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(08) 6110 0570admin@pdchealthhub.com.auFatty liver disease means fat has built up in your liver cells, and Australian guidance now calls it MAFLD. Diet, activity and weight change are the core treatment, and we do that work with your GP.
Fatty liver disease means fat has built up in liver cells, where a healthy liver holds very little.1 Australian guidance calls it metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease, or MAFLD, naming the metabolic problem behind it.1,3 Metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, is used for the same idea internationally, and the older name was non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.1,2 When inflammation and liver injury are present, the term is metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis, previously called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.2 About one in three Australian adults is affected.1
The links are metabolic. Carrying extra weight, particularly around the abdomen, type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance, and raised cholesterol or triglycerides are the common drivers, and drinking too much alcohol is the other main cause.1 Polycystic ovary syndrome, an underactive thyroid and some medicines are less common causes.1 Australian guidance asks GPs to assess adults with obesity, type 2 diabetes, or two or more metabolic risk factors, to check for other causes of liver fat, and to work out fibrosis risk before deciding on referral.3
What changes the course is diet, activity and weight. Australian guidance puts lifestyle change at the centre, with a structured exercise program where possible and sustained weight loss as the target.2 Medicines add to that rather than replace it: the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave semaglutide 2.4 mg provisional approval in 2026 for steatohepatitis without cirrhosis.2 Whether any medicine suits you is your GP's decision. Alcohol is assessed in everyone with fatty liver, the limit for healthy adults is no more than ten standard drinks a week and no more than four on any one day, and people with cirrhosis are advised not to drink at all.3
PHOTO NEEDED · Add a Hero Image to this condition in the CMS: a PDC clinician with a client, natural light, no identifiable health information on screen
Symptoms are a guide, not a diagnosis. Your GP confirms the diagnosis; our team helps you manage it day to day.
The teams and services that most often support people with this condition. They work from one shared plan, and one GP referral reaches all of them.
This page follows Australian guidance: the primary care statement on metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease by Adams and colleagues in the Medical Journal of Australia, the Australian Diabetes Society living guideline for people with diabetes, and healthdirect Australia's fatty liver information.
The older name, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, defined the condition by what it was not. The newer names, MASLD and MAFLD, name the metabolic dysfunction that drives it, and they can include people whose liver is also affected by alcohol. Australian guidance currently uses both newer terms, so you may see either on your results.
Lifestyle change can improve it, and your doctor is the person to tell you where your liver sits. Diet, activity and sustained weight loss are the core treatment and the foundation of everything else. Medicines aimed at the liver itself are now emerging, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave semaglutide 2.4 mg provisional approval in 2026 for steatohepatitis without cirrhosis, but whether any medicine suits you is a decision for your GP or specialist. Weight regain works against it, which is why we focus on changes you can hold.
Alcohol intake is assessed in everyone with fatty liver, and even moderate drinking may add to fibrosis risk when metabolic dysfunction is present. Australian limits for healthy adults are no more than ten standard drinks a week and no more than four on any one day. People with cirrhosis are advised not to drink at all, and your GP will tell you what applies to you.
Australian guidance says adults with type 2 diabetes should be assessed for fatty liver and for fibrosis risk. Your GP orders the tests, works out your fibrosis score and decides whether you need a liver specialist. Ask them at your next diabetes review.
No. You can book a dietitian, exercise physiologist, diabetes educator or pharmacist appointment with us directly. Your GP can tell you whether any Medicare funded allied health visits apply to you, which does need a referral from them. We write back to your GP so your liver results and your care stay joined up.
Tell us what is going on and we will point you to the right discipline, or to more than one. Most people start with a single appointment and leave with a plan the rest of the team can see.
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