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Assignment

Research and describe acts, ordnances and standards that may apply to the practice of Remedial
Massage in Australia as defined by either:

a) ACT government
or

b) NSW government
Name the regulation and give a one paragraph explanation of its purpose and potential impact on
your clinical practice.

The legal rights and responsibilities, according to law, of naturopathic practitioners in NSW are set
out in the Code of Conduct for Unregistered Health Practitioners, which itself is underpinned by the
Health Legislation Amendment (Unregistered Health Practitioners) Act 2006 (HCCC 2010a). Other
professions defined as, “Unregistered Health Practitioners” include acupuncturists,
psychotherapists, therapeutic masseurs, social workers, occupational therapists and homeopaths. It
should be noted that acupuncturists are currently considered Registered Health Practitioners in
Victoria (CMRB 2002).

In cases of suggested malpractice committed by a naturopath, complainants are first directed to the
professional body which the practitioner belongs to. In cases where this procedure does not satisfy
the complainant or the practitioner is not a registered member of any professional body the case
can be escalated and heard by the Health Care Complaints Commission (NSW Government).

The Code of Conduct sets out rules detailing required professional and personal behaviours that, if
not adhered to, can lead to “the Commission imposing a prohibition order and/or issuing a
public statement about an unregistered health practitioner and their services. A prohibition order
may ban a practitioner from providing health services or place conditions on their provision of
health services for a specified period or permanently “(HCCC 2010a).

Research and describe the Code of Ethics from any two professional associations which include
remedial massage members (AMT, AAMT, ATMS etc.).

Two of the largest professional organisations available to naturopaths in Australia are the Australian

Luke Clews Laws & Ethics CIT066213

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Traditional-Medicine Society (ATMS) and the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA). Both
of these organisations have published Codes of Ethics which are, in turn, based largely on the Code
of Conduct set out in the Health Legislation Amendment (Unregistered Health Practitioners) Act
2006 (HCCC 2010b).

While the ATMS document (dated 2006) has copied many relevant passages from the Code of
Conduct there is no mention of clauses detailing the practitioner’s responsibility to adhere to
Infection Control guidelines, or any explicitly forbidding claiming to be able to treat cancer or any
other terminal illness or the legislative requirement for the practitioner to have current Professional
Indemnity insurance. Given that the Code of Conduct was recently (July 2010) amended it would
appear that the ATMS document is now out of date. That said, perhaps its authors decided brevity
was preferable to completeness.

The ANTA document is significantly more detailed including Definitions and References as well as
discussing the need for Professional Indemnity insurance, describing the importance of research and
teaching and addressing the importance of professional independence. However, while this text is
more comprehensive in its discussion of practitioner ethics it is still over 7 years old and may need
revision to reflect any significant changes to pertinent legislation.

Of course, the statement that either document is outdated and therefore incomplete is predicated
on the fact that most practitioners will look to it as a guide for exemplary professional conduct as
opposed to referring to the appropriate legislation to ensure that they do are not breaching any laws
e.g. the requirement that a copy of the HCCC’s Code of Conduct be on display in their workplace
(Section 17 subsection 1a).

Describe the criteria to qualify for professional indemnity insurance, as a naturopath or remedial
massage therapist, from any accredited insurance company

As an intending member of the ATMS I contacted them directly and was informed that their
preferred insurer was Marsh Australia. Further enquiries determined that the only eligibility
requirement was membership of the ATMS.

The criteria for accredited membership were that a person “must hold an accredited award in a
recognised modality from an ATMS accredited teaching institution” (ATMS 2010). Student
memberships are available to any person currently studying an accredited course.

References

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Australian Traditional-Medicine Society 2010, Membership qualifications, viewed 26/05/11, <

http://www.atms.com.au/membership/Membership_Qual.asp >

Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria 2002, Frequently Asked Questions For Practitioners
– Acupuncture, viewed 24/05/2011, <
http://www.cmrb.vic.gov.au/information/archive/faq/faqpraca-acupuncture.html>

Health Care Complaints Commission 2010a, Information for Unregistered Health Practitioners,
viewed 24/05/2011, < http://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/Information/Information-for-Unregistered-
Practitioners/Default/default.aspx>

Health Care Complaints Commission 2010b, Code of Conduct for unregistered health practitioners,
NSW Government, Sydney

Luke Clews Laws & Ethics CIT066213