Physiotherapists play a major role in sports medicine delivery and research in Australia, a country renowned for its sporting achievements and sporting culture. Sports medicine in this country is a relatively young specialty which has undergone rapid development particularly since the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Educating physiotherapists in sports and exercise begins in undergraduate training where a large proportion of the physiotherapy course focuses on theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the neuromusculoskeletal area. After graduation, further sports physiotherapy experience can be gained through formal postgraduate university qualifications or a variety of professional development activities.

The first formal education programme for students in the area of physiotherapy began in Australia at the University of Melbourne in the early 1900s. Initially, registration to practice physiotherapy in Australia was licensed under the Massage Registration Board and the Massage Act. In the 1970s, under the auspices of the Physiotherapy Registration Board, physiotherapists in Australia were granted primary contact practitioner status. This was a first in the world for physiotherapy. The responsibility associated with primary practitioner status had a profound effect on undergraduate education requiring an emphasis on differential diagnosis by way of clinical reasoning and clinical decision making.