ABOUT SSNT

School Information

Our mission > To contribute to the good health and well-being of the community through the design and delivery of professional-level courses of the highest standard in complementary medicine.

> To produce highly trained, primary-contact health-care practitioners committed to helping people take responsibility for their own health through the creation of a balanced lifestyle, with emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.

> To imbue, within our students, a sophisticated understanding of clinical research methodology using both, accepted scientific methods and new research models particularly suited to complementary medicine.

> To continue to provide complementary medicine educational facilities of the highest quality.

Approaching 50 years in Complementary Health education the school is particularly concerned with training primary contact practitioners who are dedicated to helping people take responsibility for their own health and to include in all health guidance, the promotion of a balanced lifestyle. The holistic approach to health and the environment is, therefore, stressed, with particular emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.

Come along to an Information Session to learn more about the school.

The Southern School of Natural Therapies is situated in a recently renovated three-storey building at nos.21 - 45 Victoria Street in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. We offer Degree courses in Naturopathy, Myotherapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Diplomas in TCM Remedial Massage (An mo tui na) and Remedial Massage, Certificate IV Massage and the Introduction to Naturopathy Certificate. The excellent facilities include The Alf Jacka Library which houses one of Australia's largest collections of natural medicine texts and journals, the student clinics, three large lecture rooms with the latest audiovisual facilities, common areas for students and staff, together with student access to computers, the internet and photocopying services.

To receive further information about the College and our courses, click here.

HISTORY & AIMS OF THE SCHOOL

In 1961 Alfred Jacka formed the Victorian Branch College of the Australian National Naturopathic Association. The school and the Association have undergone a number of name changes in the intervening years to emerge respectively as the Southern School of Natural Therapies (S.S.N.T.), and The Australian Natural Therapists Association (A.N.T.A.).

The school initially offered a single, part-time course in naturopathy, but soon grew to offer full-time professional-level courses in naturopathy and massage. We were the first private provider in Australia to gain degree accreditation for a 4-year, on-campus degree in Naturopathy. Chinese Medicine and Myotherapy became part of the curriculum in 2002 and 2003 respectively, and we were also the first school in Australia to gain degree accreditation for the latter.

In 1981 the school sought and obtained registration with the Australian Securities Commission as a Not for Profit Organisation. The basic goal of the school is the promotion of good health within the community, and this it seeks to achieve by providing students of naturopathy with training of the highest standard. The school's status as a Non-Profit Company ensures that any surplus of funds at the end of the year is directed back into the school in order to further improve the services it provides to its students and the community. Importantly, the school remains the only non-profit school of complementary medicine in Victoria.

SSNT takes the view that naturopathy is a system of health care which should be complementary to conventional western medicine rather than alternative to it, and the school is constantly working towards bridging the gap between the two.

RECOGNITION BY PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND REGULATORY BOARDS

Bachelor of Health Science - Naturopathy

Is recognised by the Australian Natural Therapists’ Association (ANTA) and National Herbalists’ Association of Australia (NHAA).

Bachelor of Health Science – Chinese Medicine

Has provisional approval by the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (CMRBV) and Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA)

Bachelor of Health Science – Myotherapy

Is recognised by the Professional Myotherapists’ Association (PMA)

Australian Natural Therapists’ Association (ANTA) and by

Health Services Union – Professional Branch (HSU-PB)

The School’s Massage Courses