It begins with our earliest memories of feeling safe with our families and travels with us through life—at our educational institutions, in our workplaces and in our social circles.

‘Find your reason to belong’ is our message when we’re attracting new members to our association. 

Because we know that the emotional driver of being part of a tribe is an important reason to join a membership association. 

In addition to the practical benefits such as access to professional development and member discounts on products and services, feeling a connection to a professional community and contributing to a greater good is why members stay.

I see every day the rewards that come from members connecting with each other, more so in our profession than in other associations. 

People choose to become physiotherapists in order to help people and to make a contribution and that sense of community is reflected in the high levels of engagement across our membership.

The silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that we learned how to connect with each other, collaborate and thrive together online. 

Now that we’re in a post-COVID normal, we’ve adjusted back to a good balance of online and face-to-face interaction but we are still online a lot and, importantly, we’re much better at it. 

And so the time is right for the APA to help you flex those online connection muscles and get more out of your membership.

We’re working to deliver an online membership community—a secure space for you to connect with your peers, get information, learn from each other and build relationships. 

We think this will be a game changer for our membership, with numerous benefits including the following.

Connection—physiotherapists are essential to every community and our members live and work all around Australia. 

In an online community, you can find members near and far who share the same interests, face the same challenges and are interested in the same opportunities.

Putting the ‘national’ into national group—most of our members enjoy being part of a national group. 

Soon you’ll have the opportunity to hear directly from your national and state committees and to talk with your fellow group members across Australia.

Communication on your terms—what’s your email inbox like? If it’s anything like mine, you probably struggle to keep up. 

We plan to email you less and post in the community more. 

Rather than wading through emails, you can visit the community when it suits you and never miss an important update.

Participation—you can provide feedback, respond to surveys, ask and answer questions and share your opinion. 

Whether it’s lobbying for policy changes, championing your cause or organising local or online events, this platform will empower you to amplify your voice. 

Alternatively, you can quietly lurk and learn. Not everyone is a social media extrovert. 

In most communities, a significant proportion of members hang around quietly, reading the threads and learning in their own way.

And that’s okay. Our goal is for you to access the information you need and benefit however it suits you.

We’re working on this project now and we’re very excited about it. We hope you are too. 

It’s not quite ready yet but we’ll keep you posted over the course of the year.

When you connect with your fellow members, you’re part of something bigger. 

So whatever it is you’re looking for in an online community, one thing you’re sure to find is that sense of belonging—of being a member of the physiotherapy tribe.

Andrea Johnson 
APA General Manager, Marketing, Communications and Business Development