Core · ethics
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths
Ethical reasoning for osteopaths: evidence, consent to each technique, honesty and fees.
Osteopaths · Osteopathy Board of Australia
Ethics and Professionalism Courses for Osteopaths in Australia
Osteopaths have a CPD rule most professions do not: at least four hours every year on topics the Board has listed, from consent and records to advertising and boundaries. Clinical conferences rarely cover them. These courses do, and the table below shows which course fits which topic.
- Mapped to the Osteopathy Board's mandatory CPD topics
- Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time
- Online and self-paced, between patients or after hours
The four-hour rule
The four hours that tend to be left until November
Of the 25 CPD hours osteopaths complete each year, at least four must address topics on the Board's mandatory list. Clinical technique courses and conferences usually fill the rest without difficulty, which is exactly why the mandatory hours get forgotten until renewal is close. Planning them early also makes them more useful: a consent or records course taken in March changes a year of practice, not just a declaration.
The mandatory topics are not random. They track what goes wrong. People outside the professions, meaning patients, relatives and the general public, made 81.4% of the 2024/25 notifications about osteopaths that reached Ahpra, and boundary violations accounted for 16.3% of complaint types, ahead of clinical care.
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Mandatory topics
Each mandatory topic, what it means in an osteopathy clinic and the course that fits
| Board topic | In osteopathic practice | Courses that help |
|---|---|---|
| Board standards, codes and guidelines, and the National Law | Applying the code when you are running behind, worried about income or treating someone you know | Professionalism and Professional Standards for Osteopaths; Fitness to Practise |
| Advertising and social media | Patient stories, claims about babies or chronic disease, and titles such as 'specialist' that osteopaths may not use | Advertising a regulated health service; social media and boundaries |
| Evidence-based practice | Being straight with patients about what the research supports before they agree to a technique | Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths |
| Risk management | Red flag screening, timely referral and learning from near misses | Clinical competence and patient safety; preventing recurrence |
| Record keeping | Contemporaneous notes showing consent, findings, techniques and response | Documentation and record-keeping |
| Informed consent | Fresh consent for each technique and each area examined, not just at the first visit | Informed and financial consent |
| Communication skills | Explaining findings, setting expectations and apologising when something goes wrong | Effective communication; open disclosure |
| Professional boundaries | Draping, touch close to intimate areas, presents, and patients seeking a social relationship | Professional boundaries for clinicians; chaperones and intimate examinations |
| Confidentiality and privacy | Shared waiting rooms, relatives asking questions and messages on personal phones | Privacy, health records and My Health Record |
Topic names follow the Osteopathy Board's CPD resources page. First aid training sits outside the 25 hours.
Standards under review
Draft CPD and recency of practice standards went out for comment from 14 Boards, osteopathy included, until 17 July 2026. The present standard, with its 25 hours and four mandatory-topic hours, continues until a revised one is published and takes effect.
Written for osteopaths
The two core osteopathy courses, then the profession course
Start with the two courses written for osteopaths, which between them touch most of the mandatory topics. The third is a three-hour course on ethics and professionalism in osteopathic practice.
Core · professionalism
Professionalism and Professional Standards for Osteopaths
Professional standards in osteopathy: the code, records, boundaries and conduct online.
Osteopaths · in depth
Ethics and Professionalism for Osteopaths in Australia
A longer course on ethics and professionalism across osteopathic practice and business.
Professional Boundaries for Clinicians
Draping, touch, gifts and friendships with patients.
Chaperones and Intimate Examinations: Safe Practice and Board Conditions
Chaperones and sensitive examinations.
Informed Consent and Financial Consent in Australian Practice
Consent before each technique and to its cost.
Professionalism in Documentation and Record-Keeping
Notes that record consent, findings and response.
Privacy, Health Records and My Health Record in Australian Practice
Privacy in shared clinics and on personal devices.
Advertising a Regulated Health Service: Applying the Ahpra Advertising Guidelines
Testimonials, titles and claims under the advertising rules.
Scenarios
Four osteopathy situations
Composite examples written for teaching.
A pelvic assessment nobody explained
A patient with lower back pain is assessed around the pelvis without being told why or asked again as the examination moves. She complains that she felt exposed. Start with professional boundaries and chaperones.
Settling babies on Instagram
A clinic posts a parent's message thanking the osteopath for 'fixing' their baby's colic. It feels like good news to share. It is a clinical testimonial and an unsupported claim. Start with the advertising course.
Notes that say only 'treated'
A patient reports dizziness after a neck technique. The notes record the date and 'treated C-spine', with nothing on screening, consent or response. Start with documentation.
A patient who wants to be friends
After months of treatment, a patient invites the osteopath to a party and starts messaging on a personal phone. Start with professional boundaries and social media.
Planning
Plan the year's osteopathy CPD in four steps
Review your practice
Identify the topics where your own clinic carries most risk.
Book the four mandatory hours first
Choose courses for the topics you identified, early in the year.
Add clinical learning
Fill the remaining hours with technique and clinical courses.
Reflect and file
Write a short reflection for each activity and keep the certificate with it.
Program
Professional Boundaries & Conduct for osteopaths
With boundary violations ranking so high among osteopathy complaints, this five-course program is a strong fit for the boundaries, consent and conduct topics.
Includes 5 courses
- Unprofessional Conduct: Understanding the Standard and Avoiding It About 2 hours · A$189
- Professional Boundaries for Clinicians About 2 hours · A$189
- Sexual Boundaries and Preventing Sexual Misconduct in Australian Healthcare About 3 hours · A$309
- Chaperones and Intimate Examinations: Safe Practice and Board Conditions About 3 hours · A$309
- Professionalism and Boundaries on Social Media About 2 hours · A$189
- Unprofessional conduct
- Professional boundaries for clinicians
- Sexual boundaries and preventing sexual misconduct
- Chaperones and intimate examinations
- Professionalism and boundaries on social media
A$1,185 is the total of the five course prices (three at A$189, two at A$309). No discount is applied.
Your code
The documents behind these courses
The Osteopathy Board adopted the shared Code of conduct together with eleven other Boards, effective 29 June 2022. The national advertising guidelines, current from 14 December 2020, matter particularly for claims about infants and chronic conditions, and the Board has a position statement on paediatric care. Our courses are written by the Probity Courses editorial team against all three, and updated as they change.
The Osteopathy Board of Australia regulates osteopaths, supported by Ahpra.
Further reading
Course outlines for osteopaths
- Ethics and Ethical Standards for OsteopathsCore course outline
- Professionalism and Professional Standards for OsteopathsCore course outline
- Chaperones and intimate examinationsFor sensitive assessments
- Advertising a regulated health serviceMandatory topic: advertising
- Professional boundaries and conduct programFive courses together
NSW and Queensland
Complaints in NSW and Queensland
In NSW, the Osteopathy Council of New South Wales and the Health Care Complaints Commission handle complaints about osteopaths. In Queensland, the Office of the Health Ombudsman receives them first. The code, the mandatory topics and the CPD standard are national.
Questions from osteopaths
How many CPD hours do osteopaths need?
Twenty-five each year, including at least four on the Board's mandatory topics. First aid is a separate requirement and its hours are not part of the 25.
Which topics are mandatory?
Nine areas: informed consent, record keeping, professional boundaries, communication skills, confidentiality and privacy, risk management, evidence-based practice, advertising and social media, and the Board's standards, codes and guidelines with the National Law. Check the Board's CPD resources page for the current list.
Do your courses count towards the mandatory topics?
They are written to address them, and the table on this page maps each course to a topic. Whether an activity meets the requirement is your judgement under the standard, so record which topic it covers and why.
Can osteopaths call themselves specialists?
No. Osteopathy has no specialist registration, so the title must not be used in advertising or elsewhere. Protected titles are covered in the advertising course.
Is it acceptable to treat babies?
Read the Board's position statement on paediatric care first, and be careful with any claims about infant conditions in your advertising.
A patient is unhappy about a sensitive examination. What now?
Contact your indemnity insurer before you respond, leave your records unchanged and avoid discussing the complaint with the patient. Then reflect honestly on what you explained and how you sought consent.
Will a course change the outcome of a notification?
No course can promise that. Targeted learning, honest reflection and evidence of change can contribute to showing insight.
Can a clinic enrol several osteopaths?
Yes. Use the multi-course page or contact us.
Get your four mandatory hours planned
Pick courses from the topic table and file each certificate as you finish.