RECONCILIATION Four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander physiotherapy students have been awarded APA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Physiotherapy Scholarships worth $5000. Melissa Trudinger talks to the recipients about their studies and their plans for the future.

RECONCILIATION Canberra-based physiotherapist Jyedn Murray is a participant in this year’s Indigenous Marathon Project, which trains Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders to run a marathon.

RECONCILIATION Physiotherapists Caroline Nicolson and Annemarie Lee discuss the development of the Strong Lungs website, a culturally safe online physiotherapy resource on chronic lung diseases for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory.

The APA’s National Advisory Council (NAC) had a great start to the year with its first face-to-face meeting in Melbourne.

The first culturally appropriate education resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with arthritis have been developed, in a process based on community engagement and a co-design approach. Researcher Brooke Conley talks about the Staying Moving, Staying Strong project.

There is a growing tendency to use co-design to develop programs and projects for healthcare issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other researchers talk about why co-design is important and how to get the most out of it.

Wiradjuri physiotherapist and academic Michael Reynolds was recently awarded the Local Champion Award by Indigenous Allied Health Australia. Here, Michael and Elspeth Froude talk about what the award means and how he is driving cultural awareness in physiotherapy education and beyond.

This Final Word is final in more ways than one. It will be the last I pen as CEO of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, having resigned from my position in late December.

Eliminating racism in healthcare and ensuring cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a critical part of closing the gap and a top priority for the profession.