Physiotherapist-Led · 13 Pools Across Adelaide
One-on-one hydrotherapy in Adelaide with a physiotherapist in the water beside you — at 13 warm-water pools from Elizabeth and Salisbury to Marion, Campbelltown and the Adelaide Hills. Gentle, supported movement for arthritis and joint pain, recovery after surgery, back pain, neurological conditions and disability. NDIS, private, GP plan and other funding welcome.
Who It’s For
Hydrotherapy (also called aquatic physiotherapy) is physiotherapy delivered in a warm pool. It suits people who need to move and strengthen, but for whom land-based exercise is painful, unsafe or simply not working.
Exercise on land hurts, or you’ve been told to “stay active” and can’t find a way that feels safe
Arthritis, joint pain or stiffness in the hips, knees, back or shoulders
Recovering from surgery — a hip or knee replacement, spinal surgery, fracture or ligament repair — once your surgeon has cleared you for the pool
Persistent low back pain, sciatica or neck pain that flares with land-based exercise
A neurological condition — stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury or brain injury
Living with disability and wanting goal-focused therapy — NDIS participants, see our NDIS hydrotherapy page
Older adults working on balance, walking confidence and falls prevention
Children who find land-based exercise hard, or who need play-based strength, coordination and water-confidence work
Not sure? Call us — a short conversation is usually enough to tell whether the pool is a good fit.
Why Warm Water Works
Four properties of water do the heavy lifting in hydrotherapy. Together they let you move, load and strengthen in ways that are difficult or impossible on land.
The evidence for hydrotherapy is solid but modest, and we say so plainly. A Cochrane review of 13 trials found that water-based exercise slightly reduces pain and disability in knee and hip osteoarthritis, with no serious side effects.1 A meta-analysis across musculoskeletal conditions found it improves pain and function about as well as land-based exercise.2 For neurological conditions, a systematic review found it can improve balance and walking speed.3 The practical difference is simple: many people who can’t manage exercise on land can manage it in the pool.
We work with adults and children across a wide range of conditions. Your program is built around your goals, not a generic pool routine — and if the pool isn’t the right setting for a particular week, sessions can move to your home or our Prospect clinic.
Warm water unloads painful joints so you can restore range and rebuild strength.
Buoyancy takes the compressive load off the spine while you retrain movement and build trunk control.
Early, safe loading after surgery or injury — once your surgeon or doctor has cleared you for the pool.
Supported standing, stepping and balance work that is hard to do safely on land.
Graded, paced movement in a setting the nervous system tends to read as safe.
Confidence-building work for older adults, and play-based sessions for children.
Looking for something specific? See the full list of conditions we work with.
What to Expect
Every session is one-on-one with a physiotherapist who is in the water with you the whole time. Sessions run 45–60 minutes and follow a simple rhythm:
You do not need goggles, a cap or any swimming ability. Your physiotherapist meets you at the pool and helps with entry if you need it.
No GP referral is needed for private or NDIS-funded hydrotherapy. If you’d like to claim a Medicare rebate, ask your GP for a Chronic Condition Management Plan first.
Book online, call 08 8351 2270 or email us. Family members, support coordinators and GPs can also refer on your behalf. We respond within 24 hours.
Your physiotherapist assesses your movement, strength, balance and goals, screens for anything that would make the pool unsuitable, and gets you into the water in the same session where it’s safe to do so.
Pick the pool closest to home from our 13 venues, or let us match you to one based on accessibility, water temperature and your schedule. Your physiotherapist meets you there.
Sessions are progressed week by week. Many programs run for six to twelve weeks before a review; others continue longer-term as part of an NDIS plan or ongoing condition management.
Hydrotherapy Near You
From the northern suburbs to the Adelaide Hills, choose the pool closest to home and your physiotherapist meets you there. Our home base is the Prospect clinic at 146 Churchill Road — the closest pools are North Adelaide Aquatic Centre and the Parks Community Centre in Angle Park.
Don’t see your area listed? Get in touch — we’ll do our best to find a suitable pool near you. Pool details are also on our locations page.
Fees & Funding
Hydrotherapy is delivered and billed as physiotherapy, which means most of the usual physiotherapy funding routes apply.
Registered NDIS provider since 2020. All plan types — agency-managed, plan-managed and self-managed. Sessions are priced per the NDIS Pricing Arrangements, travel is charged per the NDIS Price Guide, and we write the progress and plan-review reports your plan needs.
NDIS hydrotherapy details →No referral needed. Mobile physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions start from $183.99 per hour, subject to therapist and location; travel charges may apply. Private health extras may rebate physiotherapy — check with your fund.
See fees & funding →With a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (formerly a Chronic Disease Management or EPC plan), Medicare rebates $61.80 per session (item 10960) for up to five allied health sessions per calendar year. You pay the session fee, then claim the rebate.
How to claim via Medicare →WorkCover SA and CTP motor accident claims are accepted case by case. If you have a Support at Home or Home Care Package, contact us and we’ll confirm whether your provider can fund sessions. We’re currently unable to accept DVA-funded sessions because of the scheme’s session-length requirements.
Call to check your funding →Every hydrotherapy session is run by a senior, AHPRA-registered physiotherapist — never a new graduate, never an unsupervised assistant. You’re matched with one therapist and keep them.
Physiotherapist. Hydrotherapy and home physiotherapy across metropolitan Adelaide, from active adults with persistent injuries to complex NDIS presentations.
Physiotherapist. Exercise-based and pool-based rehabilitation, with particular experience in neurological conditions and complex physical support needs.
Physiotherapist. Hydrotherapy is the cornerstone of Julia’s practice — adults and children, with play-based sessions for kids.
Physiotherapist. Hydrotherapy, disability support and aged care — from children building water confidence to older adults maintaining mobility.
Meet the whole team — including Lee Stewart, who leads our Neura Manual Therapy™ clinic work in Prospect.
The questions people ask before their first session — about the pool, the cost, the funding and whether hydrotherapy will suit them.
Hydrotherapy (aquatic physiotherapy) is physiotherapy carried out in a warm pool, one-on-one with a physiotherapist who assesses you, prescribes specific exercises and progresses them over time. Swimming is a fitness activity; aqua aerobics is a group fitness class. Neither is tailored to your condition or supervised by a clinician. In hydrotherapy you mostly stand, walk and exercise in chest-deep water — you don’t swim.
Hydrotherapy is most often used for:
The evidence is strongest for arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions, where aquatic exercise improves pain and function about as well as land-based exercise — the difference is that many people can actually do it.
A typical session includes a warm-up (walking and gentle range-of-movement work), targeted strengthening and balance exercises against the water’s resistance, and a cool-down. Everything is prescribed for your condition and goals and progressed as you improve. Your physiotherapist is in the water with you throughout.
For most people hydrotherapy is very safe — the Cochrane review of aquatic exercise for osteoarthritis reported no serious side effects. It isn’t suitable for everyone, though. Your physiotherapist screens for:
If you’re unsure, ask your GP before your first session, or call us and we’ll talk it through.
It depends on your condition and goals. Many programs run once or twice a week for six to twelve weeks, then we review progress and decide together whether to continue, taper, or move the work onto land. People managing long-term conditions, and NDIS participants working towards plan goals, often continue for longer.
No. Sessions take place in shallow, warm pools with your physiotherapist in the water with you at all times. You stand, walk and exercise in chest-deep water; you don’t need any swimming ability to take part.
Sessions run 45–60 minutes, one-on-one. Your first session includes an assessment and conversation before you get into the water.
Bathers or shorts and a T-shirt, a towel, thongs or pool shoes, a water bottle and any medication you may need. Pool entry is covered by us — there’s nothing to pay at the door. No goggles or cap needed.
Whichever of our 13 venues suits you best. Most people choose the pool closest to home; we’ll also consider entry access (steps, ramp or lift), water temperature and the times that work for you. See the full list of pools.
Partly. Hydrotherapy with a physiotherapist is billed as physiotherapy, so if your GP has set up a Chronic Condition Management Plan you can claim the Medicare rebate of $61.80 per session (item 10960) for up to five allied health sessions per calendar year. You pay the full session fee on the day and claim the rebate through myGov or the Medicare app — the difference is your gap.
The five-session cap is shared across all allied health services on your plan. Step-by-step claiming guide.
No referral is needed for private or NDIS-funded sessions — you can book directly. A GP referral (Chronic Condition Management Plan) is only needed if you want to claim the Medicare rebate, and WorkCover or CTP claims need the usual claim documentation.
Yes, when it relates to your disability and plan goals. Physio Now is a registered NDIS provider, and hydrotherapy is funded as physiotherapy under Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living). We accept agency-managed, plan-managed and self-managed plans, price sessions per the NDIS Pricing Arrangements, and charge travel per the NDIS Price Guide. Full details on our NDIS hydrotherapy page.
Many extras policies rebate physiotherapy, and hydrotherapy delivered by a physiotherapist is generally claimed as a physiotherapy service. The rebate depends on your fund and level of cover, so check with them first. You pay the session fee and claim the rebate from your fund.
WorkCover SA and CTP — accepted case by case; call us with your claim details. Support at Home and Home Care Packages — contact us and we’ll confirm whether your package provider can fund sessions. DVA — unfortunately we’re currently unable to accept DVA-funded sessions because of the scheme’s session-length requirements.
Yes. Paediatric sessions are play-based and structured around each child’s goals — strength, coordination, balance, sensory regulation and water confidence. The physiotherapist is in the water with your child at all times, and parents and carers are kept in the loop. Many of the children we see are NDIS participants, but private sessions are welcome too.
Very often, yes. Warm water is one of the few places where someone with arthritis, a joint replacement or a fear of falling can practise standing, stepping and balance work with support and without the risk of a fall. We match older adults to pools with ramp or step entry and handrails, and progress the work at a pace that feels safe.
Book online, call or email — we’ll be in touch within 24 hours to match you with a physiotherapist and a pool near you.