The foundation of the MTAA

In 1965 Geoffrey Maitland devised and began to teach the world’s first three-month academic certificate course in manipulative physiotherapy in Adelaide. This course attracted much attention and was soon duplicated in other states. Following this, in December 1965, Geoffrey Maitland and three other physiotherapists - Brian Edwards, Patricia Trott, and Roger Wilson - met to discuss setting up an association for physiotherapists with a special interest in manipulative therapy. Their aim was to ensure a consistently high standard of competency in manipulative therapy, and this was achieved by offering membership of the association initially on the basis of the attainment of the manipulative therapy certificate from Adelaide, or by completion of a challenge examination of equivalent standard. Thus in 1966 the Manipulative Therapists’ Association of Australia (MTAA), first came into operation. This was the direct predecessor of today’s MPA.

At its inception, the MTAA was an independent association with no formal link to the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA). However it was soon perceived that a formal link would be of benefit to all concerned, so on 5th February 1970 the MTAA amended its constitution and became the first National Special Group of the APA. Geoffrey Maitland was never entirely comfortable with the term ‘manipulation’, believing that it conjured up visions of manhandling. As a general rule he was an opponent of vigorous treatment techniques, advocating the use of more gentle techniques whenever possible, combined with continual assessment and evaluation of the patient’s condition. Over time, Maitland’s approach was instrumental in turning around the opinion of the medical profession from one of suspicion to tacit approval for the practice of manipulation. Geoffrey Maitland received many honours during the course of his professional life, including being awarded a MBE in 1981. He continued to teach and to practice manipulation until the late 1980s.