Over the past five years, a quiet storm has been brewing. Behind the scenes of chiropractic and healthcare regulation in Australia, the safety of chiropractic adjustments for babies and children under the age of two has been called into question.
Unless you have a reason to follow closely, you probably haven’t even heard about what’s been going on. Or perhaps you’ve caught wind of snippets here and there as the story has occasionally made headlines. Certainly, we’ve had several calls from concerned parents and caregivers in the last couple of years asking whether we’re allowed to see their small children and babies in our studio.
We’re raising the topic here and now because it seems very likely that this saga will appear on your newsfeed again soon and so we’d like to provide some clarity and reassurance to the families who need it most.
To set the record straight, chiropractors in Australia are and have always been permitted to consult with and take care of children of all ages from babies, infants and toddlers to young children. Any registered chiropractor in this country has received at least a foundational level of training and education in paediatric assessment and care and must demonstrate competence in their board examinations to receive their practicing certificate. Chiropractors study for a minimum of five years at university level and are one of 16 regulated health professions in Australia.
A proportion of chiropractic graduates will go on to complete further post-graduate studies in the field of paediatric care, and many will instead follow other interests such as general practice, sports, functional neurology, posture and human biomechanics, lifestyle medicine and so forth. Naturally, those with a passion and interest for paediatrics will attract and serve the vast majority of children and the chiropractors who focus on other things tend to not attract as many children into their clinic and/or usually refer them out, especially cases that are more complex. Coming back to the aforementioned storm that has been brewing behind the scenes, the Chiropractic Board of Australia – whose role is to regulate the profession in the interests of public safety – has placed a ban on chiropractors using a specific technique or type of adjustment on children under two years old.
Chiropractic Adjustments for Babies: What Techniques Are Used
Chiropractors are not allowed to use “high-velocity low amplitude” (HVLA) adjustments on younger patients and babies. A simple explanation of an HVLA adjustment is when the chiropractor uses their hands to bring a spinal joint into position and then provides a quick, shallow thrust that will usually result in a “popping” sound from the joint being adjusted. If you’ve seen any videos on social media of chiropractors adjusting adults (often with a microphone attached to amplify the sound of the “pop”) then you can probably visualise what an HVLA adjustment is.
What’s really important to understand is that this technique has never been a preferred, promoted or mainstream approach to adjusting children in Australia. It is not taught at a university level here, and nor do any of the post graduate courses in paediatric care promote HVLA adjusting for such young and developing spines – at least not to our knowledge (and we’ve attended a few!).
The small, sensitive, still-developing spine and nervous system of a baby or toddler responds best to lighter, slower techniques. We know this from both a basic understanding of neurodevelopmental anatomy and physiology (which is taught at university) and from decades of clinical practice and experience of chiropractors here and around the western world.
At Being Chiropractic Studio, we use a range of incredibly subtle techniques on smaller children. And we always modify and tailor our approach to each and everybody we lay hands on – whether they’re a baby or grandparent or somewhere in between. Every being is unique, and so no two adjustments are ever the same. We always start with a comprehensive consultation and assessment before recommending any care or referring you to a better option for help. Certainly, all our most reputable colleagues take a similar approach within their own clinics around Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and the UK.
Is Chiropractic Care Safe for Children in Australia?
In March 2019, the Victorian Government commissioned an independent third party to review safety and public risk with respect to chiropractic care for Aussie kids under 12 years old. The review ended up becoming the largest independent assessment of a healthcare practice in Australia to date. Not only did the results demonstrate an overwhelmingly remarkable track record for safety, the review found an exceptionally high level of satisfaction in parents or caregivers who have taken their children to a chiropractor in this country.
Of 21,824 submissions:
- 98% said that chiropractic care helped their child, indicating improvement after treatment
- 95.8% stated they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the information provided about the risk of treatment
- 99.7% reported a positive experience with chiropractic care of their children
- 99.1% indicated they were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with information provided by the chiropractor about the benefits of treatment
We think these findings are wonderful, though unsurprising. Just as we’ve explained above, Australian chiropractors who take care of little kids are careful, considerate and gentle.
We’re here to serve you and your little ones. We have the necessary skills and training to tailor our approach to all walks of life. We’re committed to remaining up to date with the latest research, advancements in knowledge and technique. You can count on it!
References:
Safer Care Victoria 2019, Chiropractic spinal manipulation of children under 12: independent review, Safer Care Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, viewed 11 February 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2526429260
