2019/20 annual summary

Download the 2019/20 data tables

Explore Ahpra and the National Boards’ 2019/20 annual report

Snapshot of the profession

37,113 physiotherapists
- Up 9.8% from 2018/19
- 4.6% of all registered health practitioners
0.7% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
65.6% female; 34.4% male

Age

Age: 5.4% < 25, 40.7% 25-34, 24.5% 35-44, 14.6% 45-54, 10.7% 55-64, 3.5% 65-74, 0.5% > 75

Audit outcomes

Audit: 50.0% fully compliant, 0.0% compliant (through education), 0.0% non-compliant, 50.0% no audit action required

Regulating the profession

Notifications

125 notifications lodged with Ahpra
- 176 registered physiotherapists Australia-wide, including HPCA and OHO data, had notifications made about them
- 0.5% of the profession

Sources of notifications

Sources of notifications: 58.4% patient, relative or member of the public, 13.6% other practitioner, 11.2% HCE, 5.6% employer, 3.2% Board’s own motion, 8.0% other

11 immediate actions taken
14 mandatory notifications received
- 8 were about professional standards

Most common types of complaint

Most common types of complaint: 36.8% clinical care, 14.4% boundary violation, 8.0% documentation, 5.6% offence against other law, 5.6% communication, 29.6% other

Notifications closed

Notifications closed: 101 notifications closed (8.9% conditions imposed on registration or an undertaking accepted, 10.9% received a caution or reprimand, 2.0% registration suspended or cancelled, 13.9% referred to another body or retained by a health complaints entity, 64.4% no further action)

Monitoring

45 practitioners monitored for health, performance and/or conduct during the year
56 cases being monitored at 30 June:
- 12 for conduct
- 2 for health reasons
- 4 for performance
- 5 for prohibited practitioner/student
- 33 for suitability/eligibility for registration

Criminal offence complaints

35 criminal offence complaints made
- 23 about title protection
- 12 about advertising breaches
33 were closed

Referrals to an adjudication body

4 matters decided by a tribunal
No matters decided by a panel

1 appeal

A report from the Chair

Issues this year

The work of the Physiotherapy Board of Australia built on its initiatives from last year and was informed by an extensive program of stakeholder engagement.

Regulatory response to COVID-19

The Board has been meeting online each month since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March. We have been responding to the needs of the profession, healthcare services and the public by modifying our regulatory approach to support the profession through the pandemic and contribute to the national response.

Since March, the Board has made a series of pragmatic decisions to temporarily modify regulatory requirements. These changes include taking a more flexible approach to CPD requirements. With other Boards, we adopted National principles for clinical education through the COVID-19 pandemic to support students to continue their studies and graduate.

The Board encouraged registered physiotherapists to continue to do CPD in 2020. However, the Board will not take action at renewal this year about practitioners who cannot meet the CPD standard as a result of the pandemic.

Pandemic response sub-register

Another significant development is the inclusion of physiotherapy among a small number of priority health professions on the pandemic sub-register. On 20 April, over 2,000 physiotherapists who have held registration in the past three years were added to the sub-register and those with capacity to help were encouraged to return to practice. This is particularly important for intensive care patients requiring COVID-related physiotherapy, as well as for others in healthcare facilities (including aged care) and the community who need physiotherapy for injuries, rehabilitation or chronic conditions.

Telehealth

Telehealth has emerged as an important change to patient care during COVID-19 with many practitioners offering telephone or online consultations to support their patients. The overall uptake and feedback have been positive for both patients and practitioners, with many third-party funders agreeing to include physiotherapy via telehealth as a subsidised service. This sets up the ability to provide greater access to physiotherapy during the pandemic and beyond.

Stakeholder engagement

As part of its strategic objectives, the Board strengthened its relationships with its key stakeholders, including the Australian Physiotherapy Association and its appointed accreditation authority, the Australian Physiotherapy Council, as well as the Council of Physiotherapy Deans of Australia and New Zealand (CPDANZ). These partnerships were particularly valuable during the COVID-19 preparedness response as we worked together to consider the workforce, public safety and clinical education implications.

Each year the Board organises local presentations with different states and jurisdictions to interact and engage with practitioners. A successful stakeholder engagement event was held in Brisbane. Unfortunately, a planned event in partnership with NSW Physiotherapy Council had to be deferred due to the pandemic. We are considering greater use of virtual platforms for future stakeholder events and webinars.

Policy updates

Physiotherapy is participating in and has contributed to several multi-professional policy reviews, which include a revised supervised practice framework, code of conduct, mandatory reporting guidelines, telehealth guidance and the agreed definition of cultural safety.

Strategic projects

Prescribing initiative

The Board is doing work in the area of prescribing to form a view on whether it will progress with an endorsement for prescribing for physiotherapists. We commissioned a literature review and exploration report on the success of physiotherapy prescribing in other jurisdictions and the implications for the Australian context. The Board will develop a better understanding of prescribing as work continues.

Limited registration initiative

The Board committed in its regulatory plan for 2019/20 to improving its understanding of the characteristics of physiotherapy registrants holding limited registration for supervised practice (LRSP). The Board has a particular interest in those working in aged care settings given the vulnerability of the patient population.

The project has given us a better understanding of the characteristics, work settings and periods of supervised practice, and has prompted the implementation of recommendations that can strengthen regulatory mechanisms to ensure public protection.

Ms Kim Gibson, Chair