In the feature article for May InMotion, Strategy and Policy Specialist Bronwyn Darmanin of the APA Policy and Government Relations team unpacked the APA’s 2025 federal election statement.

This month, I turn to the broader policy and advocacy agenda and the Policy and Advocacy Strategic Blueprint 2023–26, which guides the work of the Policy and Government Relations team.

Following the launch of our federal election strategy and campaign, we have fielded many questions from members about our broader policy priorities.

This has been encouraging and provides me with the perfect opportunity to share more about the Policy and Advocacy Strategic Blueprint 2023–26.

I touched on the blueprint briefly in my first advocacy article in December last year.

Developed by the Policy and Government Relations team and endorsed by the Board of Directors in December 2022, the blueprint guides our work plan and is reviewed annually to reflect shifts in policy priorities and emerging opportunities.

Physiotherapy is an essential pillar of our health system and the APA’s vision is that all Australians will have access to quality physiotherapy, when and where required, to optimise their health and wellbeing.

The blueprint was designed to map out the reform requirements needed to expand the role of physiotherapy across the healthcare system.

At its heart is a goal to identify system-wide opportunities that improve care outcomes, elevate value and secure physiotherapy’s place in shaping future health reform.

The blueprint is structured around five strategic pillars and 18 goals.

Access remains the central theme, reflecting our aim to embed physiotherapy more firmly into healthcare reform.

Our strategy is to strengthen the profession’s role, demonstrate its value and ensure equitable access to physiotherapy services for all Australians.

Pillar 1 of the blueprint is access—promote and improve access to physiotherapy services for all Australians.

Pillar 2 is scope—protect and advance the scope and position of the physiotherapy profession, while pillar 3 is funding—improve and diversify funding; protect the economic independence of physiotherapists.

Pillar 4 is workforce—support workforce sustainability and innovation and pillar 5 is research— elevate our external standing through impactful research via the Physiotherapy Research Foundation.

Beneath each goal is a detailed set of deliverables that home in on specific activities and outputs, providing a scaffold for the team to deliver against our policy and advocacy priorities.

The effectiveness of our policy function depends on our ability to cultivate relationships with policymakers, funders and other stakeholders.

This involves targeted government relations, building strategic alliances and positioning our value in a way that resonates with both decisionmakers and our broad membership base.

Bronwyn and I co-lead this essential work, with the support of a small but highly skilled team.

We keep the blueprint focused and strategic, ensuring that we prioritise reform efforts that will deliver meaningful outcomes.

We must ensure that our policy focus and decisions are not reactive but guided by overarching goals that benefit the profession as a whole.

The blueprint is designed to be agile, with timely, targeted strategy that responds to the demands of a complex policy cycle.

The sequencing of goals aligns with reform cycles, election periods and policy windows to maximise our impact.

For example, advancing our care priorities through protracted reform processes required significant resourcing in the past year, which affected other longer-term initiatives.

Much of our value-building work—such as long-form content, political engagement and strategic partnerships—happens behind the scenes but is foundational to our progress.

We are now well into the third year of the blueprint’s four-year term and a strategic reset of our priorities aims to balance this workload and ensure continued momentum across all pillars.

The 2025 third-year reset aligns with the federal election environment and renews our focus on emerging policy issues.

Key third-year priorities are as follows.

For pillar 1, it’s to strengthen government relations and federal election campaign delivery.

For pillar 2, it’s to launch a hospital physiotherapy campaign.

The top priority for pillar 3 is to reframe and strengthen our value proposition in the private health insurance space, while in pillar 4, it’s to advance our work in digital health and support next-generation initiatives.

Pillar 5’s top priority is to conduct a strategic review to shape the future of physiotherapy research.

Major projects underway include the 2025 workforce census, development of the next-generation white paper and continued work on the funded first contact physiotherapy partnership project with the National Health and Medical Research Council, pending partner discussions.

Slight shifts in focus year on year reflect both member input and policy realities.

New areas of emphasis are clearly articulated and aligned with the APA’s strategic planning processes.

Ultimately, the third-year blueprint reset is not just about refining our policy approach; it’s about reinvigorating our commitment to positioning physiotherapy as a central player in Australia’s future healthcare system.

With continued focus, discipline and collaboration, we remain on course to achieve transformative reform outcomes for physiotherapy.