The Australian Medical Council (AMC) completed its Stage 1 assessment of the case for the recognition of addiction medicine in 2006.

A copy of the assessment report is available for purchase in our online store.

In May 2007, the Minister for Health and Ageing, The Hon Tony Abbott MHR, informed the Australian Medical Council that he considered a case had been made for addiction medicine to be recognised as a medical specialty.

This decision does not automatically lead to the inclusion of this specialty on Schedule 4 of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975, which would grant patients access to rebates through Medicare Australia.

In 2008, the AMC completed the accreditation assessment of addiction medicine. This is Stage 2 of the recognition process. A copy of the executive summary of the accreditation report is available here.

In December 2009, following on the advice received from the Australian Medical Council, the Minister for Health and Ageing, The Hon Nicola Roxon MP, announced that she has decided to recognise addiction medicine as a medical specialty for the purpose of inclusion in the AMC List of Australian Recognised Medical Specialties. The Minister’s decision does not automatically lead to the inclusion of this specialty on Schedule 4 of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975, which would grant patients access to rebates through Medicare Australia.

The process for recognising addiction medicine as a new medical specialty is now complete as this decision constitutes the last step in the recognition process