Other health services

Health services conditions

Health services that are not defined as medical services, are GST-free, if all the following apply:

• it is a listed health service
• the service is performed by a recognised health professional in that listed health service or, under certain circumstances, their assistant
• the service is generally accepted in that listed health profession as being necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient of the supply.

The recipient of the supply by the health professional will not always be the patient. In some cases, it may be another business.

Listed health services

For a health service that is not defined as a medical service to be GST-free, it must be one of the following:

• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health service
• acupuncture
• audiology or audiometry
• chiropody
• chiropractic
• dental
• dietary
• herbal medicine (including traditional Chinese herbal medicine)
• naturopathy
• nursing
• occupational therapy
• optometry
• osteopathy
• paramedical
• pharmacy
• psychology
• physiotherapy
• podiatry
• speech pathology
• speech therapy
• social work.

The service must be one of the listed services and cannot just be similar to one of these services.

Recognised health professionals

A recognised health professional is a person who is registered, permitted, or approved under state or territory law to provide the listed health service.

If there is no relevant state or territory law, a recognised professional is a member of a professional association that:

• relates to the listed health service
• has the same registration requirements nationally.

For audiology or audiometry, the service must be provided by an accredited service provider under section 4 of the Hearing Services Administration Act 1997.

In this section

• Membership of a professional association
• Uniform national registration requirements
• Recognised professional in more than one service
• Services provided by an assistant
• Massage therapy

Membership of a professional association

A professional association normally has the following characteristics:

• its members practice in the association's listed profession
• it sets its own admission requirements, including acceptable qualifications
• it sets standards of practice and ethical conduct
• it aims to maintain the standing of the profession and often prescribes requirements for maintaining its members' professional skills and knowledge through continuing professional development
• it has sufficient membership to be considered representative, but not necessarily solely representative, of the listed profession
• it is a non-profit body
• it has articles of association, by-laws or codes of conduct for its members
• it can impose sanctions on members who break the association's rules.

To be a recognised member of a professional association, you:

• normally need to meet specified admission criteria
• have access to a professional library – for example, journals, newsletters or technical updates
• are able to take part in decision-making that affects your profession – for example to promote, encourage and develop the profession
• have the right to vote at the association's meetings.
  

Uniform national registration requirements

Uniform national registration requirements mean your professional association operates nationally and the association's registration requirements are the same in all states and territories.

Professional associations set the requirements and make sure that only suitably qualified people gain professional practitioner status.

Recognised professional in more than one service

Health practitioners who are recognised professionals in more than one service listed in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) may supply a combination of services. Their health services will be GST-free to the extent that the services are GST-free listed health services.

For example, in relation to Goods supplied as part of a GST-free health service, herbs supplied during a consultation by either a recognised professional herbal medicine practitioner or naturopath are GST-free if they are completely used or consumed during a consultation that is GST-free. If the goods are only partially used or consumed during the consultation at the premises, only the used portion is GST-free.

However, when a recognised professional in both acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbal medicine supplies a patient with a herbal preparation, the preparation is GST-free if it is supplied at the premises where the GST-free treatment was provided. It is not necessary for the patient to consume the entire herbal medicine preparation during the consultation.

Services provided by an assistant

If part of the health service is performed by an assistant to the recognised health professional, it is included as part of the recognised health professional's service if all the following apply:

• it is billed in the name of the recognised health professional, and they accept full responsibility for the health service
• it is part of the health service that the recognised health professional provides
• the recognised health professional has been involved in at least part of that health service
• the recognised health professional supervises the assistant directly by    
  • attending to the patient at the start of each treatment
  • being readily available for the whole time the assistant works with the patient
  • being available to take appropriate action if there is an emergency
  • planning all the treatment the assistant provides
  • being able to provide evidence that they monitor the assistant's services.

Massage therapy

If you supply massage therapy alone, it is not GST-free because it is not listed as a health service in the GST Act.

However, you can supply massage therapy GST-free if:

• you supply it as part of a listed health service, for example, physiotherapy
• you are a recognised professional in the listed health service and also trained in massage therapy
• the listed health service profession considers the massage to be a standard technique or component of treatment for that listed health service
• the listed health service profession accepts it as being necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient of the supply.