Mission Statement

The Discipline of Occupational Therapy within the School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences will, through education & research, promote the capacity of the profession and the capacity of the regional, rural, remote and indigenous communities within which we work.

The following principles encompass the Discipline of Occupational Therapy’s approach towards understanding human occupation, as a basis to Occupational Therapy theory and practice. These principles form the basis for the curriculum provided by the Discipline of Occupational Therapy.¹

Principle 1

Recognition of the significance of occupation to health, well being and achievement of life satisfaction to individual and communities with particular focus on regional, rural, remote and indigenous communities.

Principle 2

Recognition of the dynamic relationship between culture and occupation and the importance of understanding that beliefs, behaviours, attitudes, relationships, environment, religion and sense of identity are all shaped by our culture.

Principle 3

Recognition of the dynamic relationship between people with their contexts and the importance of understanding that people and their contexts are integrated and mutually defining.

Principle 4

Upholding a holistic view of the person with an emphasis on the uniqueness of the individual and their understanding of life experiences.

The Discipline of Occupational Therapy identifies the following 3 areas as central to its ongoing commitment and development.

1. 1.

   The development of community based occupational therapy practice that promotes the capacity and well being of individuals and regional, rural, remote and indigenous communities within tropics.

2. 2.

   The development of a curriculum that is distinctive, well integrated and contextualised to reflect a regional, rural, remote and indigenous focus and that prepares professionals competent to work within these communities

3. 3.

   A commitment to occupation based research that builds the capacity of research within students, clinicians and academic staff with particular emphasis on:

• Supporting clinician based research and evidence based practice

• Cross cultural research investigating the dynamic between culture and occupation

• Improvement and development of teaching and learning

• Building on and expanding research within rural, remote & Indigenous communities.