Time for a shift in Australian rehabilitation?

Tertiary rehabilitation, particularly in Australia, still costs a significant amount of money each year. Turnover in the rehabilitation industry is extremely high and rehabilitation professionals report being dissatisfied in their work. These ironic findings can be attributed to the state of tension in which rehabilitation finds itself. A decade ago, it was noted that tertiary rehabilitation counselling was facing the challenge of managing several conflicting forces and constantly shifting priorities. In the last decade, this challenge has intensified.

A review of current data was undertaken to identify the primary tensions that have influenced rehabilitation over the last decade.

Tensions were attributed to three sets of opposing forces related to the philosophy of rehabilitation, the economic imperative and the role of privatisation of the industry.

This paper argues the need for a fundamental shift in thinking if the rehabilitation discipline is to continue growing. Precedents exist that can assist rehabilitation to make a significant shift to a new model of thinking, but a great deal of attention must be focused on the legal, economic and medical barriers to that movement.