Won’t this simply legitimise a therapy with little evidence of benefit?
It is not the role of an independent register to comment on the evidence or legitimacy of the profession it registers but to safeguard members of the public who choose the registered practitioners. These issues were dealt with comprehensively by the original Victorian government report The Practice and Regulatory Requirements of Naturopathy and Western Herbal Medicine and a copy of this report can be found in the links section of this website. The fact is that complementary therapies are widely used by the Australian population already and use of complementary therapists is increasing. Visits to complementary therapists account for nearly half of total health consultations in Australia. Naturopaths and herbalists are the largest complementary therapist group, are already being consulted heavily by the general public and are already seen as legitimate therapists by those who employ their services. This perceived legitimacy requires practitioners to abide by certain minimum educational a
