President ’ s Report
Christine Pope | ATMS President
On Saturday , July 20th , we celebrated a remarkable milestone : 40 years of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society ! A heartfelt thank you to all those who have supported ATMS over the years , especially our Accredited Practitioner members , past and present Board members , our CEO ’ s , industry suppliers , and education providers , for your unwavering support over the past four decades .
Personally , my involvement with ATMS has been focussed on the past decade and at the fortieth anniversary celebration I shared some of the association ’ s highlights from the past ten years .
At the thirtieth anniversary celebration Maggie Sands referred to Dorothy Hall ’ s quote “ about always having a sword in her hand .” It surprised me at the time , but a decade later , as I look back , it ’ s clear that ATMS needs to be active in advocating for natural medicine and ensure that members ’ interests are protected . The preference now though is for meetings , petitions and social media campaigns , supported by good quality research .
Lobbying Campaigns : The two major campaigns ATMS ran over the past decade were ' I support Natural Therapies and I vote ' and ' How Dare They ?'. Both campaigns have raised awareness of the importance of natural therapies with the government and influenced the decision to initiate a further review of natural therapy rebates . We are expecting final reports to be with the Health Minister in September 2024 and are looking forward to the return of natural therapies to their rightful place in private health insurance .
Advocacy : As part of the advocacy around the Natural Therapies Review ATMS hosted a Healthy Breakfast at Parliament house , attended by the then Health Minister , Greg Hunt . Marcus Blackmore was the keynote speaker . The NTREAP submissions were a good exercise in collaboration and ATMS compiled over 320 pages of evidence in collaboration with five researchers and the team at Metagenics . The process was supported by over 12 trips to Canberra to meet Health and Small Business ministers .
More recently our advocacy efforts were focussed on the Home Care packages for remedial massage , after a decision was made that the accreditation body would be AHPA , an association who didn ’ t want this role . In collaboration with MMA and other massage associations we managed to change this decision so that it included practitioners accredited by a professional association .
COVID-19 Response : the COVID-19 crisis was a period when associations were really active in supporting members , including communicating the various lockdown restrictions , and advocating for the return to work of members in a range of government roundtables and consultations . In one year we sent 91 EDMs with updates across eight jurisdictions regarding work permissions and advocated for members across all States .
At an AGM I was approached by a member who had a massage practice with ten staff , and she advised me how much the support from ATMS was valued during that period . Some of her staff were with other associations who were basically recommending that they stop work for the duration . The advice about how to operate safely through COVID was really valued and she had also assisted her staff to transfer to ATMS !
Natural Medicine Week : Since its launch in 2016 , this event has grown tremendously . In 2024 we hosted 79 online practitioner events , blogs , and recipes , reaching over 4.2 million people . Our 38 ambassadors have thrived , and our practitioners have gained new audiences , website traffic and signups to their mailing lists . More importantly , 45 % of members recognise that it has improved the recognition of natural medicine by both the public and government .
ATMS Symposiums : Starting with the Endometriosis Symposium , we ' ve expanded with annual events with strong industry support . Streaming has also enabled ATMS to increase access for practitioners across Australia , particularly in remote and regional areas . This year , we eagerly anticipate the Post-viral Symposium in September .
Transition to Practice in Sydney : This initiative supports new graduates and students in establishing their practices . This year we ran it in June 2024 in Brisbane . We were fortunate to have
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