Australian Physiotherapy Association

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (formerly the Australasian Massage Association) was founded by Teepoo Hall in 1905. The APA has published the Journal of Physiotherapy since 1954.^[1]

Australian Physiotherapy Association

Abbreviation	APA
Formation	December 1905; 118 years ago (1905-12)
Founder	Teepoo Hall
Headquarters	1175 Toorak Road, Camberwell, Victoria Australia
President	Scott Willis
Website	australian.physio
Formerly called	Australasian Massage Association

History

In February 1905, the prominent physician Frederick Teepoo Hall called a meeting of scholars to call attention to the need for an organization which protected the profession of massage.^[2] By December 1905, the idea had considerable traction and Teepoo Hall convened a special meeting to form the Australasian Massage Association (AMA) with the purpose of establishing massage as a professional field.^[3] Sir Thomas Anderson Stuart was the association's first president.^[4]

The first paid secretary, Evelyn Paget Evans, of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association also became the General secretary of this Association (which was then called the Australian Massage Association) in 1917. Evans served as the secretary until 1956.^[5]

Activities

The first formal field of study for physiotherapy was developed by the AMA, and was approved by Federal Council in May 1906.^[6] During World War I and World War II, physical therapy and massage as a field became in much higher demand, and the term physiotherapy became more well known.^[7]

At the Second National Physiotherapy Congress in 1939, a decision was made to rename the organization as the Australian Physiotherapy Association.^[8] The APA began publishing Australian Journal of Physiotherapy (which was later renamed the Journal of Physiotherapy) in 1954. In August 1962 Queen Elizabeth II granted royal patronage to the APA.^[9]

References

1. "Journal of Physiotherapy". Archived from the original on 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-01 – via www.journals.elsevier.com.
2. "AN ASSOCIATION OF MASSEURS". South Australian Register. 30 December 1905. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
3. Fioritti, Nathan (2016-09-08). "Recognising a founder of physiotherapy education in Australia, Frederick Teepoo Hall". Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
4. Evans, E. P. (1955-01-01). "THE HISTORY OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH OF THE AUSTRALIAN PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATION: formerly the Australasian Massage Association". Australian Journal of Physiotherapy. 1 (2): 76–78. doi:10.1016/S0004-9514(14)60817-5. ISSN 0004-9514.
5. Godden, Judith; Radi, Heather, "Evelyn Paget Evans (1881–1960)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 2023-10-02, retrieved 2023-09-27
6. McMeeken, Joan M. (2017). Science in our hands : physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne, 1895-2010. ISBN 978-0-7340-5393-0. OCLC 1058404249.
7. Chipchase, Lucy S (2006). "Looking back at 100 years of physiotherapy education in Australia". Australian Journal of Physiotherapy. 52 (1): 3–7. doi:10.1016/S0004-9514(06)70055-1. PMID 16515416.
8. Bentley, Philip Geoffrey; Dunstan, David (2006). The Path to Professionalism: Physiotherapy in Australia to the 1980s. pp. 83–86. ISBN 978-1-875107-12-4.
9. Bentley, Philip Geoffrey; Dunstan, David (2006). The Path to Professionalism: Physiotherapy in Australia to the 1980s. pp. 155–156. ISBN 978-1-875107-12-4.

External links

• Official Website
• Therapy Solutions
• PRN Physical Therapy