2025 Federal Election: Putting patients at the centre of care

2025 Federal Election: Putting patients at the centre of care

This federal election, we have a clear vision: driving reform to prioritise musculoskeletal health through equitable and early access to physiotherapy.

Physiotherapy is critical to addressing today’s healthcare challenges—preventing chronic disease, reducing unnecessary surgeries, and ensuring timely, effective care for all Australians.

Together, we can advocate for a healthcare system that prioritises patients, delivering better care and improving outcomes for millions of Australians.

Your role: Be a voice for better healthcare

The APA’s 2025 Federal Election campaign centres on our Election Statement, Physiotherapy: Putting patients at the centre of care.

As an APA member, you can:

• Use our resources to engage with candidates and policymakers.
• Highlight the value of physiotherapy in your practice, community and networks.
• Ensure you stay up to date, read the latest media release.

We encourage you to make full use of our advocacy toolkit designed to help you champion our priorities and push for real policy change. 

Priorities for reform 

The APA’s 2025 Election Statement, Physiotherapy: Putting patients at the centre of care, outlines key pathways to achieve better outcomes for all Australians by addressing the challenges in our healthcare system: 

Connect and integrate care: 

Expand publicly funded First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP): Enable patients to access physiotherapists directly in primary care and urgent care clinics for faster, more affordable and effective treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. 

Empower direct referrals: Allow physiotherapists to refer patients directly to specialists and request diagnostic imaging, streamlining patient care and reducing delays in treatment pathways. 

Strengthen multidisciplinary care: Support team-based healthcare by embedding physiotherapists in multidisciplinary models to ensure integrated, patient-centred care. 

Reduce the need for surgeries: 

Prioritise non-surgical pathways: Expand physiotherapy-led management for chronic musculoskeletal conditions like osteoarthritis and back pain to reduce unnecessary surgeries and improve patient outcomes. 

Enhance chronic pain management: Invest in physiotherapy strategies that reduce the reliance on high-cost interventions and prolonged use of medications, including opioids. 

Early intervention for prevention: 

Improve community access to physiotherapy: Fund physiotherapy-led prevention programs for falls, birth trauma and chronic disease management to keep Australians healthy and out of hospital. 

Support respiratory and neurological care: Expand access to physiotherapy services for conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and stroke recovery to enable early intervention and long-term management. 

Bringing fairness to healthcare: 

Address inequities in access: Ensure that priority populations—including First Nations peoples, rural Australians, and older Australians—have equitable access to high-quality physiotherapy services. 

Support for veterans and people with disabilities: Reform funding models to provide fair remuneration for physiotherapy under the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and strengthen services available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). 

Workforce reform to futureproof healthcare: 

Invest in workforce sustainability: Address physiotherapy workforce shortages and maldistribution by funding clinical placements, incentivising rural practice, and supporting advanced skill development. 

Optimise scope of practice: Remove barriers to ensure physiotherapists can work to their full potential, improving patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency. 

Leverage digital health solutions: Integrate physiotherapists into national digital infrastructure to enhance care coordination and data collection.