We were all looking forward to the return of something we anticipate every year—conference time.

A chance to learn from our national and international peers, to network with colleagues and to discover new products or services that could assist us in our expanding scope of practice.

However, it is not to be in 2021.

It was a very difficult and emotional decision by staff and the Board of Directors, but we had to do the safest thing for our members.

Rest assured, we have postponed the scientific conference to early next year and the business conference in Perth to later in 2022.

I just hope and cross every finger and toe that we can meet in person in 2022 and celebrate a profession that adds so much value to Australia’s healthcare.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the chair of the conference committee, Jo Connaughton, the scientific committee, national group committees, the conference staff and presenters who put in hours and hours of work to make the conference the success that it always is.

I look forward to 2022 and to welcoming and meeting all the delegates and thanking our engaged members, staff and presenters for their tireless work.

Over the pandemic period, we have been overt and consistent in our messaging to governments, public health departments, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Medical Association and media.

We believe that physiotherapists are an essential service to keep people well, reduce escalation of care and visits to emergency departments, keep healthcare professionals in essential service delivery and assist in mental health issues.

It has been a frustrating 18 months, with inconsistent restrictions, lockdowns and slow and poor messaging to the public and to medical peak bodies like the APA.

At times we have seen the message from the government change four times in one hour on a Friday night or a press conference at 11 pm midweek with minimal effective communication.

What the members don’t see is the tireless work, including proactive meetings, phone calls, chief allied health office engagements, ministerial meetings, media releases, radio and TV interviews and social media updates.

Government and public health departments take different avenues in regards to restrictions and appear to make decisions on the run, often releasing them to us some time after.

APA staff and engaged members have worked after hours, through lunchbreaks, on weekends, late at night and early in the morning to bring us up-to-date information so we can make informed decisions on delivery of care.

I am constantly amazed at the work and time that staff and engaged members put into this crazy, ever-changing pandemic.

One state or territory gets out of lockdown or restriction and then, without notice, another state goes into lockdown with completely different restrictions.

I feel so privileged and proud of our APA staff and engaged members, seeing firsthand their workload and output.

I want to publicly thank our communications team, branch managers, branch presidents, branch councils, policy and government relations team and engaged members, who all add value to our service delivery to Australians.

I know that at times we want more and want the information faster, but I can guarantee to every single APA member that we cannot expect any more out of these amazing people.

Stay safe, take care and please follow us on the APA’s social media pages for all our real-time updates.