Manual Concepts – leaders in physiotherapy professional development
For 25+ years, Manual Concepts has provided professional development courses in Australia and across the globe to physiotherapists and other health practitioners.
Led by Dr Vaidas Stalioraitis FACP, Manual Concepts offers a range of contemporary courses that brings together expert clinical practitioners and educators who are leaders in their fields, keeping Manual Concepts at the forefront of physiotherapy education.
Director & Principal Lecturer
Dr Vaidas Stalioraitis FACP
FACP – Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2016); MSc (Curtin University); Graduate Entry Master of Physiotherapy (Curtin University); Master of Clinical Manipulative Physiotherapy (Curtin University); Accredited Mulligan Concept teacher; Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist; Director, Manual Concepts, Western Australia.
Vaidas has extensive Australian and international experience as a clinician and educator at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has vast clinical experience and a special interest in managing people with complex spinal pain conditions. Vaidas commenced with Manual Concepts in 2007 and provides teaching and practical supervision on the Certificate in Orthopaedic Musculoskeletal Therapy (COMT), Certificate in Advanced Sports Rehabilitation, the Upper Limb and Lower Limb course, and Comprehensive Management of the Spine (CMS).
Vaidas is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and an internationally accredited Mulligan Concept teacher, both of which were gained through exhaustive examination processes. He continues to consult in private clinical practice and is Director and Principal Lecturer at Manual Concepts.
Senior Lecturer
Dr Alastair Flett FACP
Alastair has been working as a physiotherapist for over 30 years. He was awarded the title of Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2013 and has also undertaken extensive training and competency examinations in the field of vestibular physiotherapy.
His clinical practice is exclusively in the assessment and management of dizziness, neck pain, headache and temporomandibular disorders, and his interest is how different systems and biopsychosocial circumstances can interact to generate these problems.
Alastair is considered a world-leader in the assessment and management of dizziness, neck pain, headache and temporomandibular disorders.
Senior Lecturer
Dr Tania Althorpe FACP
Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist FACP (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2016) BSc (Physiotherapy), MSports (Curtin) APAM
Tania is a Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist, placed in the top 0.5% of Physiotherapists in Australia. Tania combines her extensive clinical experience and the best available research evidence to provide a practical approach to Sports Physiotherapy. She is passionate about keeping her clients engaged in all levels and type of activity, for physical and mental wellbeing and performance.
Tania has various professional roles, including Head Physiotherapist at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) for Hockey and Physiotherapist for Athletics Australia and WAIS Athletics.
She is also a Senior Lecturer at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia on the Clinical Master of Physiotherapy, educating Physiotherapists to become titled Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapists. Key lectures that Tania delivers include shoulder pain and instability, elbow, hip and groin, knee pain, muscle injuries, foot and ankle and the adolescent athlete.
Tania’s clinical and educative expertise is a great asset to the Manual Concepts team.
Senior Lecturer
Dr Michelle Du Plessis FACP
Michelle is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2016) and a Titled Pain Physiotherapist. Initially graduating and practicing in South Africa, she has since worked in various public and private settings in New Zealand and Australia. She supervises post graduate physiotherapists from Curtin University as well as assisting in facilitating physiotherapists that are specialising in the area of Pain Physiotherapy through the Australian College of Physiotherapists.
Michelle enjoys expanding her knowledge in the field of musculoskeletal and pain physiotherapy in the quest to continue providing the best care for her patients. She has a specific interest in complex and persistent pain conditions, upper limb and hand therapy, jaw pain and spinal pain. Michelle is a part of the multi-disciplinary pain team at Joondalup Health Campus where she works with pain specialists, psychologists, and other health professionals to provide whole person care.
Michelle loves walking (and really fast) with her dog Tess, reading, strength training and spending time with her family and friends.
Senior Lecturer
Greg Mullings
Greg is an APA Titled Sports & Exercise Physiotherapist, with additional qualifications in Human Movement and Exercise Science, and a Diploma in Education.
He has spent the majority of his 25+ year career working at the elite level of sport, including full-time roles with professional teams in Australia (AFL, Super Rugby, A-League Football) and the UK (English County Cricket), giving him invaluable insights into working with a variety of athletes.
Greg is the founding Director of Pure Sports Physio, a High-Performance Sports Physiotherapy and Exercise Rehabilitation facility in Osborne Park, Perth, Western Australia, where his clinical focus is optimising the rehabilitation of sports-related lower limb injuries.
Alongside his clinical work, Greg is a Senior Lecturer at Curtin University in the postgraduate Masters of Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy programme. Greg enjoys sharing his experience with the next wave of Physiotherapists in negotiating the challenges of injury rehabilitation, particularly in high-performance environments.
Lecturer
Ian Dowley
Ian is the principal physiotherapist at Flex Physiotherapy, which he established at the St John of God Murdoch hospital in 2005. He has worked exclusively with the elbow, wrist and hand for almost 30 years, in both public and private practice.
When not working clinically with this patient group, Ian is training others to assess and treat the upper limb with confidence. He is a regular undergraduate and post-graduate guest lecturer at both Curtin and Notre Dame universities; he is a regular APA course presenter; and he is mentoring an ever-growing group of physios keen to develop their skills in this clinical area.
Ian is excited to join the Manual Concepts team in 2025.
Lecturer
Grant Mackay
Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) Honours (The University of Sydney), Master of Clinical Physiotherapy (Manipulative Therapy) (Curtin University), Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, Accredited Mulligan Concept Teacher, Lecturer Manual Concepts, Western Australia.
Grant has experience in teaching postgraduate manual therapy courses both in Australia and overseas. He is an experienced musculoskeletal clinician and continues to work in clinical practice. He is passionate about best practice management of musculoskeletal pain disorders, particularly in the application of manual therapy in a modern biopsychosocial context.
Through an intensive examination process Grant became an accredited Mulligan Concept Teacher and has been teaching Mulligan Concept courses for Manual Concepts since 2019. Grant has also conducted research into the Mulligan approach for managing patellofemoral pain which is published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. He is also an author of a systematic review of mobilisation with movement for shoulder disorders.
Founders
Dr Toby Hall FACP
PhD, MSc, Post Grad Dip Manip Ther. Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2007), Adjunct Associate Professor (Curtin University), Accredited Mulligan Concept Teacher, Founder, Manual Concepts, Western Australia.
After gaining his undergraduate qualification in physiotherapy in the UK in 1985, Toby travelled to Perth to complete the postgraduate Diploma in Manipulative Therapy at Curtin University in 1990. He went on to complete a Master of Science by thesis in 1996 and a PhD in 2010. He has lectured extensively within Australia and more than 35 countries, while heavily involved in research at many centres around the world.
Toby has presented at numerous conferences and is a published author of textbooks and book chapters, as well as 150+ articles related to research in the area of neural tissue dysfunction, cervicogenic headache and the Mulligan Concept. Toby is on the Advisory Board of the Journal Musculoskeletal Science & Practice and Associate Editor for the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy.
Dr Kim Robinson FACP
BSc, Grad Dip Manip Ther (Distinctions), Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2009), Adjunct Senior Teaching Fellow (Curtin University), Accredited Mulligan Concept Teacher, Founder, Manual Concepts, Western Australia.
Kim has been a leading figure in manual therapy education for more than three decades. Formerly a lecturer and clinical teacher on the Postgraduate Diploma in Manipulative Therapy programme at Curtin University, Kim co-founded Manual Concepts to share his knowledge worldwide.
Kim was an active member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association and the Musculoskeletal Physiotherapists Association of Australia and Accredited teacher of the Mulligan Concept. His research interests and publications include manual diagnosis, cervicogenic headache, neck pain and the application of the Mulligan Concept.
