I thought I would use this first issue to provide you with some insight into my career journey to date and early impressions of the terrific work being undertaken at the APA.

Entering my physiotherapy studies, I had big plans. 

As a huge sports fan and Melbourne Demons tragic, I envisaged myself as the physio running out onto the MCG and treating elite athletes. 

Instead, I went on another exciting journey.

The release of the draft outline of the National Allied Health Workforce Strategy in June has thrust the future of allied health professions into the policy limelight.

A recent meeting in Rockhampton, Queensland, has helped the Physiotherapy Board of Australia learn more about the issues faced by physiotherapists working in rural and regional areas of Australia.

Our pre-Budget asks were consistent with our advocacy blueprint— we suggested alternate funding models, more efficient consumer pathways, using all health practitioners’ full scope of practice and sensible reform of the healthcare system.

A study in the United Kingdom has explored the creation of a delegation framework for use with physiotherapy support workers in musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapy services.

Physiotherapy support workers, also known as physiotherapy assistants, rehabilitation assistants, technical instructors or physiotherapy technicians, are non-registered staff who often work alongside physiotherapists, with delegated interventions and responsibilities.

Like many Hollywood stars, dedicated advocates in the field of women’s health may well borrow the oft-quoted phrase ‘It took me 20 years to become an overnight success’. 

APTA have been, and will continue to be, a very close ally and friend to the APA. 

It was an honour to engage with them at a strategic and political level as a guest.

After almost four years as General Manager of Policy and Government Relations, I am moving on to a different challenge.

However, I want to share some reflections about the APA, the physiotherapy profession and future prospects.

An in-depth timeline of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ health and human rights, created by Dr Megan Ross offers a glimpse of the history behind the current experiences of the community.

Within this landscape, physiotherapy plays a crucial role in restoring mobility, functionality and quality of life to individuals grappling with a myriad of conditions.

In the western Asia-Pacific region, where unequal access to healthcare persists, the APA’s assistance has the potential to be transformative.