Tuesday 22 June 2021, was the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Complementary and Traditional Therapies group, co-sponsored by Senator Sterling Griff and Rebekah Sharkie MP.

In this truly collaborative natural therapies expo at Parliament House, Canberra, ATMS hosted seated massage, herbal tea making, supplement tasting and Quadscan testing.

Massage therapists were provided by Evolve College in Canberra as well as ATMS member Jacqueline Lusk, supplements and tasting samples provided by Metagenics and invaluable strategies on the tea tasting provided by Peninsula Herbal Dispensary.

Over the course of the mini-expo the seated massage was very popular and was significantly pre-booked before the event. The House was busy on the day with frequent ringing of bells for votes so there was quite a bit of turnover with appointments. Word-of-mouth built up and over the afternoon quite a few walk-in’s were also able to be treated. Post massage many people then took advantage of the other offers and enjoyed making up their own individualised tea mix and tasting supplements. The tea tasting involved ten different herbs and President, Peter Berryman, individualised them to specific requirements. For those who really preferred coffee, rather than herbal tea, dandelion root was available as another option.

The expo gave ATMS and colleagues the chance to highlight how natural therapies can assist in managing the public’s health as well as the value for their role in preventative medicine.