According to the Dietitian’s Association of Australia, a nutritionist is a tertiary qualified nutrition professional that has the expertise to provide a range of evidence-based nutrition services related to nutrition, public health nutrition, policy and research, and community health. There is no industry specific assessing authority that assesses the qualifications of nutritionists who are not dietitians.

Dietitians are also qualified to provide this range of evidence-based nutrition services, but in addition, dietitians have the expertise to provide individual dietary counselling, medical nutrition therapy, group dietary therapy and food service management. A dietitian has undertaken a course of study that included substantial theory and supervised and assessed professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management.

Dietitians provide the science of nutrition to the education of people in health and disease. They are qualified to provide a range of evidence-based nutrition services, such as individual dietary counselling, medical nutrition therapy, group dietary therapy and food service management.

Making the right dietary choices can help you achieve better health and prevent or treat illness. Dietitians work closely with our clients to help them optimise their recovery following hospitalisation. Our dietitians provide support for:

• Diabetes management
• Osteoporosis
• Weight management
• Pre and post-surgical care

In Australia, a referral is not required to be able to see an allied health professional such as a dietitian, although it is often helpful for you to bring as much information about your health history as well as any specific medical or surgical details that relate to your reason for seeing a dietician. There are a few exceptions to this, where you will need to obtain a referral from your GP prior to attending our clinic. This includes:

• Workers Compensation Claims
• CTP (Third Party) Road Accident Claims
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Claims
• Medicare Claims (e.g. Chronic Disease Management referral)