Guidelines for safe practice of Chinese herbal medicine

Codes and Guidelines

The Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice explain the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia's (the Board) expectations of Chinese medicine practitioners to provide safe Chinese herbal medicine services. They address a policy gap by providing clear guidance for practitioners to make sure there is clarity and transparency about the expectations of practitioners providing Chinese herbal medicine services.

The guidelines help Chinese medicine practitioners to practise Chinese herbal medicine safely and support the Board’s effort to facilitate public access to safe health services.

Revised Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice were published by the Board on 1 September 2023 and took effect on 1 December 2023. Read about the consultation process for the revised guidelines on our Past consultations page or in the consultation report below.

Guidelines

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice	PDF (248 KB, PDF)	Word Version (259 KB, DOCX)	1 December 2023

Related resources

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Document date
Consultation report - Revised Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice	PDF (349 KB)	Word version (407 KB, DOCX)	15 September 2023
Quick reference guide - Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice	PDF (English) (81.1 KB, PDF) PDF (Chinese translation) (589 KB,PDF)	Word version (English) (149 KB, DOCX) Word version (Chinese translation) (150 KB,DOC)	1 December 2023
Quick reference guide for Chinese herbal dispensers	PDF (English) (401 KB) PDF (Chinese translation) (530 KB)	Word version (English) (155 KB,DOCX) Word version (Chinese translation) (159 KB,DOCX)	13 November 2023
User guide - Nomenclature compendium for Chinese herbal medicines	PDF (687KB)	Word version (1.25MB, DOCX)	April 2024
Nomenclature compendium of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines This compendium outlines the authorised naming, and labelling, of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines. This compendium is updated annually. Accordingly, caution needs to be exercised in relying upon the information contained in this compendium on the status of medicines under the Poisons Standard (SUSMP) or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as it may be outdated. The information in the compendium is true and complete to the best of our knowledge, but neither the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia nor Ahpra warrant this, and the Board and Ahpra disclaim all liability in connection with the use of the compendium. For confirmation of the status of medicines, please visit the following: SUSMP CITES		Excel version (182KB, XLSX)	April 2024
FAQ - Guidelines for safe practice of Chinese herbal medicine		Web page	1 December 2023

Retired documents

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice	PDF (1004 KB)	Word Version (3.46 MB, DOC)	12 November 2017 - 30 November 2023
Quick reference guide - Guidelines for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice	PDF (English) (59.9 KB) PDF (Chinese translation) (540 KB, PDF)	Word version (English) (71.1KB, DOCX) Word version (Chinese translation) (27.4 KB, DOCX)	22 August 2016 - 30 November 2023
Quick Reference Guide for Chinese herbal dispensers	PDF (English) (79.5 KB) PDF (Chinese translation) (124 KB)	Word version (English version) (26.6 KB, DOCX) Word version (Chinese translation) (27.4 KB, DOCX)	7 April 2017 - 12 November 2023