EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGISTS FLEX AND GROW AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ADELAIDE ESSA calls out growing GST anomaly in Allied Health impacting community and sector
With
Katie Lyndon,
Accredited Exercise Physiologist & CEO
Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA)
Jackson Howie,
Activate Conference Speaker & PhD Candidate,
Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, Adelaide University
SEGMENT
Filmed in Adelaide | May 2026
Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) this week in Adelaide convened the Activate Conference billed as “where science meets inspiration”, bringing together the latest research, breakthrough ideas and real-world applications from across exercise and sports science.
As a PhD Candidate and Activate Conference speaker, Jackson Howie spoke to Australian Health Journal to share his experience following Day 2 talking about Accuracy of Pacemaker-Detected Physical Activity: Correlation to Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing.
Australian Health Journal also spoke with Katie Lyndon, Accredited Exercise Physiologist & CEO Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) about some key messages being communicated in the recently launched Axe The Tax campaign.
When GST was introduced in 2000, healthcare was made tax-free. Exercise physiology was left off the list because it was an emerging field.
Under current legislation, exercise physiology is still subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST). That means Australians pay an extra 10% every time they see an exercise physiologist, even though its recognised by Medicare, the DVA, NDIS, and private health insurers.
Lyndon talks about what this means in higher costs for patients managing chronic illness and injury, keeping in place barriers to access for vulnerable communities and being a disincentive to use effective, preventive care for the community.
The petition can be found here https://gst.good.do/axethetax/axe-the-tax-on-essential-healthcare.
Source: Adapted from social media posts and transcript
Credit: Instagram clips from Longevity Exercise Physiology, Exercise Healthcare Australia & Mitchell Vautin, Clinical Accredited Exercise Physiologist
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Raising awareness, engagement and inclusion of Allied Health
Anita Hobson-Powell holds the position of Chief Allied Health Officer for the Australian Government within the Department of Health and Aged Care. With a background as an exercise physiologist and extensive experience leading allied health professional associations*, she has been entrusted with three main priorities. First, she aims to raise awareness about the significance of allied health professionals and their role in the healthcare system. This involves ensuring that decision makers and individuals engaging with health services understand the contributions of allied health professionals.
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Brain cancer Professor mentors Tasmanian researchers
Rosemary Harrup trained in Victoria and Tasmania in Medical Oncology and Clinical Haematology, completing a dual Fellowship in 2001. She is the current Director of Cancer and Blood Services at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH), a role she has held since 2009.
Australian Health Journal spoke to Rosemary about her journey in medicine and specifically her work in Clinical Trials in Brain Cancer and the value she placed on her senior clinicians as mentors and how she now mentors others.
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