Complementary medicines
Complementary medicines include complementary medicine ingredients such as vitamin, mineral, herbal material, aromatherapy and homoeopathic preparations. They are non-prescription medicines and are also known as alternative medicines.
Complementary medicines are non-prescription medicines. They are medicines that primarily contain complementary medicine ingredients that have an established identity and tradition of use. Examples of complementary medicine ingredients are:
- vitamins
- minerals
- plant material
- nutritional substances
- essential oils
- microorganisms
- animal material
For the full list of complementary medicine active ingredients see Schedule 14 of the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990.
Complementary medicines can be registered (higher risk), assessed listed (lower risk) or listed (lowest risk) in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).
Most complementary medicines are included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) as listed medicines.
Latest alerts
- Ausganica Soothing Herbs ToothpasteRecall - may contain an ingredient that is a danger to your health.
Latest articles
How to find out what’s in your medicineWant to know what’s in your medicines? The obvious place to start is with the medicine’s label, but there may be more to it.- TGA publishes updated guidelines for sunscreensThe TGA has updated the Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Sunscreens (ARGS) to align with the data requirements for all ingredients proposed to be included in the Therapeutic Goods (Permissible Ingredients) Determination
- Update to listed medicine ingredients in May 2023Listed medicine ingredients and requirements for their use have been updated in the Therapeutic Goods (Permissible Ingredients) Determination (No. 2) 2023.
Latest publications
- Required Advisory Statements for Medicine Labels (RASML)The new Therapeutic Goods (Medicines Advisory Statements) Specification 2021 commences 1 January 2022
- Sampling and testing for listed and complementary medicinesUpdated to be consistent with PE009-13, the PIC/S Guide to GMP
- TGA assessed claim for assessed listed and registered complementary medicinesThe TGA has published guidance material on the TGA efficacy claim