2023/24 annual summary

Chinese medicine in 2023/24

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2023/24 annual report Download the
Board's data tables

Registration

4,853 Chinese medicine practitioners
- Up 0.6% from 2022/23
- 0.5% of all registered health practitioners
406 first-time registrants
- 345 domestic (including new graduates)
- 61 international
0.5% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Gender

Female	Male
59.2%	40.8%

59.2% Female
40.8% Male

Age

<250.2%
25-347.8%
35-4422.1%
45-5428.5%
55-6424.2%
65-7414.6%
75+2.7%

Divisions

Acupuncturist	98.2%
Chinese herbal medicine practitioner	64.9%
Chinese herbal dispenser	26.6%

98.2% Acupuncturist
64.9% Chinese herbal medicine practitioner
26.6% Chinese herbal dispenser

35.8% Registered in one division
38.6% Registered in two divisions
25.6% Registered in three divisions

Regulation

23 notifications lodged with Ahpra about 22 Chinese medicine practitioners
53 notifications about 47 Chinese medicine practitioners made Australia-wide, including HPCA and OHO data
- 1.0% of the profession Australia-wide

Sources of notifications

56.5% Patient, relative or member of the public
21.7% Police, government or co-regulator
17.4% Other practitioner
4.3% Board initiated

Most common types of complaints

26.1% Offence against other law
13.0% Breach of non-offence provision – National Law
8.7% Boundary violation
4.3% Clinical care
4.3% Communication
43.5% Other

Notifications closed

14 notifications closed

21.4% Cautioned or reprimanded
14.3% Conditions imposed on registration
7.1% Registration cancelled
57.1% No further regulatory action (including where practitioner has taken steps to address)

5 immediate actions taken
4 mandatory notifications received
- 2 about sexual misconduct
- 1 about professional standards
- 1 about impairment
7 practitioners monitored for health, performance and/or conduct
8 criminal offence complaints made
1 notification decided by a tribunal
No matters decided by a panel
No appeals lodged

Highlights this year

Following the easing of travel restrictions due to COVID-19 in various regions and countries, the Board resumed communication with our international counterparts. In January, the Board Chair met with the regulator and educators in Hong Kong. In April, representatives of the Board met with regulators, educators and professional bodies of Chinese medicine practitioners in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. These international engagements offered a constructive platform for knowledge exchange and learning with our international counterparts. Our global partnerships are vital for the exchange of knowledge and best practices.

New OSCEs

The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia held its objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) for overseas-trained acupuncturists and Chinese herbal medicine practitioners for the first time. There were two opportunities for candidates to take the exam this year.

By embedding this component into the regulatory examination process, the Board is able to assess whether each candidate has the knowledge, clinical skills and professional attributes needed to safely and competently practise as an acupuncturist or Chinese herbal medicine practitioner in Australia.

Policy updates

The Board published two revised guidelines, Guidelines on safe Chinese herbal medicine practice and Guidelines on infection prevention and control for acupuncture and related practices, which came into effect in December.

The Board undertook preliminary and public consultations on the Guidelines on patient health records, and will consider the valuable feedback it received. The annual review and update of the Nomenclature compendium was also completed.

Stakeholder engagement

In July, the Board visited education providers based in Melbourne, at Torrens University Australia and RMIT. It was an opportunity to see their centres and clinical facilities and learn more about practitioners’ and students’ clinical experiences. These visits completed the Board’s undertaking to visit all education providers of approved programs – a first since the Board’s inception. The visits are integral to our ongoing commitment to fostering strong relationships and ensuring the highest education and training standards in Chinese medicine to protect the public.

In August, the Board held its annual Reference Group meeting, welcoming representatives from Chinese medicine professional associations, education providers, individual practitioners, insurance company representatives and community consumer representatives. This was the first meeting of the expanded Reference Group and it provided an opportunity to foster communication and a common understanding among participants.

In June, the Board met with representatives from the national professional associations. Following presentations on topics such as workforce and advertising from Ahpra, there was positive discussion on several profession-specific issues. The Board published a communiqué following the meeting.

The Board was pleased to continue its engagement with the Chinese Medicine Council of New South Wales and the Chinese Medicine Council of New Zealand. This provided a great opportunity for the Board to share experiences of regulation and to exchange views.

Accreditation

The Board considered reports from the Chinese Medicine Accreditation Committee about Chinese medicine education programs to decide whether to approve the programs of study as providing a qualification for registration in Australia. The Board agreed to the assignment of accreditation functions to the committee for the next five years. The Chairs of the Board and committee met quarterly.

Other news

In May, health ministers announced the appointment of members to the Board. The Board was delighted to welcome Mr Craig Bennett AM as a community member and to learn of the Board members who were reappointed. We farewelled outgoing members Mr Roderick Martin and Mr David Brereton and thanked them for their valuable contribution and commitment.

Adjunct Professor Danforn Lim, Chair

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