The Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 350 doctors in Australia and New Zealand.ACSEP. 2019: Year in Review These doctors practise medicine in the specialty of sport and exercise medicine (SEM). The ACSEP is the smallest of the 15 recognised specialist medical Colleges in Australia with approximately 260 Fellows and Registrars in 2020. Australia and New Zealand, along with the UK, have been cited as pioneer countries in the establishment of SEM as a stand-alone specialty.
Sport and exercise medicine practice in Australia and New Zealand
Sport and exercise medicine is a specialty area of medicine, although the structure of SEM training varies substantially from country to country. In Australia and New Zealand the status of SEM is of a stand-alone specialty with ACSEP being the specialist College administering training and education. In Australia and New Zealand, patients are encouraged or required to visit a General Practitioner before being referred to a specialist. Doctors wishing to specialize in sport and exercise medicine must complete a medical degree, a minimum of three years of pre-specialty general medical training, a minimum of 4 years of specialty (advanced) training with the ACSEP, pass examinations, publish a research paper in the field of SEM and undertake annual continuous medical education to stay active. The ACSEP is one of the few specialist medical colleges in Australia and NZ that conducts training primarily in private practice, others being the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Although sports physicians can prescribe drugs, perform minor surgical procedures, use Diagnostic ultrasound and order other radiological imaging and blood tests, the signature treatment of SEM practice is exercise prescription. Careers within SEM in Australia and NZ include:
Clinical sports medicine practice, treating musculoskeletal injuries in athletes, but also treating illness and working in areas such as sports cardiology, managing concussion and exercise-induced asthma Clinical exercise medicine practice assisting with non-athletic patients who are trying to exercise move for general health. Exercise is known to treat and/or prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental health disorders, arthritis and back pain, diabetes and osteoporosis, which are many of Australia's health priorities.Exercise as medicine – Evidence for prescribing exercise for Australia's nine national health priority areas: An umbrella review. Castricum, A. et al. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Volume 21, S5 - S6 Working in professional and elite sport as a team doctor Working in professional and elite sport as an administrator. The majority of major sports in Australia have Chief Medical Officers who oversee medical and health policy within the sport Working in research/academic publication
Some of the major conditions typically treated by SEM include Osteoarthritis, Tendinopathy, Back pain, Muscle strain, Concussions in sport, Sprained ankle, Anterior cruciate ligament injury, Dislocated shoulder.
Sports and exercise medicine physicians working in specialist SEM practice and the ACSEP are differentiated from the more broad bodies Sports Medicine Australia and Sports Medicine New Zealand which represents not only doctors but also Allied Health practitioners working in the Sports medicine field, including occupations such as Physiotherapist, Exercise Physiologist, Podiatrist and other branches of Sports science. The worldwide parent body for these more broad sports medicine associations is FIMS.
Funding
Sport and exercise medicine in New Zealand is essentially funded by the Accident Compensation Corporation, which is a no-fault government insurer covering all injuries which occur in NZ, including sports injuries. Professional sports also directly employ some SEM physicians.
In Australia, Medicare has traditionally provided very limited funding for patients of SEM physicians. Medicare rebates for SEM physicians were lowered in 2010,Roy Masters. Medicare rebate cut adds insult to injury. Sydney Morning Herald. 17 November 2010 and were not increased until 2025, so that much of the expense in consulting a SEM physician was borne by the patient.Nathan Luies for Indigenous X. Sports and exercise medicine helps manage chronic disease. It needs better funding, Guardian Australia. 28 April 2020 Initial referred consultations with a SEM specialist under Medicare in Australia had a bulk-billing rate of only 9% in 2018–19, which is the lowest for any type of specialist under Medicare in Australia. A typical cost for consultation was A$225 in 2018–19, of which only $73.85 was refunded by Medicare, leaving patients $151 out of pocket. A 2016-2018 review of Medicare recommended that SEM consultation rebates for SEM physicians increase to achieve parity with other specialist physiciansAustralian Government Department of Health. Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce Report from the Specialist and Consultant Physician Consultation Clinical Committee December 2018 SCPCCC Report (p 29–37), although no formal response to this review was ever made by the Department of Health. Instead, the ACSEP was referred to multiple other committees for further consideration. In 2024, the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Advisory Committee (MRAC) also recommended that ACSEP Fellows practised as non-procedural physicians using referral-based long consultations and therefore should be made eligible for Consultant Physician rebates under Medicare. The other traditional specialties of medicine in Australia were accused of creating a "hostile environment" stopping sports medicine from being recognized adequately under Medicare over the first 25 years of the 21st Century. Finally, on July 1, 2025, SEM physicians in Australia were granted parity with other specialist physicians (consultant physicians) in Australia and their patients finally allowed to claim long consultation item numbers.
Annual conference
Generally in spring of each year (October-November), the ACSEP holds an annual scientific conference. In some years this is in conjunction with the conferences of Sports Medicine Australia or Sports Medicine New Zealand. The conference venue rotates with NZ hosting approximately every 4th year. The date is chosen partly due to the seasonal nature of the professional football codes in Australasia in autumn and winter, which would make a suitable date in these seasons problematic. A highlight is the annual dinner with awarding of Fellowships to newly graduated Fellows. The college is small enough that individual career-to-date citations for new Fellows can be made at the dinner.
History
The ACSEP was originally formed as the Australian College of Sports Physicians (ACSP) in 1985 by a group of doctors with vocational interest in sports medicine. Some of the original sports physicians in Australia were GPs who took an interest in sport and eventually chose to practise full-time in this area. In the late 1980s, a decision was made to pursue a stand-alone medical specialty with a formal structure of entry and Fellowship exams and multi-year training program. The ACSP granted honorary Fellowship (FACSP) to ten Fellows of other recognized specialty colleges in Australia who acted as examiners. All applicants for the inaugural FACSP qualification had to show the equivalent of current practice in sports medicine and pass an exam, which first took place in 1991. This examination continued to become the Part 2 ACSP examination.
In 1992, the first registrars (trainees) were admitted onto the ACSP training program, which was conducted in private practice initially in Melbourne and Sydney. The ACSP first part examination was developed.
In 1993, the first training position at a government institution was created at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra.
In 1993 New Zealand Fellows were admitted for the first time.
In 1998, sports medicine was recognized as a vocational specialty in New Zealand.
In 2000, ACSEP Fellows were instrumental in providing athlete care services for all sports in the Sydney Olympic Games. The training program was well established with 17 training posts in the year 2000.
In 2000, sports physicians were first recognized by Medicare in Australia and awarded consultation item numbers equivalent to vocationally-registered General Practitioners.
In 2006, the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK was established with many of the structures and training programs established using the existing structures of the ACSP.
In 2008, the ACSP was successfully assessed by the Australian Medical Council as having fulfilled all the criteria for establishment as a specialist medical College in Australia. This has been successfully reviewed in 2013 and 2019.
In 2010, Medicare recognized sports physicians as specialists in Australia.Stephen Pincock. Sports doctors get new muscle: Medicare recognition The Australian 3 July 2010David Hughes. Sport Health 28(4) ACSP's take on specialisation. Sport and Exercise Medicine as a new medical speciality is welcome newshowever uncertainties still remain. 2010-11, p 10-14
In 2014, the National Office, which was initially established in Sydney, moved to Collins St in the Melbourne CBD.
In 2016, the ACSP changed its name to include Exercise in the title alongside sport with the college abbreviation becoming ACSEP. Exercise medicine is thought to be an emerging branch of SEM aimed at keeping the population healthy by assisting with Exercise Prescription.
By 2020, the ACSEP had over 50 training positions (registrars) with over 200 specialist doctors in total in Australia and New Zealand, and other affiliated members.
In 2020, New Zealand Sport & Exercise Physicians published a consensus statement in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. A similar statement was published in Australia by the Australian Institute of Sport.
On July 1, 2025, Australian SEM Physicians were granted parity with other Consultant Physicians in Australia under Medicare and their patients allowed to claim for referred long consultation items.
Notable Sport and exercise physicians in Australasia
Notable sport and exercose physicians in Australia and New Zealand (who are ACSEP Fellows) include Peter Larkins, Nathan Gibbs, Rachel Harris, Martin Raftery, Peter Fricker, Karim M. Khan, Lesley Rumball and Dave Gerrard and Peter Brukner OAM. Merv Cross was appointed as one of the inaugural honorary Fellows.
Dr Geoff Thompson AM was named the Northern Territory Australian of the Year in 2020. In June 2023, four Sport and Exercise physicians were awarded in the King's Birthday Honours of Australia for services to sports medicine, Peter Harcourt, AM, Diana Robinson, AM, David Hughes, AM and David Humphries OAM. The majority of the doctors working for AFL clubs are sport and exercise physicians.
Office bearers The key office bearers at the ACSEP are: Position Office Holder President Dr Dan Exeter Immediate Past-President Dr Corey Cunningham Board Chair Phil Calvert Chief Executive Officer Sudi Sekhar
Sport and exercise medicine physicians are generally appointed as the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) for most of the major sporting competitions in Australian and New Zealand, along with medical coverage for major sporting events.
Current sport CMOs are: