Consumers and GPs will have greater clarity about the professionalism and quality of massage therapists using Massage & Myotherapy Australia's new national best practice and quality assurance certification scheme, the first in the massage industry.
Announcing the new national Scheme, Andrew Gallagher, President of Massage & Myotherapy Australia, said 'For the first time, consumers and medical practitioners will be able to access an independent quality assurance regime, involving professional massage therapists and myotherapists who are Certified to a protected uniform title of practice that meets high industry standards.'
Mr Gallagher said, 'Certification will provide a greater level of confidence and certainty about remedial massage and myotherapy services offered in local communities.'
Three years in development, involving wide health sector consultation and an extensive pilot study, the Scheme includes approvals from Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and IP Australia (under the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science).
'Certex International was instrumental in ensuring the Certification scheme provided a consistent and reliable national Best Practice Standard (BPS) and Quality Assurance (QA) model for the Australian massage and myotherapy industry.
'This also ensures that the Certification scheme meets the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ accreditation) standard (jas-anz.com.au),' Mr Gallagher said.
Australia has a workforce of around 20,000 massage therapists, many of whom are highly qualified professionals. The scheme offers all career professionals a clear opportunity to distinguish the standard and quality of their services.
'While the majority of our 8600 members already have tertiary level remedial massage qualifications, in the not too distant future, we expect to have a significant proportion and many non-member therapists completing Certification. This will provide a single framework and national network of quality-assured therapists that consumers and health professionals can access with confidence,' Mr Gallagher said.
Certification involves therapists completing three distinct stages:
1. Application and criminal record check
Interested therapists complete the Application Form and the CrimCheck Form to determine if they are suitable.
2. Completion of the Self-Assessment
An extensive Workbook involving information about the therapist, the clinic, and the six core areas of the Standard involving membership–patient/client treatment, patient/client management, facilities and equipment, employer (if applicable) and quality management practices.
3. Certification site support visit.
An inspection by a trained Certification Site Support Assessor (CSSA) visiting the clinic and confirming all of the information provided in the Self-Assessment Workbook.
