The role of allied health assistants 

Allied health assistants can assist osteopaths and other allied health professionals to deliver services to health consumers under direct supervision from the registered practitioner.

What is Osteopathy Australia advocating for?

Stricter regulation on allied health assistants and consistency in approval of use in governmental schemes. Regulation will encourage osteopaths to feel comfortable utilising allied health assistants.

Why this benefits Australians

• Protection of the public.
• Higher usage of allied health assistants across practice.
• Greater access to the workforce for all Australians.

Policy issues and barriers

• There is a lack of consistent regulation for allied health assistants, resulting in poor uptake as practitioners may not be confident in their abilities.
• Many governmental schemes and third party funding bodies will not allow for any care to be provided by allied health assistants.<

Review

This statement will be reviewed as often as required to align with legislative, regulatory, policy and/or practice change. Last review: January 2026.

Need more information or help?

For further information, a suggestion or to discuss this topic, please:

• Email your enquiry to [email protected]
• Call Osteopathy Australia on 1800 467 836
• Access further information via osteopathy.org.au
• Find out more about working with therapy and allied health assistants in our Therapy assistants guideline.

A downloadable copy of this position statement is available here.