Partnering with members of the Australian Naturopathic Council (ANC), the NHAA has recently put in submissions for the Federal Government’s ‘Scope of Practice Review’.
Currently, naturopaths are excluded from qualifying for certain healthcare roles within the National Skills and Capability Framework and Matrix. Our submission advocates for reconsideration of this position, based on the attributes of degree-qualified naturopaths and their recognition as Allied Health Professionals.
Our submission argues that inclusion of degree-qualified naturopaths has the potential to expand the pool of skilled healthcare workers in the areas of health prevention, promotion and chronic disease management. We make the case for qualified naturopaths to be eligible for roles in integrative and primary practice, community health care centres, drug and alcohol facilities, the NDIS, hospitals and other health facilities.
As the naturopathic profession works towards registration, we look forward to showing that naturopaths meet the expectations of the framework. Paving the way for eligibility for critical roles in healthcare is one way we hope to achieve this.
We thank the ANC for their continued efforts in joining us to support the profession and we look forward to reporting a positive outcome for this submission.