An Update from Your Association
While the Massage & Myotherapy Australia office is currently open and operating business as usual, we would like to provide our members with an update regarding the contingencies that have been put into place should the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reach a point where workplaces, including ours, are required to close.
For the security of your data, the majority of Massage & Myotherapy Australia staff are unable to work from home meaning that if a sudden closure occurred then day-to-day communication with members would become challenging. That is why we have decided to outline these contingencies to you now as a precautionary measure in case a business closure is sudden.
Essential Services
Announcements were made yesterday that Government are looking at state-wide closures of all non-essential services, many of our members have been inquiring as to whether they can continue practicing.
At this moment we are expecting a list of ‘essential services’ from the Government. Until they release the lists, our advice to our members remains the same, that is you may remain open as long as you are obsessive about hygiene and infection control and have updated your informed consent to include questions such as, ‘Have you been overseas in the past 14 days?’ and, ‘Have you been displaying any fever-like symptoms?’
Government Information
COVID-19 has and will continue to have major impact on health and business. Massage & Myotherapy Australia understands the concern for small business regarding revenue, health and safety matters as well as the ability to plan for further disruptions to operate.
Every member has different and specific needs for themselves, clients and business. As we may face closure as a non-essential business the Association urges members to stay informed with their state and territory health department and government websites for advice around closure of business operations as a priority.
Please familiarise yourself with your state or territory's Department of Health website:
Business Closures
At this stage Massage & Myotherapy Australia are not recommending that every one of our members close their operations. It the position of the Association that recommending a blanket-wide shut down of all our members could place financially-vulnerable members at risk.
For any of our members who choose or are in a position to be able to shut down their practices and elect to do so we fully support and understand your decision. We hope you can all agree that until the Government puts policies in place to protect financially-vulnerable workers during this pandemic, recommending all members should shut down regardless of their personal circumstances of each member would be irresponsible to our members.
The Government have released an online training module that is designed specifically for healthcare workers, that covers the fundamentals of infection prevention and control regarding COVID-19. You can find that by clicking here.
More information will be incoming as it develops.
Private Health Funds Update
Massage & Myotherapy Australia have organised with the Private Health Funds to have the status of all members be paused should a temporary office closure occur. This means that members will not lose their Private Health Fund numbers while any Massage & Myotherapy Australia office closure is taking place. Any disruption to Private Health Fund Approved Provider status will be corrected as quickly as possible on return of business.
We have requested First Aid amnesty but it is at the health funds discretion.
National Conference Postponed
Due to recent government guidelines restricting unnecessary mass gatherings of 100 people or more, the Board have made the tough decision to reschedule this year's Massage & Myotherapy Australia National Conference to May 2021. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
Anyone who wishes to cancel their registration as a result of this postponement may request a full refund. You may also hold onto your registration if you wish and it will be valid for entry when the Conference takes place next year.
At this stage, the plan is for next year's National Conference is for it to remain in Adelaide, South Australia.
The Status of Our Other Events
If the Massage & Myotherapy Australia office was required to close, all hands-on Association activities and events will be halted until the office reopens. Some events will be postponed and some will be cancelled outright. This will be decided on a case by case basis. A number of these events are already in the process of being cancelled and if you are registered to any of these events you can expect to be notified of any cancellations later in the week.
Rest assured that if any event that you have registered for is cancelled you will receive a full refund.
Dr Norman Swan Video
In case you missed it, last Friday Massage & Myotherapy Australia released a video with Dr Norman Swan, host of ABC radio program The Health Report. In the video, Dr Swan answers questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact you as a massage therapist or myotherapist.
This video available on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and website.
A Message from your Association's President
Last Friday Massage & Myotherapy Australia released a video message from your Association President Andrew Gallagher. This video is available on your Association Facebook page, YouTube channel and website.