What is the purpose of the Board?

The functions of the Physiotherapy Board of Australia include:

• registering physiotherapists and students


• developing standards, codes and guidelines for the physiotherapy profession


• handling notifications, complaints, investigations and disciplinary hearings


• assessing overseas-trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia


• approving accreditation standards and accredited courses of study.

The Board’s functions are supported by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

The Board has recently welcomed three new members.

Rosemary Mathlin—community member, New South Wales

Rosemary is a lawyer with over 35 years’ experience in the community and public sectors.

She holds bachelor’s degrees in arts and law from the University of Sydney.

Her main area of practice is administrative law, where she has worked both as an advocate for individuals seeking review of government decisions and as a tribunal decision-maker.

She currently holds positions both in Australia and overseas in the refugee and asylum jurisdiction.

Alongside her work commitments, she has maintained strong links to the community through involvement in her children’s schools, community sports and volunteering.

Allan Renouf—community member, Queensland

Allan is a proud Gubbi Gubbi man from the Bunya Mountains area.

As a very young person, he spent a few years growing up in Apple Tree Creek, near Childers.

The family then moved to Brisbane, where he married and had four children.

In 1973, he enlisted in the Australian Army.

After discharge, he drove heavy vehicles.

Allan went on to study at university and secured a position with an Indigenous organisation as a counsellor.

He stayed with this organisation for 19 years and was promoted to Programs Manager.

He also spent 10 years working as a welfare worker for a Salvation Army men’s homeless shelter.

Allan sat on the Parole Board Queensland for 10 years and is currently a member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

In his spare time, Allan likes to watch Rugby League, snooker and boxing.

Simon Watt—practitioner member, Tasmania

Simon holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Otago in New Zealand and leads the public physiotherapy service for southern Tasmania.

He worked in public and private practice settings in New Zealand and in the UK before beginning work in the public health service in Tasmania 10 years ago.

In the later stages of his clinical career, he developed a special interest in persistent pain and was the Tasmanian Director of the Australian Pain Society for five years.

He also served as the president of the APA’s Tasmanian Branch Council for two-and-a-half years.

Simon recently completed a Master of Business Administration and is enjoying having more time to enjoy all that Tasmania has to offer with his wife and three young daughters.

Click here to meet all the Board members on the Board’s website.

The work of the Board and its delegates

When the National Scheme commenced in 2010, the Physiotherapy Board of Australia established a National Registration and Notifications Committee (RNC) to support the work of the National Board.

The National Board sets policy and professional standards and the National RNC makes individual notification and registration decisions affecting individual physiotherapists.

The RNC is a particularly important part of the Board’s work in protecting the public and keeping them safe from harm.

The RNC performs the following functions of the National Board:

• making decisions in relation to registration and notification matters


• providing professional and/or practitioner input to Ahpra staff considering physiotherapy registration and notification matters prior to them coming to the RNC


• providing advice to Ahpra staff dealing with health complaints organisations in each state and territory and deciding which organisation should take responsibility for and should manage concerns raised about registered health practitioners.

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