How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expertise has helped refresh Cultural Safety Training for international physiotherapists preparing to practise in Australia.
The Council’s refreshed Cultural Safety Training course will launch this July, strengthening how international physiotherapists learn how to provide culturally safe healthcare in Australia.
The training plays an important role in helping internationally qualified physiotherapists understand Australia’s broader cultural landscape and history as they prepare to join the Australian physiotherapy profession.
How the refreshed Cultural Safety Training was developed
This latest refresh was shaped through collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and academics, including Danielle Manton, Matthew Hoffman and Sherry-Kaye Savage. Their expertise helped strengthen and reshape the course content, ensuring it remains contemporary, relevant, respectful and appropriate while building on the strong foundation established through earlier contributions to the program.
Special thanks to our colleagues who generously contributed their time, knowledge and expertise to the refresh.
Danielle Manton
Danielle Manton is a Barunggam woman recognised for her expertise in cultural safety, anti-racism and curriculum transformation. She has led culturally safe education and workforce development across health professions and is a long-serving Council accreditation committee member and accreditation panellist. Her work continues to contribute to national cultural safety standards in physiotherapy education.
Matthew Hoffman
Matthew Hoffman is a Woolwonga and Larrakia man from the Northern Territory and a physiotherapist currently working on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He is a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Committee at the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
Sherry-Kaye Savage
Sherry-Kaye Savage is a Bindal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Island woman and physiotherapist. She is a Senior Allied Health Clinician – Children and Families with Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service on Darumbal Country (Rockhampton).
The Council is deeply grateful for the care, commitment and expertise these contributors brought to the refresh during this project. Their combined lived experience, academic knowledge and clinical experience, and work in accreditation and assessment helped shape a course developed with rigour, respect and a strong commitment to culture and excellence.
Through this collaboration, the refreshed cultural safety training is meaningful, practical and valuable for international physiotherapists preparing to practise in Australia.
