Osteopathy scope of practice

This statement is for health professionals, third party funders and policy makers. It gives an overview of osteopathic practice and its place within Australia’s health, aged care and disability systems.

This statement has been developed by Osteopathy Australia in alignment with the Osteopathic Service Descriptors, the Osteopathy Board of Australia, Capabilities for Osteopathic Practice, the Ahpra Code of Conduct for Registered Health Practitioners [3] and the World Health Organisation’s Benchmarks for Training in Osteopathy [4]. The statement is further influenced by broader health policies, legislation, regulation and health workforce debate.

Osteopaths are committed to high quality patient centred healthcare. As the scientific understanding of health and disease evolves, this Statement will require on-going revision

The statement outlines:

• An overview of osteopathy and its core principles.
• Regulation (Ahpra), university education and continuing professional pevelopment.
• Scope of practice.
• Extended and advanced practice.
• Osteopathy within the Australian health system.

READ the Osteopathy Scope of Practice