The Australian Register of Naturopaths and Herbalists (ARONAH) is pleased to announce that a comprehensive, modern redesign of the Naturopathic Competency Standards is now open for professional review. Moving away from older, internally focused parameters, this May 2026 draft marks a significant evolution toward a public-safety, health-system-facing framework.
This updated draft represents a major modernizing step. The standards explicitly unbundle clinical activities into clearly assessable targets, defining expectations for threshold competence, risk-escalation, and clinical governance. Key expansions structurally address emerging practices and risk environments, including digital health/AI transparency, cultural safety, health equity, public health responsibilities, and high-risk contexts. We warmly invite all practitioners, professional associations, and higher education stakeholders to review the draft and submit their feedback, helping us ensure that these standards remain robust, contemporary, and highly practical for the future of our profession.
More information about the consultation process, and the draft document itself, can be found here: https://www.aronah.org/consultation-on-updated-competency-standards/