Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation Turns 21 in ‘21!

In honour of our 21st birthday this year, we thought we’d take a quick trip down memory lane and celebrate the extraordinary couple of decades we’ve had!

Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation’s story began in 2000 when Director & Exercise Physiologist John McDonald first pursued his dream; a vision of championing physical activity not only as a key foundation of rehabilitation, but at the earliest time in the recovery journey and for as many individuals as possible.

“I couldn’t have imagined 21 years ago how proud I would feel to be part of such a passionate and enthusiastic team. Their relentless dedication to making people’s lives better is truly inspiring. We practice Ubuntu, a Zulu philosophy, humanity towards others. ‘I am who I am because of you’.” John McDonald, Director

From humble beginnings as a small WA-based company, Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation has grown exponentially over the years to become the national stalwart that it is today, with offices in nearly every state (Tasmania, you’re next!) and over 100 staff employed nationally.

Oh, and when we say humble beginnings we mean it – as CEO Damien Amsuss remembers all too well, in the early days staff would have to fax their client reports to John for his review…have them faxed back… and then mail them out individually! Thankfully, our processes have moved with the times and we now pride ourselves on our swift, high-quality digital communications to stakeholders (without a red pen in sight).

Over time, the company has evolved to become an industry leader in clinically-guided, best-practice rehabilitation interventions for people afflicted with injury or illness under a compensable-injury policy, principally across Workers’ Compensation, Life Insurance/Income Protection and Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA)/Compulsory Third Party (CTP) schemes. In recent years, we’ve also been frontrunners in the provision of rehabilitative exercise programming and services for both emergency service personnel and individuals afflicted with mental illness; a misunderstood and often stigmatised health issue that almost half of Australians will experience in their lifetime.

In 2018, we were absolutely thrilled to receive Exercise Sports Science Australia’s (ESSA) Practice of the Year award – a highly-coveted industry award recognising practices that provide exceptional, innovative services and/or service delivery models across the gamut of health, exercise and sporting sectors. This achievement both motivates and humbles us to this day, reminding us to always be pioneering in our approach; why take the beaten path when a better way can be found on an untraveled road?

Throughout the global challenges that 2020 presented, we were grateful to have the opportunity to assist over 3600 individuals across Australia – many of them via our Telehealth platform, GuardianConnect. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for our clients, customers and partners, and we are thankful that we were able to continue helping people throughout their recovery journeys.

Share this article

Return to Top
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.