The federal government is currently investigating the regulation of complementary medicines and University of Queensland researchers have submitted a report outlining the benefits of regulation to Australia, including potential substantial economic benefits to the agricultural sector.

Naturopath and University of Queensland School of Population Health researcher, Jon Wardle, says the development of a regulated Australian complementary medicines industry will not only be beneficial for patients, but farmers and rural areas as well.

"One of the major problems with natural medicines is that like any natural product the quality can be extremely variable," Mr Wardle said.

"Most of the product used by manufacturers is cheaper, often ineffective imported raw product of dubious quality from India and China.

"If we could source these products from trustworthy and reliable sources under an adequate regulatory regime – similar to that seen with poppies in Tasmania – Australia could be at the forefront of developing an effective natural medicines industry."

Parallels of potential economic benefit could also be seen with the current production of poppies in Tasmania for restricted medicinal drug manufacture, which have an estimated annual farm gate value of $65 million to Tasmanian farmers and an estimated total value to the Tasmanian economy of $200 million annually.

Herbal medicine manufacturer Mediherb, based in the regional centre of Warwick, on Queensland's Darling Downs, estimates that about 50pc of all raw herbal therapeutic product can be suitably grown locally in Australia.

Mr Wardle believes that if an adequate regulatory regime is enacted, Australian raw material would not only be in great demand domestically, but also extremely attractive to Asian, European and American markets.

"These markets are far larger than Australia – over $50 billion per year in the United States alone," Mr Wardle said.

"It would be fantastic to see high quality Australian product getting a foothold in these markets."