With the media focus of Tokyo 2020 on Australia’s haul of 46 medals and countless other amazing performances, it is important to reflect on the complete Olympic journey and the vital role support teams played in keeping athletes healthy, focused and motivated throughout their four year plus preparation.

While it is the athlete who delivers in the moment, it is the team effort of doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, dietitians, massage therapists, and physiologists providing the best possible health care that ensures the athletes get to the starting line.

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) Position Statement on Aged Care, launched today, calls on the Federal Government to introduce an additional layer of funding for preventative and rehabilitation care to complement the new residential aged care funding model.

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) welcomes the Government’s Budget measures, including increased investment in Residential Aged Care, allied health Rural Generalist Pathways, access to primary care and mental health. This funding will deliver substantial improvements.

However, systemic reform that supports and expands the role of physiotherapy in multidisciplinary practice is key to achieving better health outcomes for all Australians. 

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) today launched their ‘With Your Physio’ campaign, targeting the more than 11 million Australians who live with one or more chronic health conditions to seek out physiotherapy as part of their journey.

The Federal Budget will be a litmus test of the Australian Government’s commitment to quality aged care and increased access to critical services such as physiotherapy.

The Government must take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the failures of the aged care system by accepting key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

A landmark report released by the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) provides irrefutable evidence of the cost effectiveness and enhanced quality of life delivered by physiotherapy interventions.

The Value of Physiotherapy report launched today by Olympic athlete Jessica Trengove, delivers a comprehensive, independent analysis undertaken by the NOUS Group that demonstrates the economic benefits that physiotherapy provides to patients and the Australian healthcare system.

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) has welcomed the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which identified promoting and maintaining mobility to reduce the risk of life-threatening falls in older people. It has called on the federal government to roll out a comprehensive plan for implementation of its recommendations that has person centred care, not cost centred, as its basis.

New Federal Government funding of physiotherapy and other allied health services to combat the impacts of COVID-19 in older Australians is a step in the right direction toward much-needed long term funding reform, according to the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA).

The APA welcomes the new temporary funding measures announced in response to the Royal Commission’s Inquiry into the Impacts of COVID-19 on Aged Care.

Australia must seize the opportunity to redesign our aged care system so that it is focused wholly on the health, independence and wellbeing of older people. The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) has made the case for evidence-based care clearly in its final submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.