Holding Out and Protected Titles – Issues for Non-registrant Complementary and Alternative Health Practitioners

The regulation of registered health practitioners in Australia focuses upon "holding out" provisions rather than statutory "scope of practice" provisions. One concern for non-registrant complementary and alternative medicine practitioners and other non-registrants is whether these holding out provisions are breached by simply providing a modality which may also be applied by a registered health practitioner (such as the use of Chinese Massage) and when does a breach of the holding out occur when they use particular words that might in the context of when they are used may be deemed to constitute a holding out. This article will analyse the relevant provisions of the National Law and case law to determine some guidelines for practitioners to avoid liability.