Inherent requirements for Physiotherapy courses

These inherent requirements apply to the following courses: Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Physiotherapy (course code 4662), Bachelor of Health Science (Honours)/Master of Physiotherapy (course code 4668) and Master of Physiotherapy (course code 4667).

Introduction to inherent requirements for Physiotherapy courses

The University of Western Sydney School of Science and Health (SSH) strongly supports the right of all people who wish to pursue a physiotherapy course at the SSH to achieve their potential and career objectives. The School is committed to making reasonable adjustments to teaching and learning, assessment, clinical practice and other activities to address the impact of students' disabilities so that they are able to participate in their course.

To support potential and current students' decision making a series of inherent requirement statements has been developed. These statements specify the course requirements of the entry level physiotherapy courses for student admission and progression. The statements are clustered under eight domains consisting of ethical behaviour, behavioural stability, legal, communication, cognition, sensory abilities, strength and mobility and sustainable performance. Many of the activities associated with the professional practice of a registered physiotherapist are time sensitive, where the capacity to perform certain activities within specified time limits is required to reduce or avoid risks to patient safety and wellbeing. The safety and wellbeing of you and others is always of paramount importance.

Students are required to undertake learning activities in mixed gender environments, which reflect the Australian health care context.

Successfully completing the course enables you to apply for registration as a registered physiotherapist with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia, which is a partner board of the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Authority (AHPRA).

The inherent requirements outlined below provide a guide for students and staff members when deciding whether you are able to meet these requirements and the type of reasonable adjustments that could be put in place to allow you to complete the course without compromising the academic integrity of the course.


How to read the inherent requirement statements

If you are intending to enrol in an entry level physiotherapy course at the School of Science and Health, you should look at these inherent requirement statements and think about whether you may experience challenges in meeting these requirements. If you think you may experience challenges related to your disability, chronic health condition or any other reason, you should discuss your concerns with a campus Disability Advisor or physiotherapy staff, such as the Director of Academic Program, Academic Course Advisor or School Disability Coordinator.

These inherent requirements should be read in conjunction with other UWS course information and the Physiotherapy Board of Australia publications such as the Physiotherapy Code of Conduct, and the Physiotherapy Guidelines for Mandatory notifications (opens in a new window), and the Australian Physiotherapy Council's Australian Standards for Physiotherapy (opens in a new window).

Each inherent requirement is made up of the following five levels:

  • Level 1 - introduction to the inherent requirement
  • Level 2 - description of what the inherent requirement is
  • Level 3 - explanation of why this is an inherent requirement of the course
  • Level 4 - the nature of any adjustments that may be made to allow you to meet the requirement
  • Level 5 - examples of things you must be able to do to show you've met the requirement

Inherent requirement domains


There are eight domains of inherent requirements in the Physiotherapy courses listed above. Some domains have a number of sub-domains.

  • Ethical behaviour
  • Behavioural stability
  • Legal
  • Communication
  • Cognition
  • Sensory abilities
  • Strength & mobility
  • Sustainable performance

These inherent requirements apply to the following physiotherapy courses: