“With the ‘Preventative Health Conference 2024 – Building Prevention Success Stories’ being held in Darwin later this month we reached out to Mr William Yan– the NT Shadow Minister for Health.

We discussed how naturopathy is being used as primary healthcare for chronic health conditions and preventative health by many Australian consumers. We highlighted that naturopaths have the skills and expertise, and that we want to be part of the conversation within the primary healthcare model.

We discussed the current barriers holding naturopaths back in this space, and how we can overcome this situation which included registration, improving communication between GP’s and other healthcare providers, and the importance of private health insurance rebates – not only for consumers, but to also raise the profile of the profession. Current education standards of naturopaths, and the importance of Indigenous medicines were also discussed.

The meeting was extremely positive, with Mr Yan recognising the CMA and ANC are important entities to include and discuss public and preventative health matters with in the future. Mr Yan also gained greater insights into how naturopaths support Australians with preventative healthcare; and how we can take the load off the medical profession, especially those with a comorbidity of chronic health concerns who would benefit from lifestyle, dietary, stress and sleep support.