On a beautiful July evening overlooking the Timor Sea in Darwin and surrounded by her peers, friends and loved ones, Karen Schneider was named an Honoured Member of the APA.

Smiling broadly for the camera at the presentation dinner in 2018, Karen radiated happiness. It is a lasting image that Karen’s nearest and dearest and her peers now hold dear.

During the same year she was being lauded by peers, Karen had made the difficult decision to step back from her clinical work at the private practice, Territory Sportsmedicine (formerly Karen Schneider and Associates), that she and sports physician Geoff Thompson had started in Darwin in 1987.

The practice was officially opened by Dawn Fraser, who both Karen and Geoff had known for many years through the Masters’ Games in Alice Springs, which Karen worked at each alternate year between 1992 and 2006.

She also worked as a physiotherapist at the Arafura Games in the off years, and a highlight of her career was working at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.

In an interview with InMotion to mark her Honoured Membership, Karen said that although she would have liked to have worked  at more Commonwealth Games or at an Olympic Games, her family, running her practice, tending to her clients and the Northern Territory community in general were always her first priorities.

During that interview in 2018, Karen said she had needed to step back from work to focus on her health after the breast cancer, for which she was first diagnosed and treated in 2008, had metastisised. 

Although she had reduced her hours at the clinic, Karen continued her advocacy work in speaking with ministers and government bodies in the Northern Territory, just as she had done since she arrived in the Top End in 1984.

Karen was well known for her passion for the profession and would avail herself to meet with anyone she needed to if it would help advance the profession, immediate past APA President Phil Calvert says.

‘Karen was a tireless advocate for the profession, and led the charge in discussions with government to improve physiotherapy services at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Few professional development events were delivered in the Northern Territory without Karen’s generous guidance and support,’ Phil says.

Karen joined the APA in 1976, soon after graduating from the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences under the mentorship of Pat Cosh, who she credited with helping her stay on track when her father died during her first year of study.

Karen’s first physiotherapy job, which she held from 1975 to 1980, was at the Alfred Hospital in Victoria. The staff members of that time developed into a close-knit physiotherapy team under the leadership of Ruth Grant, who Karen greatly admired and who she also considered to be a mentor.

Karen became very active in the APA when she moved from Melbourne to Darwin in the 1980s—she was a Northern Territory branch councillor for nine years and branch president for two terms.

More recently, she has been involved in the leadership of the APA Business group and she had represented the Northern Territory on the National Advisory Council.

Karen became an APA Sports Physiotherapist in 2002.  By this stage, she was becoming increasingly involved in Sports Medicine Australia, representing physiotherapists at this important table.

In 2006, she provided physiotherapy services to athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Her love of sport had been the backbone of her career. She had a long-term relationship with NT Netball, having travelled extensively with the team, and she was a life member of Darwin Netball.

Karen was held in high esteem by all she knew and loved, and her warm and friendly countenance was only matched by her high level of professionalism, her dedication to the profession and her conspicuous service, leadership, and exceptional contributions to the APA.

She is survived by her three children Murray, Katherine and Anthony. Karen’s late husband Garry passed away from cancer many years ago.

Memories of Karen

‘I have fond memories of meetings in her backyard—a perfect tropical evening discussing who we could invite to run a workshop. A small group of us regularly rotated through positions on Branch Council, and the Private Practitioners Committee and would attend national meetings at St Kilda. Karen was one of this group.’

Vicki Rutter, APA Continence and Women’s Health Physiotherapist

‘I have known Karen since she came to Darwin in the mid-‘80s. Karen’s involvement in the APA is well documented and she has been ceaseless in her promotion of the physiotherapy profession for over 30 years.’

Liz Elphick, APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist

‘Karen has been a cornerstone for physio in Darwin since the beginning.’

Jon Davis, APA  Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist, National Advisory Council representative 2008–2010

‘Karen I think was Branch President when I first arrived in Darwin in 1992. I remember arriving to an early branch council meeting on Karen’s balcony and being awed by the experienced physiotherapists I was surrounded by. Karen was extremely generous and gracious despite my overconfidence and inexperience.’

Tim Hardiman, APA Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, past NT branch president

‘As I have always worked in public hospitals and neurological rehab, Karen was my main “go to” whenever issues in the world of sports, musc and private practice came up at a local and national level and I had to respond on behalf of the NT Branch. She was always willing to work with me to decide on how the issues impacted on the NT and what our input/responses should be.’

Paul Gerken, APA Neurological Physiotherapist, NT branch president 1998–2002