The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) has released its recent submission to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, calling for reforms to Medicare which remedy the Scheme’s failure to provide equitable access to physiotherapy in rural, regional and remote communities. 

The APA’s submission, which comes as part of the Committee’s examination into Rural, Regional and Remote Medicare Access and Funding, provides a suite of recommendations which, among other things, seek to prevent avoidable hospitalisation, unnecessary imaging and medication use and avoidable strain on the Australian health system. 

‘Many communities in rural, regional and remote Australia remain without access to the quality healthcare, including physiotherapy, that they need,’ said APA National President Dr Rik Dawson.  

‘Rural, regional and remote Australians seeking physiotherapy often face long waits, long travel distances, limited local services and additional costs, yet recent reform attempts failed to deliver any improvement to care access.’ 

‘Without physiotherapy access, the over seven million Australians living in these areas miss out on early interventions which reduce hospitalisations, restore function, protect independence and improve overall quality of life,’ said Dr Dawson. ‘If not remedied, the likely result is greater pharmacological dependence and increased long-term costs for both the individual and the broader Australian healthcare system.’ 

‘Our recommended reforms, as outlined in this submission, provide a pathway towards policy, funding and workforce alignment to ensure increased access to healthcare, including preventive care like physiotherapy, for our rural, regional and remote Australians, while simultaneously decreasing strain on the healthcare system.’ 

‘In the coming months, we look forward to seeing the Committee’s findings, and we hope they take the opportunity to progress changes which can improve the lives of millions of Australians.’ 

The submission’s recommendations include, but are not limited to:  

• Expanding publicly funded First Contact Physiotherapy FCP to enable patients to access physiotherapists directly in primary care and urgent care clinics for faster, more affordable and effective treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. 
• Empowering direct referrals by physiotherapists to specialists and request diagnostic imaging, streamlining patient care and reducing delays in treatment pathways. 
• Strengthening multidisciplinary care by embedding physiotherapists in multidisciplinary models to ensure integrated, patient-centred care. 
• Prioritising non-surgical pathways and early intervention by expanding physiotherapy-led management and blended model addressing high burden conditions; and  
• Improving community access to physiotherapy by investing in physiotherapy strategies that reduce the reliance on high-cost interventions and prolonged use of medications. 

Read the APA’s full submission to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee’s  examination into Rural, Regional and Remote Medicare Access and Funding, here. 

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