Movement has become harder
Walking, stairs, transfers or a familiar task now take more effort.
Clinics GRP / Service hub
Physiotherapy
Move with more confidence
Assessment-led physiotherapy for mobility, strength, balance, pain, recovery and day-to-day function, with care that can move between settings as needs change.
Clinic · Home · Community · Supported care · Brisbane
Find your starting point
Explore physiotherapy care
When to start
Start with the change, not just the diagnosis
A change in an everyday task often explains why someone is asking for help. Assessment establishes whether physiotherapy is an appropriate response.
Pain is changing daily life
Pain or stiffness is limiting an activity, routine or participation.
Strength or endurance has reduced
Usual activities feel harder to start, sustain or complete.
Function has changed after illness or surgery
A change in health has altered what the person can do or how they do it.
Recovery is not going as expected
Progress has stalled, or the current approach needs another look.
Maintaining an ability matters
The aim may be to preserve a meaningful activity, not to reach a standardised milestone.
These examples are starting points for a conversation, not a symptom checklist or a promise that physiotherapy will be suitable.
Clinical assessment
What is behind the change?
A useful assessment connects the person, the concern and the activity that has become difficult.
A diagnosis can guide care, but it does not show how someone manages their own stairs, chair, walk or routine. The physiotherapist considers relevant physical findings alongside health context, environment and what matters to the person.
Some findings call for another clinician’s input. The assessment should make that uncertainty clear.
The change and its context
What has happened, relevant health history, symptoms and any uncertainty that needs another clinical view.
The task that matters
What the person needs or wants to do, and where that task happens.
Movement and physical capacity
Mobility, strength, endurance and other findings that are relevant to the concern.
The environment and support
Equipment, surroundings and the help available when these affect everyday function.
Progress may mean getting out of a chair with less effort, walking to an important activity, managing stairs or maintaining an ability that matters. The useful measure depends on the person’s goal.
Ageing in Full in practice
Make progress meaningful to the person
Ageing in Full keeps clinical care connected to the life someone wants to live. A useful physiotherapy goal may be recovery, keeping a valued ability, doing a task with less effort, or finding another way to take part.
Needing assistance does not make a goal less worthwhile. We ask what matters to the person, agree what care is trying to change, and review whether the approach is helping. When it is not, the plan should change with them.
How care works
Assessment, care and review stay connected
Care is reviewed against the concern that brought the person in. The next step can change as findings, goals and circumstances change.
Assess
Understand the concern, function, relevant history and what the person wants care to help with.
Understand
Identify likely contributors, clinical priorities and what remains uncertain.
Agree a plan
Choose an appropriate starting point together, including treatment, practice, adaptation or further assessment.
Treat and practise
Provide care that fits the findings, setting and person's goals.
Reassess
Review what is changing and whether care is helping with the outcome that matters.
Adapt
Continue, change approach, involve another clinician, step down or conclude care as appropriate.
Review can prompt reassessment
Assessment and reasoning
The first appointment brings the concern, health history, relevant movement and function, and the person’s priorities together. Findings shape the care choice.
Treatment and practice
Care may involve movement practice, therapeutic exercise, education, adaptation or manual therapy where appropriate. Its purpose and value should be explained and reviewed.
Choose a starting point
Physiotherapy and connected care
These routes address related but different questions. Intake or assessment can help when the right starting point is unclear.
Physiotherapy
General assessment and treatment for pain, movement, strength and functional concerns.
Understand our approachHome Physiotherapy
Assessment and rehabilitation where daily life happens, when home is the useful setting.
Explore home physiotherapyRehabilitation
Broader or continuing recovery, reconditioning and return to meaningful activity.
Explore rehabilitationPost-Hospital Rehabilitation
A focused physiotherapy-led episode for physical capacity lost around a hospital stay.
Explore post-hospital rehabilitationTherapeutic Exercise
Clinician-guided exercise when a structured programme fits the assessment and goals.
Explore therapeutic exercisePost-Hospital Rehabilitation also sits within the Post-Hospital Recovery pathway. The pathway helps distinguish focused rehabilitation from nursing-led transition care after discharge.
Related care and programmes
Some changes need a more specialised starting point
Clinics GRP can connect related care when assessment indicates a reason to do so. One person does not automatically need every discipline.
Balance & Falls
Falls, near-falls, unsteadiness or reduced balance confidence may need the Balance & Falls programme.
Explore Balance & FallsNursing
Changing clinical needs, wounds, medicines or monitoring may call for nursing assessment.
Explore nursingVestibular care
Dizziness or vertigo may call for a focused vestibular starting point within Balance & Falls.
Explore vestibular careWhere care happens
One discipline, care across settings
Physiotherapy can move between settings as function, mobility, transport, confidence and support needs change.
inClinic
Assessment and treatment at a Clinics GRP clinic, with access to the clinic environment and equipment.
Explore inClinicinHome
Physiotherapy in the person’s usual environment when travel or everyday function makes home the useful setting.
Explore home physiotherapyinCommunity
Care in a community setting where participation and everyday movement can be supported.
Explore inCommunityinCare
Physiotherapy coordinated in a supported-care setting when that is where the person lives or receives care.
Explore inCareThe right setting is individual. Care may stay in one setting or move between settings as needs change.
Digital support
Information, coordination, booking, referral and between-appointment guidance can support care across these physical settings.
Evidence and clinical standards
Evidence informing our approach
Clinics GRP's assessment-led, goal-based approach is consistent with rehabilitation guidance that focuses on function, independence, meaningful goals and review. Evidence for individual techniques varies by condition, so manual therapy and exercise should be described as options selected after assessment rather than universal treatments.
Clinical sources
References used on this page
- World Health Organization (2019). Rehabilitation in health systems: guide for action
- Sherrington C, Fairhall N, Wallbank G, et al. (2020). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community: an abridged Cochrane systematic review
- World Health Organization (2023). WHO guideline for non-surgical management of chronic primary low back pain in adults in primary and community care settings
How to read this evidence
Evidence guides care but does not establish that a service is suitable for every person or guarantee an outcome. Assessment, goals, health conditions, functional capacity, consent and identified risks shape individual care.
Reviewed by: Clinics GRP Clinical Review Team, Clinical review and governance
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
For providers and referrers
Clear communication through the care episode
A central referral can identify the concern and care context. Assessment, reporting and communication follow the agreed care and consent arrangements.
Clinical notes
Clinical notes from our team are shared with the provider within 48 hours of each visit.
Progress review
A progress report is shared with the provider within 48 hours of completing the treatment cycle.
Discharge
A discharge report is shared with the provider within 48 hours of discharge.
Escalation
With consent, we communicate escalation or de-escalation, the reason for the change and agreed next steps clearly with the provider. Urgent concerns are communicated promptly without waiting for a routine report.
Funding and access
Plan for the appointment
Funding and rebates depend on the service, eligibility, referral or plan requirements and provider arrangements. Intake can confirm the applicable pathway and appointment setting.
Funding and accessConnected care
Focused services and related programmes
Physiotherapy may contribute to a Rehabilitation plan. Explore related care and programmes according to your assessed needs and goals.
Home Physiotherapy
Assessment and treatment in the person's usual environment
Rehabilitation
Broader or continuing functional recovery
Post-Hospital Rehabilitation
Focused rebuilding of physical capacity after hospital
Therapeutic Exercise
Individual clinical care with exercise at its centre
Healthy Ageing
Longer-term function, confidence and participation
Evidence and clinical standards
Evidence informing our approach
Clinics GRP's assessment-led, goal-based approach is consistent with rehabilitation guidance that focuses on function, independence, meaningful goals and review. Evidence for individual techniques varies by condition, so manual therapy and exercise should be described as options selected after assessment rather than universal treatments.
Clinical sources
References used on this page
- World Health Organization (2019). Rehabilitation in health systems: guide for action
- Sherrington C, Fairhall N, Wallbank G, et al. (2020). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community: an abridged Cochrane systematic review
- World Health Organization (2023). WHO guideline for non-surgical management of chronic primary low back pain in adults in primary and community care settings
How to read this evidence
Evidence guides care but does not establish that a service is suitable for every person or guarantee an outcome. Assessment, goals, health conditions, functional capacity, consent and identified risks shape individual care.
Reviewed by: Clinics GRP Clinical Review Team, Clinical review and governance
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about physiotherapy
What does an initial physiotherapy appointment involve?
A physiotherapist discusses what has changed, relevant health history and the activities that matter, then assesses movement and function as appropriate. Findings guide the first plan and any further assessment needed.
Do I need a referral for physiotherapy?
A referral is not always needed for private physiotherapy. Some funding or care pathways have their own referral and eligibility requirements. Intake can confirm what applies before booking.
Can physiotherapy be provided at home?
Yes. Home visits are available where home-based care is the better fit clinically and geographically.
What is the difference between physiotherapy and rehabilitation?
Physiotherapy is a clinical discipline that assesses and treats movement and functional concerns. Rehabilitation is a broader, goal-directed process that may include physiotherapy and other support, according to the person's needs.
Can physiotherapy help after a hospital stay?
It may help when movement or physical capacity has changed after hospital. Post-Hospital Rehabilitation is a focused physiotherapy-led route; Post-Hospital Recovery helps identify when nursing-led transition care is also needed.
When should I consider Balance & Falls instead?
If falls, near-falls, unsteadiness or reduced balance confidence are the main concern, the Balance & Falls Hub is a more focused starting point. Intake can help if the distinction is unclear.
What happens if care is not helping as expected?
The physiotherapist should review the findings, the person's response and the goal. The plan may continue, change, involve another clinician, step down or conclude as appropriate.
What funding may be available?
Access may be possible through private payment or an eligible funded pathway. Requirements differ by service, plan and provider arrangement, so intake confirms the applicable route before care begins.
