Physios knock it out for Indigenous health

But opportunities to translate this learning into practice can be thin on the ground – which is why this year, 13 students took their skills to the community by volunteering at the 2022 Koori Knockout.

The Knockout is an annual Indigenous rugby league event that brings together more than 150 teams across NSW. 2022 marked the second time that UTS Physiotherapy students had attended the event – the first trip, back in 2019, resulted from a friendly phone call from UTS Indigenous Health lecturer Danielle Manton, who contacted the competition to see if UTS students could volunteer.

Back then, students paid for their own travel and accommodation and purchased their own supplies, spending three days putting their skills to work on players and members of the public. The impact on their learning was undeniable – and so was the positive reaction from Knockout players and spectators. 

“The response from the community was overwhelming. The players wanted the UTS students to do their strapping and massage for the game, even high-profile, million-dollar players,” says Manton, who is also an Indigenous Student Liaison Officer within the Faculty of Health.

“Also, community members would come past and say, ‘Oh, I’ve got a sore leg’ or ‘What do you think of this bush medicine?’ so it was a real, reciprocal thing where the students were learning about community and celebration of community in a positive environment.” 

Talking the talk on physiotherapy 

This inaugural experience impacted students and the community, so Knockout organisers invited the UTS students to return the following year. This time, Manton applied for a UTS Social Impact Grant to fund the trip – but COVID-19 had other ideas.

After two years of postponements, the students finally travelled to Nowra on the NSW South Coast to attend the 2022 competition, which took place over the October long weekend. Once again, they provided essential strapping and massage services for players and the public and spent time chatting with people about their work.

As a result, Koori Knockout participants and spectators who engaged with the UTS students could access free, high-quality physiotherapy services and learn more about how physio could enhance their health and well-being. 

By having the conversations with the community, and they’re just informal conversations – ask your doctor about that, tell them that this is what hurts and get them to refer to you to a physio – the students gave the community the words to seek out future support.

Working with and for the community 

For students, the opportunity exposed them to the realities of working with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities and challenged them to transform their theoretical Indigenous healthcare knowledge into practical, people-centred action.  

“It was a great opportunity to use our skills in a high-level sports environment, but the importance and meaning of the Knockout for the Indigenous community was the ultimate highlight,” says student Jack Dickinson. 

And, because the students had been invited by the Knockout organisers, they also gained an understanding of what it meant to engage on the community’s terms. 

They were there to provide the service to the community as the community decided. That’s a strong element for student development. We talk a lot about Indigenous health and working with Indigenous people, but it doesn’t mean much [to students] until they get the opportunity to do that. Once they have this experience, they’re better practitioners.

The Social Impact Grant covered accommodation costs for Manton and the students. It also enabled the students to purchase all their own physio supplies, such as strapping tape, without requesting additional financial or in-kind support. 

Volunteering at the event has also raised the profile of the UTS Physiotherapy program within the NSW sporting community – Manton says she now receives frequent phone calls from other sporting competitions asking if the physio students can attend. They’ve also been invited back to the Koori Knockout for 2023.