The Physiotherapy Board of Australia plays a central role in protecting the public by setting standards, codes and guidelines for practice and by responding to notifications and conduct concerns. 

The 2026–27 federal Budget presented an opportunity to strengthen primary care, reduce hospital demand and deliver clear economic and social value – priorities that sit at the heart of the APA’s ongoing advocacy work.

For many Australians, accessing a publicly funded physiotherapist requires waiting until they enter hospital.

The APA has long argued that this system disadvantages not only patients, but also the economy.

For many patients with minor spinal fractures, recovery is less about intervention and more about time. 

When sports physiotherapist Daniel Patterson APAM worked in pro sport as a young physiotherapist, the multidisciplinary team that surrounded him included medical staff who were always on hand to write prescriptions and referrals for imaging or for specialist care when needed. 

When Pippa Flanagan MACP reflects on the moment she first became aware of physiotherapy, she laughs at the simplicity of it. 

As a teenager watching Home and Away, Pippa saw a character receiving hydrotherapy after a spinal injury and immediately wanted to know ‘what that job was’. 

The APA’s next generation white paper—Physiotherapy. Shaping our future together—was launched at APASC25. It explores how we can better support early-career physiotherapists to transition from education to the workforce. In a special plenary session, two panels of physiotherapists discussed the challenges and opportunities for the next generation of physiotherapists. 

Plasticise was developed by physiotherapists Sarah Turner APAM and Kumbelin Levin APAM and allows physiotherapists to film their patient doing an exact exercise, while providing verbal cues, so the patient can watch it back and follow along at home. 

Launched at APASC25, the APA’s Physiotherapy. Shaping our future together: next generation white paper addresses a critical gap—the need for a structured graduate pathway to support early-career physiotherapists as they enter the profession. 

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned in my time as president is that advocacy is never achieved alone. 

Every meeting in Canberra, every policy submission occurs because we build alliances—with politicians, with community groups, with researchers, with consumers and, most importantly, with each other as physiotherapists. 

This year the APA has been challenged with significant threats to practice viability. 

For senior physiotherapist Natalie Davis APAM, no two days are ever the same.