Fifty years ago, a passionate rheumatologist called Les Koadlow decided more could be done to support people diagnosed for musculoskeletal conditions.

Newly diagnosed patients kept coming to his clinic totally overwhelmed, isolated and confused about their diagnosis, what it meant, what they could do about it and who else could help.

A stalwart believer in the benefit of ‘real people helping real people’, he set up the Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria – a place for those living with musculoskeletal conditions to get informed and get supported.

This is our story.

1968 | The Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria (RAAV) is formed by Dr Leslie Koadlow AO (rheumatologist and Medical Director of the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Hospital), his secretary Alice Petty and patient Mollie Riches.

1969 | RAAV registers as a charitable body.

1973 | Support groups are formed in rural and metropolitan areas for people with arthritis.

1976 | The Living with Arthritis courses begin running in community health centres.

1977 | World Rheumatism Year. RAAV is incorporated under the Hospitals and Charities Act and we receive our first Victorian Government funding for salaried staff.

1978 | Public speakers start providing presentations to community groups.

1980 | We establish a warm water exercise program with trained volunteers leading classes.

1983 | Information sheets are translated into several different languages, as well as Braille. We start providing workshops for health professionals, produce the film Any Ache or Pain and launch the first National Arthritis Week awareness campaign.

1984 | Volunteers are trained to run arthritis self-management classes and exercise classes in the community.

1985 | Our name changes from RAAV to Arthritis Foundation of Victoria.

1986 | We became one of the first organisations in Australia to run The Arthritis Self Help Course, developed by Kate Lorig of Stanford.

1988 | Arthritis Update magazine replaces News Review as the official member publication. We begin recruiting and training volunteers to take calls on the help line.

1990 | Our mission expands to include all musculoskeletal conditions including back pain and osteoporosis. We develop an internationally-acclaimed osteoporosis self-management course.

1993 | A partnership is developed with the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital to establish the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases. A new program for juvenile arthritis – Youth and Family Services – begins, providing peer support for families, teenagers and children with arthritis.

1994 | We host the Asia-Pacific Arthritis Youth Forum and move to our permanent headquarters in Kooyong Road, Elsternwick.

1995 | Arthritis Foundation of Victoria incorporates Osteoporosis Victoria.

1996 | The Smart Moves curriculum package for primary schools is developed.

1998 | Our first website goes live www.arthritisvic.org.au

2000 | A busy year, we produce a CD and web-based stretch break program for Victorian workplaces and launch the Healthy Bones Bus, a mobile information and education resource funded by the Victorian Ladies Bowls Association.

2001 | Move it or Lose it, a television show featuring exercise classes for people with musculoskeletal conditions is developed and airs on Channel 31.

2002 | The Australian Government declares musculoskeletal health a National Health Priority Area.

2005 | The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recognises that there are over 150 types of musculoskeletal conditions.

2008 | We award the inaugural Helen Moran Gift to emerging researchers.

2009 | Nordic walking exercise courses begin.

2011 | We launch the Rheumatology Help Line, staffed by nurses, and the Arthritis Map, an online local service directory.

2012 | The website is redeveloped to make it more user-friendly. Page views double over the next two years.

We begin running webinars for health professionals, to provide them with the knowledge and skills they need to provide evidence-based, quality care for people with musculoskeletal conditions.

2013 | We publish the landmark report A problem worth solving: the rising cost of musculoskeletal conditions in Australia and lobby the Victorian Government to form the Musculoskeletal Clinical Leadership Group to guide government policy.

2014 | We convene the Victorian Pain Forum, bringing together health professionals to develop a state wide strategy for the sector. Social media platforms Facebook and Twitter start being used to raise our profile. Our website now attracts over 1.3 million page views annually.

We introduce webinars for people living with musculoskeletal conditions, to help them learn more about their conditions, and practical ways to manage.

2015 | Our new research strategy is launched. A partnership with YMCA to deliver warm water exercise classes in Victoria begins, as well as a partnership with Bowls Victoria to roll out the MOVE with Bowls program.

2016 | We go national, with the new name MOVE muscle, bone & joint health, representing 1 in 3 Australians who live with musculoskeletal conditions and the health professionals who care for them.

In collaboration with Fitness Australia and Monash University we begin coordinating the Victorian Active Ageing Partnership (VAAP), on behalf of the Victorian Government. VAAP aims to increase opportunities for participation in physical activity for older Victorians.

2017 | We publish the very popular and practical resource for consumers living with musculoskeletal pain – Managing your pain: An A-Z guide.

Together with PwC we launch the report: Everybody MOVE: improving outcomes in musculoskeletal health. Our 2013 report A problem worth solving highlighted the problems, Everybody MOVE provided the solutions – the right treatments, in the right place, at the right time – so people living with these conditions achieve the best possible quality of life.

2018 | We launch the Victorian Model of Care for Osteoarthritis of the Hip and Knee, developed by the Victorian Musculoskeletal Clinical Leadership Group. The MoC is a best-practice guide and resource for individuals or organisations tasked with the planning or delivery of care to Victorians with hip and/or knee OA.

A new era, we become Musculoskeletal Health Australia, a peak body representing the 7 million Australians living with conditions such as osteoarthritis, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia and more than 150 different musculoskeletal conditions.