Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has never issued or approved guidelines for ME/CFS and there are no current Australian clinical practice guidelines for ME/CFS. In August 2024, the Department of Health and Aged Care allocated AUS$1.1 million to NHMRC to develop such clinical practice guidelines with the goal being to improve diagnosis, treatment and care of patients living with ME/CFS.
The process for the development of the first Australian ME/CFS guidelines began with the announcement of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) timeline, committee membership, and project aims. Two committees were formed – one being a Guideline Development Committee to oversee the guideline development process and draft recommendations – with this Committee holding its first meeting on 28th August 2025.
One point of interest was that Members shared initial perspectives on priority areas for inclusion in the Guidelines.
Key themes discussed included:
- early intervention
- the need for consistent and contextually relevant diagnostic criteria
- core symptoms, such as post exertional malaise
- the value of holistic, patient-centred models of care
- the severity spectrum of ME/CFS
- the impact of ME/CFS on young people.
Two of the committee members have links to ME Research UK – Associate Professor Sarah Knight being a former holder of ME Research UK funding and Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik whose team at Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik at the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases, Griffith University is presently undertaking ME Research UK-funded research.
The Committee reconvenes later in October where it will focus on gaining a shared understanding of the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methods approach.
