President’s AGM Report 2018/19

President's AGM Report 2019

Advocacy

Health Fund rebates withdrawn

The single biggest challenge for the PAA, our members and the industry this year has been the Health Fund Rule coming into effect on 1 April, 2019. Specifically, for the PAA the direct impact was a decline in membership and the reflection of this in our revenue.

We have directed significant energy to address the implementation of the Rule and the subsequent announcement of a new Review. We need to represent the industry as a united front to lobby government and the health fund industry.

 

Timeline of events:

December 2018: The circular 69/18 was released by Health Department allowing physiotherapists and other allied health professionals to continue to claim Pilates informed exercises under their current arrangements.

February 2019: Mary and Sharan met with Health Minister’s senior adviser, Sam Devlin, to put our case and discuss the implementation of the changes on 1 April. We were well received and our case was heard, 1 hr instead of 15 mins.  However, it was clear that with the election looming there was no option for a reversal of policy or plan.

March 2019: The PAA collaborated with the APMA to provide information and joint letters to Health Minister, Members of Parliament and Health funds and started a petition to the Minister.

We received support from Kerryn Phelps when she was a Member of Parliament- a  strong advocate for natural therapies, yoga and Pilates. I also contributed to an interview with ABC news for their program ‘Rebate Cuts ‘ about the HF changes and the impact on public.

1 April 2019:  The Health Fund Rule came into force and just days later the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt announced a new $2 mill review would be conducted and the Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy would lead the review. We are now beginning to see the Review take shape and updates can be found on our website.

 

The PAA Strategic Plan

The PAA strategic plan features ‘6 Pillars’, each of which focus on an area important to the the PAA. This year we have worked with the Associations Forum to develop the flexibility that a strategic plan needs to remain relevant and useful.

It is beneficial to review PAA projects inline with the Strategic Plan to better understand their impact on our objectives.

6 key pillars.

1. Set and regulate professional standards
2. Communication and promotion of Pilates Method and its professional members
3. Support learning and research
4. Encourage and maintain membership through service
5. Maintain and increase membership of the PAA
6. Practice best governance and management

 

1.Set and regulate professional standards

Education

The Education sub committee have been very busy, they provided industry and stakeholder consultation for 3 courses reaccreditations. There have been an increasing number of PDP applications for assessment during 2018/19 as well as hosting the annual Industry and Education Forum.

The annual Industry and Education Forum was held in Sept 2018, attended by Education Body members. Topics discussed were professional development, employment and membership levels, education standards, advocacy.

2. Communication- promotion of Pilates Method and its professional members

We were recently contacted to set up a Radio National/ABC interview by Amanda Smith on Sporty about the different types of Pilates classes available and the benefits. The ABC producers came to us to seek background information and we were able to set up an onsite recording of a class and interview with PAA Principal Trainer member Katrina Edwards and an interview with PAA committee member Susan Cottrell. The story was recently broadcast and shared on PAA socials.

These are good opportunities to reach the public and explain what Pilates is. Having the PAA recognised as the authority to refer to helps raise the bar across the board and brings recognition for members. The PAA are seeking more opportunities like this. Please send any leads our way, we are happy to provide background information or comment on any Pilates related topic. We will direct to local PAA members where appropriate or where specialised expertise is required.

Membership with a professional association is recognised as the gold standard for professionals who hold industry standard qualifications, maintain professional development and abide by a code of ethics.

3.Support learning and research

Conference 2019

Being a conference year, the main activity for the year has been the planning and preparation for this event just held at the ICC. I am really heartened by the genuine eagerness to meet with colleagues and share your passion for the Pilates Method with like-minded people. This is part of what enriches us as teachers and as a community.

As you will appreciate, planning starts as soon as the previous one wraps up.  We listened to your feedback when organising this conference: to create a conference that reflected more diversity, local presenters, and most importantly the welcome mat class.

The conference has been the perfect platform to showcase showing an amazing cross section of knowledge, skill set and experience of our PAA members with the majority of National presenters being selected from our membership.

Future Conference plans

The Strategic Plan documents the goal to have an annual conference by 2020. However, there are already 3 major events on the Pilates calendar for 2020, one of which is international, so this objective will be revisited by the committee. Again, feedback from delegates of the 2019 conference will be a major influence on the planning of the next event.

4.Encourage and maintain membership through service

Member services

Our April committee meeting was a planning workshop which in part focused on breaking down the needs of our members and looking at services and support we can provide. We will follow this through in a survey to members.

We want to recognise and promote members level of expertise and encourage members to upgrade to the next level.

5.Maintain and increase membership of the PAA

Expanding membership categories

The expansion of membership levels to better reflect the scope of the profession have been the focus of committee discussions across 2019. The process of drafting of new membership levels to recognise employment areas and allow more membership accessibility throughout the industry is underway. The aim being to include comprehensive teachers and those with international certifications who are well educated but currently do not fit into our structure. This is also a way of encouraging those without comprehensive education to further their training by providing a pathway to Diploma qualification within the PAA membership. 

Free student membership – there was a very positive response from members in support of offering students free membership and this will be implemented immediately. This initiative will give the PAA a better opportunity to support students during their training journey and foster their interest and participation in the PAA as their professional body as they move through their career. The student program and communication strategy is in development and we welcome your insights and input.

6.Best practice governance

We have continued our Associations Forum membership in 2019 and have used their expertise to upskill the Committee on board governance and meeting procedures.

This membership assists the PAA in further developing our association, guidelines on strategic planning, assistance with HR and marketing, access to conferences, summits and survey participation, as well as one on one review with one of their experts.

The Associations Forum Conference provided 2 days of diverse information gathering on membership development and conversion, strategic planning, marketing, social media and collaborative works. 3 representatives from PAA attended the conference. This is a key part of the development of the committee as a whole and supporting staff and has proven very productive.

 

Recognising the exceptional work of the committee

Thank you to outgoing secretary Mary McArthur – Mary has served on the committee for 9 years and secretary for 4 years and we would all like to thank her for all her contributions. Vice President, Chris Lavelle, gave heartfelt thanks from all the committee for the significant contribution Mary has made and presented her with life membership for her services on the committee.

Also like to thank Jo Bezzina who stepped down from the committee at the beginning of this year due to her growing business commitments. Jo was a key part of the social media and communications team and supported our early conference promotion last year.

 

Questions / general business

Natural Therapies Review update**

The Dept of Health sought nominations and comments on the Terms of Reference form stakeholders and the members of the NTREAP panel were announced early September 2019. Dr Penelope Latey is one of 11 on the panel, along with a number of other natural therapy representatives, some consumer groups and health fund representatives.  Penny has been involved in academic research since 2006.

The first meeting of the NTREAP panel was held on Wednesday 11 Sept in Canberra to discuss the process of this review. The new review of research on Pilates along with the other natural therapies included in the first tranche will be undertaken in the next two months. A meeting is planned with Penny to discuss the process and I will pass on any further information as it becomes available.

The PAA have already started the process of gathering and collating recent research in readiness for submitting to the panel. Research working group- Nathalia Costa, Robyn Rix, offers of help from several PAA members (Lisa Peresan, Natalie Murray, Tracey Nicholson)

** Further updates (post AGM) are available on the Natural Therapies Review page)

 

Sub Committee members

We need people that area both passionate about the Pilates profession, but that also have other skills (maybe from a former career). So, if there is something that you are particularly interested in, or have a skillset that you believe would be useful to the committee, please talk to us about how you can be part of the team!

 

Industry and Education Forum

The recent Industry and Education Forum was held on the 23rd August 2019, attended by the Education Body members. Topics discussed were professional development, employment and membership levels, education standards, advocacy and the future evolution of the PAA conference. For the first time we hosted the forum online with participants attending via Zoom. The feedback on this format from participants was very positive as it allowed great discussion and involvement with no travel – a win win for everyone.