As we have seen recently with the NDIS and aged care sectors, this perception is not only inaccurate but dangerous. 

Physiotherapy is not a cost to be trimmed; it is an investment in independence, quality of life and long-term sustainability.

Across the country, we are witnessing a troubling trend. 

Physiotherapy is being devalued and cut from critical care plans. 

In the NDIS, aged care and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, physiotherapy is being diminished in favour of short-term savings. 

This is not reform. 

These cuts to funding come at a long-term cost—to individuals, to families and to the health system as a whole. 

Instead of stripping physiotherapy funding, we should be seeing it tripled.

Physiotherapy empowers people to move, to live independently and to participate more fully in their communities. 

For our most vulnerable populations, such as people with disability, it can mean the difference between needing 24-hour care and living with autonomy. 

For older Australians, it can prevent falls, hospitalisations and premature entry into residential aged care. 

For veterans, it can maintain function and dignity. 

When physiotherapy is reduced in care plans, our patients risk avoidable harm, distress and escalating costs that shift the burden from one part of the system to another.

This is not just a clinical issue; it’s also an economic one. 

Every dollar spent on physiotherapy has the potential to prevent many more in downstream costs. 

Keeping people mobile keeps them out of hospital. 

Supporting and funding independence reduces the need for high-cost care. 

Early intervention prevents chronic conditions from becoming lifelong burdens. 

In other words, physiotherapy is a smart investment.

Ensuring that our members’ views are central to our advocacy, at the time of writing the APA was mounting a ‘line in the sand’ campaign and mobilisation to advocate for the value of physiotherapy within the NDIS. 

To reverse the cuts and fix the seven-year price freeze. 

The message of the campaign is clear: we need to be bolder. 

We need to push for a bigger seat at the table so we can hold government accountable for building an aged care and disability system that genuinely places the person at the centre, supported by robust, objective assessment processes that make physiotherapy easier to access.

As the peak professional body for physiotherapy, the APA has a responsibility and a large role to play in the promotion of the profession through advocacy but what we have seen is that this is also a responsibility we share as individuals, at every stage of our careers. 

Students and early-career physios can share real-world impact stories, get involved in APA campaigns and advocate on behalf of their patients. 

Mid-career and Titled professionals can lead in teams, contribute to research, engage with MPs and mentor others to see advocacy as core to clinical practice. 

Specialists, senior physios and practice owners can work to shape policy, influence service models and drive innovation through networks, partnerships and leadership roles.

There is no doubt that the health, disability, veteran and aged care systems all require significant reform to remain sustainable. 

We need a model that favours independence over high-cost dependence, recognises physiotherapy as a vital cog in the wheel, protects our most vulnerable populations and sees physiotherapy as the investment it is. 

Reform requires continued advocacy and that is a role we all must play.