Today physiotherapy is a blend of a range of evidence-based, scientifically rigorous physical therapies that have developed progressively over the last century. Worldwide the war years were trying times, yet it was a coming of age for the profession.

World War I helped highlight the benefits of physiotherapy as a profession. At the beginning of the war, many doctors and members of the general public remained skeptical of the use of massage therapy in treatment. Although the Australasian Massage Association (AMA) helped raise its profile, massage therapy remained an underutilised practice.

Due to the numerous casualties from the war needing ongoing physical rehabilitation, this allowed massage practitioners to demonstrate the effectiveness of their methods. Treatment involved massage, hot air baths and electrotherapy. By the end of the war, treatment saw active therapy replace passive as the main therapeutic tool. By the end of 1918, both the physical therapies and the AMA were more widely known.

Treating the wounded provided practitioners invaluable experience under testing conditions and brought the profession to the notice of the medical profession. It forced many doctors to recognise the benefits of massage, remedial exercise and electrotherapy. It also provided a legacy of patients with chronic conditions ensuring there would be an ongoing need for physical therapists well into the following decades.