Associate Professor Ivan Lin FACP, a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2021) and a long-time member of the APA’s Musculoskeletal national group, first moved to Geraldton, a town 400 kilometres north of Perth, as a graduate physiotherapist in the early 1990s. 

‘I came up here on student placement and loved it and was fortunate enough to come back as a new grad, purely because I liked the sort of things I could do here in Geraldton, like surfing, windsurfing and diving, as well as the longstanding friends I made.’ 

Ivan worked for a while and travelled but always found himself back in Geraldton, drawn by the lifestyle. 

In 2000, he moved down to Perth to complete a master’s degree in manipulative therapy under Professor Peter O’Sullivan and Robert Elvey. 

‘That was pretty transformational in terms of my interests and attitude to academia and research. 

‘I found the course super useful and practical.’ 

On his return to Geraldton, Ivan started travelling to remote communities inland to work. 

‘A couple of times a month, I’d do a two- or three-day trip out to these small towns. 

‘One town I drove to and the others I would fly to in a little plane. 

‘I’d just finished my master’s and I was clued up on all of the latest and greatest but the whole framework for healthcare out there was completely different. 

‘That opened my eyes to Aboriginal healthcare.’ 

Ivan Lin is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist based in Geraldton.

After more travel, Ivan was offered an academic role in the University of Western Australia’s newly formed Western Australia Centre for Rural Health in Geraldton. 

But he missed the clinical work and started working in the outpatient department at the local hospital part-time. 

‘I did an audit of our service and found that it wasn’t meeting the needs of Aboriginal people. 

‘I went to our local Aboriginal Medical Service and said, “Look, we’ve done this audit. What do you reckon?” and they said, “If you’re serious about accessing Aboriginal patients, you should come and do a clinic here”.’ 

It was the beginning of a new phase in Ivan’s career, ultimately resulting in him working for the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service while also continuing in an academic role. 

That led to a PhD (awarded in 2013) into low back pain among Aboriginal people in the region under the mentorship of Peter O’Sullivan, Aboriginal health researcher Professor Juli Coffin, Professor Leon Straker and others and an ongoing research focus on improving musculoskeletal health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Along with Aboriginal researchers Professor Dawn Bessarab and the late Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith, Ivan co-developed ‘clinical yarning’, a patient-centred communication framework in alignment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural preferences that is now widely taught to allied health and other practitioners and students in Australia. 

Ivan is part of a collaborative team of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal physiotherapists and researchers including Dr Brooke Conley, Samantha Bunzli, Jane Linton, Jon Bullen and many others across Australia working to improve musculoskeletal healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

The team was a finalist in the 2025 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes and was recently awarded almost $800,000 by the Medical Research Future Fund to co-design and evaluate culturally safe strategies to improve pain care. 

Ivan was also a joint recipient of Allied Health Researcher of the Year at the 2025 WA Excellence in Allied Health Awards. 

Ivan continues to work at the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service, which aligns very much with his values of equity and fairness. 

Many of his clients would be unlikely to see a physiotherapist if it wasn’t for the service the organisation provides, he notes. 

‘I’m lucky in that I go to the clinic one to two days a week; I learn from and work with inspiring people on research to improve musculoskeletal health, Aboriginal healthcare and physiotherapy care; I get to work with great PhD students; and I’ve been supported by fantastic mentors and colleagues. 

‘I’m very grateful to live and work here and for the opportunities I’ve had.’