• Ebrall P

• Chiropractic / Australia
• Chiropractic / history
• Education / history
• Education, Chiropractic / Australia

Abstract: This paper weaves a pragmatic narrative around the historical events that forged the professional identity of chiropractic in Australasia. In particular I examine four statutory elements from 1945 to 1960, a position of a political party in 1963, and then five formal government inquiries. I also report the rebuttals by both the mainstream chiropractic association and the second-stream chiropractic association in Australia to one particular report. I conclude that prior to 1960 a clear identity of chiropractic was ‘palpation and adjustment of the spine to remove (possible) nerve interference or pressure’ using X-rays as a diagnostic aid. I regard 1960 as the inflexion point from which the Palmer identity of ‘identifying and correcting subluxed vertebrae’ lost its purity, to be regained by The Inglis Report in 1979 from which the Palmer identity returned and chiropractic became its own legislated profession with the broad concept of spinal manipulation for the purpose of neural modulation of physiological factors to benefit health, today’s well-being. The evidence also shows that the characteristics of chiropractic’s professional identity played a role in the emergence of chiropractic education, those characteristics being discipline singularity and the standards with which formal institutions of chiropractic education complied in order for their graduates to achieve registration or licensure.

Author keywords: Chiropractic - History - Australia - Government inquiries - Identity - Education. 

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