Policy & Strategic Projects Division >> Complementary Therapies/Traditional Chinese Medicine >> Newsletter

Newsletter Number 6, June 2000

The Chinese Medicine Registration Act was passed by the Victorian Parliament on 9 May 2000 and received Royal Assent on 16 May 2000.

This newsletter outlines the key features of the Act, the expected timetable for implementation and the process for appointment of Board members. Further issues of this newsletter will address the following areas:

• Establishment of the new Schedule 1 of Chinese herbs in the Poisons List of the Victorian Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981.
• How the new legislation will affect local government requirements for registration of acupuncture premises and food premises.
• How the new legislation will affect practitioners registered with other health practitioner registration boards, such as medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists etc.

Further information on the implementation of the Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000 is available from:

Ms Anne-Louise Carlton
Tel: 03 9616 6137
Email: anne-louise.carlton@dhs.vic.gov.au

Copies of the Act are available at the following address:

www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/l2d/C/ACT01691/index.html

A hard copy can be purchased from:

Information Victoria
356 Collins Street
Melbourne
Tel: 1300 366 356

Key features of the Victorian Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000

Establishment of the Chinese Medicine Registration Board (Section 76 of Act)

The Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000 establishes a statutory incorporated Chinese Medicine Registration Board. The Board is to have nine members appointed by Governor-in-Council on recommendation from the Victorian Minister for Health. Membership will consist of six Chinese medicine practitioners, two lay persons and one lawyer.

The Board’s functions (Section 68)

The Board is to have statutory powers and functions including:

• To regulate the standards of practice of the profession in the public interest.
• To register suitably qualified persons and/or persons meeting approved competency standards so that they may practice in Victoria.
• To accredit courses which provide qualifications for registration purposes.
• To establish standards for the conduct of examinations for the purposes of registration and continuing education.
• To issue and publish codes about appropriate standards of practice.
• To investigate complaints about, and inquire into, the conduct of persons registered under the Act; and
• To carry out such other functions as are vested in the Board by or under its Act.

The Register of Chinese Medicine (Section 17)

The Board is to have power to keep a register of qualified practitioners.
The Chinese Medicine Register is to have three divisions – Chinese herbal medicine, Acupuncture and Chinese herbal dispensing. Practitioners must have the relevant qualifications required by the Board in each division to be eligible for registration in that division.

Powers of the Chinese Medicine Registration Board

The Board is to have the power to:

• approve courses which provide qualifications for registration purposes (Part 2 Division 1).
• endorse the Register in order to recognise post graduate qualifications and/or training in specialty areas such as Chinese orthopaedics and traumatology (Section 13).
• endorse registration certificates of Chinese medicine practitioners and Chinese herbal dispensers in order to allow them to be authorised under the Victorian Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act to legally prescribe and dispense scheduled herbs restricted by their inclusion in the Poisons List (Section 8).
• investigate complaints about, and inquire into the professional conduct or fitness to practice, of persons registered under the Act and impose sanctions or conditions and limitations on practice where necessary (Part 3).
• immediately suspend the registration of a practitioner considered impaired or acting unprofessionally and a risk to public health and safety (Section 36);
• secure a warrant to enter and search premises when conducting an investigation of unprofessional conduct (Part 8);
• establish codes for the guidance of practitioners, which specify standards of practice in areas such as the preparation, prescription, labelling, dispensing and record-keeping of Chinese herbs (Section 68).
• require evidence of satisfactory arrangements for professional indemnity insurance as a condition of ongoing registration (Sections 6,7 and 12).
• require that registrants provide information on any criminal convictions or judgements against them in medical negligence cases (Section 21).

Offences

It will be an offence under the Act for an unregistered person to use the titles protected under the legislation or any other title calculated to induce a belief that the person is registered (Section 61). The protected titles are ‘Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner’, ‘Registered Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner’, ‘Registered Chinese Herbalist’, ‘Registered Acupuncturist’, ‘Registered Oriental Medicine Practitioner’, or any other title calculated to induce a belief that the person is registered. This has been interpreted to mean that practitioners who refer to themselves for example as a ‘Chinese medicine practitioner’ without including the word ‘registered’ may still be guilty of an offence unless registered under the Act.

It will be an offence under the Act for a registered person to advertise their Chinese medicine services in a way which is

• false, misleading or deceptive;
• offers gifts or discounts without setting out the conditions;
• uses or refers to testimonials or purported testimonials;
• creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment.

The Governor in Council will have the power to publish in the Government Gazette guidelines issued by the Board about advertising of Chinese medicine services, and the courts will have the power to require corrective advertising if necessary (Sections 63–65).

Grandparenting of existing practitioners (Section 94)

The Board is to have the power, within three years from the date on which the Act comes into effect, to register practitioners who do not have qualifications accepted by the Board for general or specific registration, under the following conditions:

• practitioners who have other qualifications considered satisfactory by the Board, and/or
• practitioners been in practice for at least 5 years full time or for periods totalling 5 years full time in the preceding 10 years, and/or
• practitioners who undergo additional training and/or professional development required by the Board, and/or
• practitioners who pass an examination set by the Board.

Health practitioners registered under another Act (Schedule and Section 94(2))

The Schedule to the Act contains amendments to registration Acts which regulate the following professions: medical practitioners, nurses, chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists, dental care providers, optometrists and pharmacists. These amendments create powers for the respective registration boards to assess the qualifications of their registrants and authorise them to use titles such as ‘acupuncturist’ without breaching the offence provisions of the CMR Act. This means that these practitioners will not have to register with two boards and will have three years from the date the Act comes into force to apply to their boards for the required authorisation.

Appointment of Board members

An advertisement has been placed in The Age and circulated to professional associations and other interested parties, seeking applications for the various positions on the Board. Applcations can be made to the Victorian Minister for Health, who will then make recommendations to Governor in Council for appointments to be made.

Expected Timetable for implementation