Chiropractic Defense Council fights to overturn Australian ban on spinal manipulation for babies

Six months after the Chiropractic Board of Australia removed its self-imposed ban on spinal manipulation in children age two and under, the outcry from government officials forced the ban’s reinstatement.

In 2019, the chiropractic board, the body that oversees chiropractic care in the country, no longer permitted spinal manipulation in children 24 months or younger. Specifically, under the interim policy, spinal manipulation means moving the joints of the spine beyond a child’s usual physiological range of motion using high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust.

In 2022, the Chiropractic Defense Council (CDC), a OneChiropractic project, started working with other organizations in Australia to allow spinal manipulation in children age two and younger again. This ban was successfully lifted in November 2023. but was reintroduced when ministers called for a review in June.

“We will fight this decision with all our might,” said Bharon Hoag, OneChiropractic’s founder and executive director. “While chiropractors in Australia are still permitted to treat babies, they are banned solely from spinal manipulation. Misinformation circulated in the country about pediatric chiropractic care is what worries us.”

The CDC has won 800-plus legal and policy cases worldwide in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

“The cases we take on are dangerous for the profession,” Hoag continued. “Through the CDC, we have begun to create a culture of collaboration between chiropractors and organizations in the profession. This culture is how chiropractic care will become the number one health choice. But our goal will never be achieved by us alone. It only happens when the profession collaborates to defend against the attacks against us, which are never-ending.

“This is why we need to continue to build a network of 10,000 chiropractors worldwide through OneChiropractic. We encourage you to join the fight and become one in 10,000.”

In addition to the ban in Australia, the CDC is fighting several legal battles today, including vaccine mandates in New Zealand and the fight against Bill 36, which challenges personal freedoms and rights for providers, in British Columbia, Canada.

The CDC consists of attorneys and advocates in each country fighting for the rights of doctors of chiropractic there.

For more information about OneChiropractic and the CDC, visit onechiropractic.org/chiropractic-defense-council.