Governance, accreditation, and AMAPP's regulatory submissions.

AMAPP response to AusDoc article: "Doctors slam TGA's looser psychedelic therapy rules as unjustifiable risk to patient safety"

The Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP) acknowledges the importance of robust discussion regarding the implementation of psychedelic-assisted therapies in Australia. Patient safety must remain at the centre of all healthcare decisions.

However, we are concerned that the framing of this debate as a choice between safety and access risks oversimplifying a far more nuanced issue.

The recent TGA decision, alongside AMAPP's credentialing framework and the submission to expand access, reflects emerging trends from around the world as well as what is already occurring in Australian clinical trials and regulated treatment settings. These developments recognise the important role of multidisciplinary care while maintaining strong standards of governance, training, supervision, and patient safety.

As Chair of AMAPP, Dr Lani Roy recently stated:

Australia faces significant mental health workforce shortages, particularly in rural, regional, and remote communities. Limiting participation solely on the basis of professional title may unintentionally restrict access to approved treatments for people living with severe and treatment-resistant conditions.

AMAPP supports a competency-based approach that prioritises demonstrated training, supervision, ethical practice, clinical governance, and ongoing professional development. Safe psychedelic-assisted therapy requires much more than prescribing medicine. It requires comprehensive assessment, preparation, psychological support, integration, cultural responsiveness, and ongoing care.

These competencies are often delivered by multidisciplinary teams that include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists, and other appropriately trained professionals.

We believe the discussion should not be framed as safety versus access.

The real challenge is how Australia can maintain rigorous standards while also supporting person-centred care, respecting patient choice, addressing inequities in rural and remote communities, and ensuring that approved treatments are available to those who may benefit.

Patient safety, scientific rigour, human rights, equitable access, and multidisciplinary collaboration are not competing priorities. They are all essential components of a mature and responsible healthcare system.

AMAPP also calls for responsibility in media reporting on complex and evolving areas of healthcare. When reporting on nuanced topics such as psychedelic-assisted therapies, it is important that public discussion reflects the full scope of available evidence, regulatory safeguards, and the diversity of expert perspectives involved.

AMAPP remains committed to working collaboratively with regulators, professional colleges, researchers, clinicians, and people with lived experience to ensure psychedelic-assisted therapies continue to develop within strong ethical, clinical, and evidence-based frameworks.

Dr Alana (Lani) Roy
Chair, Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP)
Psychologist and Social Worker