Travelling to Canberra to meet with ministers, ministerial advisers and departmental secretaries always brings a
feeling of excitement. 

You hope that you can educate, communicate, influence and, most importantly, deliver a consistent message. 

My most recent visit had the added pleasure of accompanying our new CEO Rob LoPresti on his first trip advocating on behalf of the APA and the profession.

We met with a senior policy adviser to Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler, giving us a valuable insight into the current government’s policy direction and appetite for health reform.

It is evident that the Scope of Practice Review report will be an important step in realising significant health reforms for our profession. 

We also met with Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health and Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, to discuss the results of the APA’s recent 2023 Workforce Census. 

The census report showed that many more physiotherapists would move to a rural area to practise physiotherapy if the incentives
of remuneration, relocation expenses, networking and career opportunities were available. 

The assistant minister was a practising pharmacist pre-politics and fully understands the complexities of the rural health system
and most of the barriers that exist, but we delved deeper into our report and the profession. 

We also discussed the potential advantages of a more flexible workforce incentive program to encourage allied health service
delivery. 

For example, access issues could be reduced by contracting physiotherapy services rather than employing physiotherapists within a GP practice, with governance by an external provider like the Primary Health Networks.

We spoke about physiotherapy as an enabler of access to primary healthcare, reducing the requirement for more expensive and riskier low-value operative pathways.

The next meeting was one that we have been requesting for over three years now with Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh. 

It is no secret that the APA and the wider profession have been disheartened and offended that neither political party has taken the current issues with remuneration and access to veteran care seriously.

We were assertive and made it clear that according to our quick poll results, up to three-quarters of physiotherapists will be forced to reduce or stop veteran care in the short term unless we see a payment comparable to other allied health professions. 

This service may be free to the veteran population but it is not free for practices and clinicians to provide it. 

We all feel a civic duty to provide this care to our most vulnerable and those who have served our country, but it’s a question
of viability. 

The minister will take this under advisement and discuss it with his chief of staff and the rest of the department and the proof will be in the next Budget cycle—does this government really appreciate the quality service that physiotherapists are providing to our veteran community? 

The APA will continue to work with the department and the government, ensuring that they fully understand the consequences if we see no action at all.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rik Dawson, newly appointed as president elect. 

Rik will work closely with me over the last four months of my presidency to ensure continuity and a smooth handover. 

Like the APA itself, this position has grown over the past decade and the board will make sure that our ongoing work on health reform is not stalled in any way.

I look forward to seeing many of our members in Perth at the FOCUS24 conference. From the excellent program and speakers to the significant networking opportunities, this conference will be an event not to be missed.

Take care.

Scott Willis APAM

APA National President