This crisis has affected all areas of physio practice. As a practice owner and clinician, I am facing the same very difficult decisions that many of you are facing on a daily basis. Many of you are working in the public sector and are dealing with the real pressure of the front line.

For those of you in the education sector and to our student members, this is a year of unprecedented challenge. You are all doing amazing things.

I’ve been lucky to speak to so many of you recently about this crisis, and I’ve been so proud of the response of our members and our profession as a whole—the level of courage and resilience that you are showing through this is remarkable. And the way that you are supporting each other in such a  positive and active way is so important, and it needs to continue.

Importantly, the way that innovation is occurring and being shared in our profession will shape our future for the better.

We are doing everything we possibly can at the APA to provide you with the highest level of support, guidance and advocacy—and we will continue to do this around the clock.

We are updating our website two to three times a day, giving you access to the most timely and high-quality information.

In our advocacy efforts, we secured rebates for telehealth in private health insurance and Medicare, but I will be the first to admit this isn’t a silver bullet.

We’ve got our foot in the door and we’ll keep working very hard to expand opportunities for you to see your patients Through telehealth as this coronavirus situation continues to unfold.

The federal and state governments continue to announce financial support for businesses and families. I have stayed in contact with the Minister for Health, the Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business, requesting specific financial support for physiotherapy small business so that we can survive.

And our efforts are being recognised in the top tiers of government. I recently received a letter from Australian Governor-General David Hurley, which personally thanks all APA members involved in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and expresses the country’s thanks for your efforts in helping to treat and contain the coronavirus.

We continue to work with the states and territories, and our public sector members to make sure that they have the education and training that they need, and that we can support their workforce.

These are unprecedented times. Everyone is struggling, and everyone is doing their best. At the APA we will continue to support you in the best possible way that we can around the clock.

From our Board of Directors, our National Advisory Council and all of our staff, I just wanted to let you know that we are in this together. And we need to continue to work together, share information, share resources, share our wins, share our failures and, more important than ever before, share our innovations.