Our pre-Budget asks were consistent with our advocacy blueprint— we suggested alternate funding models, more efficient consumer pathways, using all health practitioners’ full scope of practice and sensible reform of the healthcare system.

The underlying principle, as always, is equal access to the right care at the right time, in the right place and by the best practitioner for that condition.

I know that we were all left a bit deflated. 

But after debriefing with the team, reading hundreds of pages of Budget reports and listening to experts in the field, I still believe that our suggested health reform measures are right for the country and the consumer. 

Our suggested measures are sustainable, focused on the future and designed with the consumer at the centre, and we know they will need continued advocacy over the medium to longer term. 

This federal Budget will not impede our ongoing advocacy but we will review our plans under the guidance of our new general manager of policy and government relations, reset our engagement framework and work towards what we believe is necessary healthcare reform.

I want to thank our industry partners and leaders, with whom we have formed significant relationships. 

We meet regularly online, via WhatsApp and at a yearly face-to-face meeting to ensure that the professional body is closely connected with larger organisations around the country. 

When I travelled to the USA in April, it was evident that they too value greatly the connection to their own industry leaders and the opportunity to test, pilot and get counsel on emerging issues, concerns or advocacy priorities for the profession.

Common discussion points in our network here include workforce sustainability, new graduate readiness, sustainable funding models, better consumer pathways, compensable opportunities, data collection and cybersecurity. 

I look forward to sitting down with industry leaders again this month to discuss many of these issues, especially workforce sustainability and the results of our workforce census.

In May this year, the APA released its inaugural workforce census report, which took an in-depth look into workforce sustainability, supply and the evolving needs of the profession. 

We currently don’t have a national allied health workforce strategy so it is very hard to see growth and funded supports that would enable integration and working to top of scope. 

The APA identified a gap and wanted to make sure that we have some workforce data for physiotherapy in order to add to our advocacy and policy development.

We aim to leverage the skills of the entire health workforce to bring about meaningful reform, with a focus on the key elements of workforce policy: workforce planning, optimal skill mix, education and training, professional regulation and payment models. 

We will continue to advocate for a significant national allied health workforce strategy to ensure that all allied health professions are sustainable and meet the continuously changing requirements of our population across the country.

Finally, our FOCUS24: the business of physiotherapy conference is fast approaching and it looks set to be one of the best business and leadership conferences to date, with high-quality presentations and workshops and significant opportunities for networking, connecting and learning. 

The conference runs from Thursday 31 October to Saturday 2 November, with early bird registrations closing on 30 August. I look forward to seeing and connecting with you all in Perth. Take care.