First Published June 2004 Quality Practice Standards for Professional Associations – Enhancing Professionalisation in Complementary Therapies

 ISBN 0-9752480-0-6

Ó Federation of Natural and Traditional Therapists Ltd June 2004This work is copyright.  Excluding any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Federation of Natural and Traditional Therapists Ltd.

1.1   The Association:

i     is a legally incorporated body under company law or State Incorporation

ii     is a not-for-profit organization

iii    has a constitution

iv    has members who are qualified practitioners of complementary therapies

      v    has a governing board or committee of management which is democratically elected from its members

vi    has an active governing board or committee of management which has regular meetings and keep minutes of those meetings

vii   has annual general meetings which are open to members

viii   maintains regular communication with members

ix    prepares financial annual reports in accordance with Association Law which are available to members

x    is a financially viable entity

1.2   The association has (and can demonstrate that it follows) formal documented policies and procedures for the following:

      i     assessment of Membership applications (including grandparenting provisions if applicable)

      ii     assessment of qualifications of overseas trained applicants (if the association accepts these applicants)

      iii    recognition of specific courses or teaching institution (where applicable)

      iv    formal complaints handling mechanism and disciplinary procedures which incorporate the principles of natural justice and records statistical data from these events

      v     Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements (number of hours and acceptable activities)

1.3   The association has a code of ethics which are upheld by the association and its practitioner members which meet as a minimum the FNTT code of ethics and the association has the ability to impose sanctions on members who contravene that code.

2.1 The association has categories of membership:

i     each membership category is clearly defined and documented with separate membership criteria which includes minimum qualification levels

ii     at least one of these categories covers fully qualified practitioners for the modality/ies listed

iii    The qualifications standards for full practitioner members must meet the FNTT agreed minimum levels for each modality (Appendix 1).

2.2   The association requires members to:

i     complete a minimum of 20 hours Continuing Professional Education each year

ii     hold a current first aid certificate at level 2 or equivalent

iii    hold Malpractice Liability Insurance with minimum cover level of one million dollars in the first instance

2.3 The association maintains a register of its members with the following minimum requirements:

i     name and contact details

ii     date of joining the association

iii    modalities accredited and level of membership

iv    currency of first aid certificate and Professional Indemnity Insurance

v     Continuing Professional Education (CPE) completed

vi    individual member files containing documentation are kept

3.1 Associations submitting practitioner members for listing on the FNTT GST Exemption list must meet all criteria listed in Standards 1 and 2 (above)

3.2 The association has procedures in place ensuring that members submitted to the FNTT GST exemption list:

i     are accredited by that association at the level of “full member’ or above in one of the following modalities:

a.       naturopathy

b.       herbal medicine

c.       acupuncture

ii     meet the minimum qualification requirements of the GST Act which are: 

a.       previous to 8/7/99 – the practitioner was a member of the association

b.       from 8/7/99 – the practitioner holds a recognised diploma, advanced diploma or degree in the listed modality

iii    are current financial members of the association