associations. To say the board should be doing more for practitioners, such as seeking benefits from the health funds, clearly indicates a lack of understanding from some in the profession as to the main purpose of registration.
Some practitioners need to understand and appreciate the board’s primary regulatory role with regard to the protection of the public and clearly differentiate this role as different from that of the professional associations that primarily serve the practitioners and also emphasise standards.
Another significant event was the recent passage by the Victorian Government in 2005 of the new Health Professions Registration Act, which encompasses all the registered health professions in Victoria under the same piece of legislation.
This legislation includes medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, osteopaths, chiropractors, dental practitioners, optometrists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, medical radiation technologists and Chinese medicine practitioners. What is the importance of this historic legislation? Does it also reflect positively on the standing of our profession by default? The outcome does have this effect since it serves to improve education and practice standards and competence.
In Victoria then, the public is assured that Chinese medicine practitioners are:
• Suitably qualified
• Competent and up to date
• Honest and trustworthy
• Subject to a complaints review process.
Guidelines and standards are:
• Developed by the profession
• Monitored and enforced consistently.
Complaints are properly dealt with, resulting in:
• Resolution
• Improved/corrected practices
• Maintenance and improvement of practice standards.
Unqualified practitioners are dealt with by being:
• Unable to register
• Unable to use protected titles or claim to be qualified
• Prosecuted if they persist.
There have been many developments in these past eight years but I could not help also considering what had been occurring in the eight years prior to registration. In 1992, some senior members of the profession initiated the First Australian Conference on Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. This was a significant event, being the first time that representatives from the different TCM associations and prominent TCM individuals came together to discuss issues facing Chinese medicine practitioners in Australia. There was general agreement about the need to foster dialogue and cohesion to promote issues for the profession.
As a result, the National TCM Liaison Committee was formed after the conference. It held a number of national meetings over the following years and established some important foundations. It focused on establishing national guidelines for TCM education, advertising standards, ethics and professional standards of practice. It is interesting to note that the committee also made a submission in 1995 to the then Federal Minister for Health, Carmen Lawrence, for national registration of Chinese medicine and acupuncture practitioners. The various practitioners and associations had worked hard to achieve these objectives.
Some individuals and associations hosted visits to Australia by Ministers for Health from China and its provinces and various meetings were arranged with Australian Government ministers and members of the Opposition. In Victoria in particular, some lobbyists were in “the right place at the right time” taking up the cause and Anne-Louise Carlton showed strong initiative and dedication in championing the cause for registration from within the Department of Human Services Victoria.
In 2008, we now face the impending introduction of national registration in Australia for those professions that are currently registered in each state, including those mentioned above. Chinese medicine will not be included in this first group of nationally registered professions as it is still registered only in the state of Victoria.
How close are we to the national registration we lobbied for long ago? What else do we need to do to ensure that we are a profession with national registration and a strong identity in which the public can have confidence?
The Federal Government is now calling for submissions and we need to make our case again for national registration for Chinese medicine. This is an important role for the professional associations.
It is also vital that practitioners maintain their memberships of professional associations and indeed become active with them to help promote the profession and to address the requirements for national registration. Remember the phrase attributed to John F. Kennedy? Something to the effect: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!” Is there any similar application here?
Our profession is as strong as its practitioners, their education and training, their ethics and their practice standards. Statutory registration strengthens and protects the good reputation of the profession by ensuring proper accountability.
So, where are we now? Let us continue to work together and to seek inspiration from others to further develop our Chinese medicine profession, our standing as an essential part of the health-care system in Australia and indeed internationally, and our desire to go on to bigger and better things. Research is a big part of it, as is peer interaction and communication.
In order to move forward, let us keep the communication lines open between our registration boards, professional associations, institutions and also with other health professions and the different sectors of the community. Where will we be in another eight years? Will we be nationally registered or left behind? We can continue to ponder these questions, or take action.
