Visitors are permitted at Austin Health sites with some restrictions. Find out more about our visitor restrictions.
We accept referrals for patients presenting with acute musculoskeletal and/or orthopaedic surgical presentations from medical or allied health staff via:
Note: Austin Health catchment considerations may apply to acceptance of referrals and provision of treatment.
All referrals meeting the clinical service criteria will be considered.
Note: Patients acute neurological signs and symptoms, or a significant increase in pain or deterioration in function, should be directled to an emergency department for urgent medical assessment.
Referrals will only be accepted and registered if they contain all of the following information:
Note: Referrals with insufficient information to facilitate either registration or triage will be returned with a request for additional information which may delay access to services.
Following an initial physiotherapy assessment, the clinician may recommend a course of physiotherapy treatment which will commence in subsequent review sessions.
This will be goal-focused and agreed in collaboration with the patient.
All patient management decisions are based on the best available evidence in the context of the presenting condition.
Depending on the condition and clinical presentation, delivery of physiotherapy services may include:
Our physiotherapy outpatient clinic is limited to providing acute focused, time-limited intervention. Access to long-term, regular physiotherapy treatment is not available.
Transition from physiotherapy outpatient services to community-based services or options at the conclusion of treatment may be either recommended and/or facilitated by physiotherapy staff when clinically indicated.
Referrals not accepted in this clinic include:
Note 1: Patients cannot self-refer to this clinic.
Note 2: Referrals received that do not meet the established clinic service criteria will be declined and returned with acknowledgement. Referrals not accepted by this clinic will not be triaged or on-referred within Austin Health.
For declined referrals several alternative options exist including:
Patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions are eligible for 5 treatments per year with a private physiotherapy provider via the Medicare funded Chronic Disease Management (CDM) program.