Energetic Medicine , 1.7 % Mind-body Medicine and 3.6 % stated Other . Table 1.3 shows the number and percentage of respondents in each natural therapy discipline category .
Table 1.3 Number of Practitioners per Natural Therapy Discipline Category According to Primary Discipline
Discipline Category n (%) Physical Medicine 773 ( 44.2 ) Ingestive Medicine 675 ( 38.6 ) Energetic Medicine 40 ( 2.3 ) Registered Profession 168 ( 9.6 ) Mind-body Medicine 30 ( 1.7 ) Other 62 ( 3.6 ) Total 1,748
Currently Practising Most practitioners ( 1624 out of 1913 , 84.5 %) reported they were currently in clinical practice and 289 out of 1913 ( 15.1 %) said they were not . A total of 31 out of 283 ( 11.0 %) of respondents stated they were not in practice because of study commitments , 23 out of 283 ( 8.1 %) stated caring responsibilities , 19 out of 283 ( 6.7 %) said they experienced burnout and 16 out of 283 ( 5.7 %) stated illness or disability ( see Table 1.4 ). Many respondents ( 61.1 %) stated ‘ Other ’ reason for not being in clinical practice .
Open ended responses showed that many practitioners were not in practice because of COVID-19-related issues such as restrictions , complicated business practice due to COVID-19 , vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 concerns . Other emergent themes were the inability to find employment , not being able to earn a living wage and being involved with other paid work .
Table 1.4 Reasons Practitioners were Not in Clinical Practice
Reason not in practice n (%) Other ( please describe ) 173 ( 61.1 ) Study 31 ( 11.0 ) Caring responsibilities 23 ( 8.1 ) Burnout 19 ( 6.7 ) Illness or disability 16 ( 5.7 )
Pregnancy / parental leave 10 ( 3.5 ) Extended holiday 8 ( 2.8 ) Bereavement 3 ( 1.1 ) Total 283 ( 100 )
Professional Association Respondents were invited to list the professional association ( s ) they belonged to . The highest number of respondents ( 810 out of 1549 , 52.3 %) reported the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society , followed by 263 out of 1549 ( 17.0 %) from the Australian Natural Therapists Association . Table 1.5 shows the number and percentage of respondents in each natural therapy professional association .
Table 1.5 Respondents ’ Professional Associations
Professional Association n (%)
AHA – Australian Homoeopathic Association
ANPA - Australian Naturopathic Practitioners Association
ANTA - Australian Natural Therapists Association
ATMS - Australian Traditional- Medicine Society
CMA - Complementary Medical Association
FCMA - Federation of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
IAAMA - International Aromatherapy & Aromatic Medicine Association
IICT - International Institution for Complementary Therapists
MMA - Massage & Myotherapy Association
NHAA - Naturopaths & Herbalists Association of Australia
RAA - Reflexology Association of Australia
STAA - Shiatsu Therapy Association of Australia
45 ( 2.9 )
19 ( 1.2 )
263 ( 17.0 )
810 ( 52.3 )
58 ( 3.7 )
12 ( 0.8 )
9 ( 0.6 )
79 ( 5.1 )
89 ( 5.8 )
134 ( 8.7 )
9 ( 0.6 )
15 ( 1.0 )
Other 7 ( 0.5 ) Total 1549 ( 100 )
2 . Education Highest Natural Therapy Qualification Figure 2.1 suggests that many natural therapy practitioners hold either a Diploma ( 661 out of 1752 , 37.7 %), Advanced Diploma ( 382 out of 1752 , 21.8 %) or Bachelor degree ( 506 out of 1752 , 28.9 %) in their primary discipline . Only 8 out of 1752 ( 0.4 %) of all respondents stated they hold no formal qualification . A total of 20 out of 1752 ( 1.1 %) held a PhD , 43 out of 1752 ( 2.5 %) held a Certificate IV , 63 out of 1752 ( 3.6 %) held a Masters and 69 out of 1752 ( 3.9 %) selected ‘ Other ’ qualification .
Qualifications per Discipline Category Figure 2.2 depicts highest qualifications for each discipline category . Respondents with a primary qualification in Physical Medicine held the highest percentage of diplomas ( 70.4 %), followed by 14.0 % with an Advanced Diploma , 4.4 % with a Certificate IV , 0.9 % with a Masters , 0.6 with a PhD ; 1.6 % stated Other and 0.3 % had no formal qualification .
Ingestive Medicine respondents held the highest percentage ( 33.1 %) of Advanced Diplomas compared to other disciplines , followed by 48.1 % with a Bachelor Degree , 8.4 % with a Diploma , 4.4 % who stated Other , 4.1 % with a Masters , 1.3 % with a PhD , 0.31 % with a Certificate IV and 0.31 % with no formal qualifications .
Energetic Medicine respondents did not hold any Masters or PhDs ; however , 37.5 % held a Diploma followed by 21.9 % with an Advanced Diploma , 18.8 % with a Bachelor degree , 15.6 %, who stated Other , and 3.1 % had no formal qualifications .
Registered Professionals held the highest percentage of Bachelor degrees ( 63.5 %) followed by 13.2 % with a Masters , 12.6 % with an Advanced Diploma , 8.2 % with a Diploma , 0.6 % with a PhD and 1.3 % stated other qualifications .
Mind-body Medicine had the smallest representation ( 1.7 % of total respondents ) of all the discipline areas . Thirty-two percent held a Diploma ,
12 | vol30 | no1 | JATMS