Advocacy

 

Welcome to Advocacy

The APA believes that all Australians deserve equal access to safe, high quality, evidence based care. We are the only organisation in Australia that advocates exclusively for the interests of physiotherapists and physiotherapy patients. We advocate for service efficiency, research-informed treatment modalities and practitioner scope of practice. Our advocacy covers direct lobbying with members of parliament and key stakeholders. We actively participate in education forums and develop strategic discussion papers, position statements and formal submissions, prepared in collaboration with our membership.

Latest in Advocacy

Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce banner

Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce

words

Veterans' Health Campaign 2024

ACT NOW! Help raise the DVA fee for physiotherapy services to make providing care for veterans sustainable.

Federal Parliament logo

Post-Budget 2024

Read the Budget 2024 wrap-ups for each portfolio and watch a video from our National President.

The valuing skills series works to ensure a safer healthcare system.

The APA Valuing Skills Series

A resource space to provide funders and policy-makers with information to understand the clinical depth of the physiotherapy profession. We’re ensuring a safer healthcare system, now and into the future.

Advocacy matters landing page

Advocacy Matters

With the assistance of our members, we advocate across a range of sub-specialties areas to help promote policy efforts for their patients and the physiotherapy profession.

Submission and statements

Submission and statements

Together with APA members, we develop position statements, policy documents and evidence-based solutions to contribute to the reform process. Explore the collection.

 

Advocacy priorities

Learn more about our advocacy priorities.

 

Hands shaking

Equitable access

Our reforms focus on removing barriers and delivering efficient and cost-effective physiotherapy care for the people most in need:

  • First Nations Peoples
  • Rural Health
  • Australians with disability
  • Older people
  • Veterans
  • Mental health

Primary care

Primary care reform

Our advocacy centres on reforms to strengthen the primary care system and improve equity of access to essential care for all Australians through affordable high-value physiotherapy. This includes:

  • National Healthcare Reform
  • Private Health Insurance
  • Patient pathways direct referrals (report by Nous Group)

Care

Acute care

Our advocacy efforts are focused on creating efficiencies in our hospital systems and strengthening care through multidisciplinary care teams:

  • Hospital physiotherapy
  • Connecting Acute and Primary Care

Physical therapy classroom

Future proofing

We aim to leverage the skills of the entire health workforce to bring about meaningful health reform, with a focus on the key elements of workforce policy:

  • Workforce census
  • Workforce planning
  • Next generation
  • Rural workforce
  • Digital health