Practicing Nutritionist means an individual with: 

(1a) An AARPN recognised Australian undergraduate degree or postgraduate degree qualification in Nutrition, or an AARPN recognised comparable international qualification, as per ‘The Australian Qualifications Framework’; or

(1b) An undergraduate degree in science or health science with a major stream in nutrition accompanied by concurrent registration as an Associate Nutritionist or higher with the Nutrition Society of Australia; or

(1c) for practitioners operating overseas, a comparable international qualification, as per The Australian Qualifications Framework, which affords them registration with a national nutrition scientific body such as New Zealand Nutrition Society, and Chinese Nutrition Society;

 in conjunction with

(2a) holding formal clinical practicum certification in Nutrition Practice or its AARPN deemed equivalent as part of their degree qualification, which affords them prescribing rights for dietary supplements (minimum 300 hours); or

(2b) successful completion of an AARPN recognised Professional Year in Nutrition Practice; or

(2c) for Australian based practitioners only, provision of evidence of equivalent hours in clinical practice with concurrent holding of a ‘Schedule 1 Therapeutic Goods Administration Exemption Certificate’ and professional insurances for the practice of Nutrition for the duration of the 300 hours, combined with successful completion of a case-based interview with the AARPN Certification Assessment and Advisory Committee or their designated representatives.

And

(2d) maintaining 20 points of AARPN approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) per year at 1 point per engaged hour of content.

 A ‘Practicing Nutritionist’ engages professionally with the Nutrition profession and does not operate or refer to themselves in a manner that violates the ‘Nutrition Practice’ scope of practice (as defined by AARPN’s definition of ‘Nutrition Practice’ and ‘Dietary Services’), or act in a way that would potentially violate the AARPN code of conduct and/or code of ethics. ‘Practicing Nutritionists’ may, however, act/refer to themselves concurrently as Dietitians, if they are appropriately qualified and registered with the appropriate Dietitian regulatory body. A ‘Practicing Nutritionist’ primarily operates in private practice or the government and business sector. A ‘Practicing Nutritionist’ (with concurrent Accredited Practicing Dietitian status) is precluded from engaging the term ‘Practicing Nutritionist’ when employed as a Dietitian.

Supportive Definitions 

Nutrition Practice is the evidence-informed provision of Dietary Services through the use of Personalised/Precision Nutrition interventions based on clinical insight, derived from case-history, dietary recalls, functional and pathology testing, genetic testing [such as, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) tests, whole exome and genome sequencing]), and from this insight, a Practicing Nutritionist may utilise: 

(1) the prescription of orally administered, food-based-dietary-supplements and Therapeutic Goods Authority of Australia (TGA) approved dietary supplements that are administered in an evidence-informed manner, based on the critical evaluation of existing scientific nutrition and/or dietary data, in conjunction with clinical expertise; 

(2) the provision of scientific evidence-informed dietary advice on dietary modification; and 

(3) the provision of scientific evidence-informed advice on levels of physical activity (which support nutritional related outcomes); 

all of which are implemented either independently or collectively in a personalised manner, or as a part of a wider public health activity or initiative in partnership with general and allied health practitioners, in the best interest of the client and/or community. Nutrition Practice does not include the use of liquid herbs. 

Personalised/Precision Nutrition means the targeted provision of Dietary Services through the application of Nutrition Practice by Practicing Nutritionists, for the purposes of optimising health including but not limited to supporting disease prevention, disease management, health remediation and recovery, and improving human performance, based on genetic, phenotypic, medical, nutritional, and other relevant information about individuals or groups of individuals, or populations. 

Dietary services include scientific evidence-informed dietary advice on intake of food in substances and in liquids, and the scientific evidence-informed prescription of orally administered dietary supplements to the diet of an individual or group of individuals, or population, as well as the provision of scientific evidence-informed advice on levels of physical activity (which support nutritional related outcomes), for the purposes of optimising health including but not limited to supporting disease prevention, supporting disease management, health remediation and recovery, and improving human performance. 

Dietary advice is the provision of evidence-informed guidance and recommendations on dietary intake of food in substances and in liquids to an individual or group of individuals, or population, and can include the provision of scientific evidence-informed advice on levels of physical activity (which support nutritional related outcomes) to an individual or group of individuals, or population, for the purposes of optimising health including but not limited to supporting disease prevention, supporting disease management, health remediation and recovery, and improving human performance. 

Copyright: These definitions are the intellectual property of The Australasian Association and Register of Practicing Nutritionists LTD. Any utilisation of these definitions must be referenced appropriately. Please contact admin@aarpn.com for more information.