Celebrating a shared past, planning a shared future: Physiotherapy in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

The purpose of this historiographical paper is to trace the links between New Zealand and Australia with particular reference to education and the author’s engagement with these processes. From the educational beginnings of physiotherapy programmes in Melbourne (1906) and Dunedin (1913) following the formation of the Australasian Massage Association in 1906, the Association branches in New Zealand and Australia soon went their own way. Physiotherapy and its education programmes were strengthened in the poliomyelitis epidemics and the world wars. By the 1980s these programmes were closely integrated with tertiary colleges as well as the universities. The author was a participant in protracted political action by physiotherapists which resulted in a new programme at the University of Melbourne in 1991 and in the review of the programme in Dunedin in 1994. She facilitated educational ties across the Tasman and the formation of the Council of Physiotherapy Deans Australia and New Zealand. The paper supports the conclusion that many aspects of our shared history and growing relationships have been beneficial to education, accreditation and physiotherapy practice in both countries.