About Nick
Author of Included and founder of
The Albatross Nippers
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Nick, as well as a treating physiotherapist, combines his time between his own private practice Surf Life Health and the Griffith University Health clinic where he has a clinical and teaching role. Nick is also a publisher of research in shoulder pain in surf athletes, musculoskeletal screening for talent identification, and hydration of international travelling sporting teams.
His roles within sport include travelling and treating some of the country’s highest-profile athletes. With roles currently with Swimming Australia, and the National Rugby League (NRL) you can often see Nick on the pool deck or on the field applying his trade.
Awards and achievements:
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2020 Australian of the Year-Local Hero (Queensland) 2020 Griffith University Outstanding Alumni
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2019 Surf Life Saving Australia Community Education Program of the Year
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2019 Westfield Local Hero
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2019 Surf Life Saving Queensland South Coast Branch Community Education Program of the Year
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2019 Volunteering Queensland Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of the Year
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2019 AMP Tomorrow Maker
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2018 Australian Allied Health Awards Greatest Impact and Achievement Award
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2018 Surf Life Saving Australia Community Education Program of the Year
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2018 Queensland Volunteer of the Year Runner Up
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2017 Sun Super Dreams for a Better World Runner Up
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2016 APA Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of the Physiotherapy Profession 2015 Pride of Australia Nominee
Nick Marshall is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sports and Musculoskeletal physiotherapy, with a passion for ensuring those with special needs and disabilities are included in the community. An advocate for increased participation in surf lifesaving activities for many years, in 2015 Nick created the Albatross Nippers—an all-inclusive Nipper program at Nobbys Beach—helping children with special needs experience nippers with other children of similar ages. The program has expanded to multiple Gold Coast beaches and saw Nick awarded the 2020 Australian of the Year- Local Hero- for Queensland.
In a bid to raise awareness of the program, in 2019, Nick teamed up with filmmaker Shannon Johnston to document the group’s history and emotional journey to qualify for the 2019 Queensland Surf Life Saving Championships. This made Albatross Nippers the first group of special needs children in history to participate in a major surf lifesaving carnival in Queensland and this was made into a 35 min documentary that featured on all Virgin airline flights.