Since 1971

Ray Harding starts practising podiatry in Sydney — the beginning of what would become Harding Podiatry.

When biomechanics and orthotic therapy were introduced to Australia from America, Ray committed to a postgraduate education program spanning more than five years, learning to manage everything from general foot function to sports and paediatric problems. He became one of the first podiatrists in Australia to convert his practice solely to biomechanics and orthotic therapy — treating the cause of pain rather than its symptoms.

Ray became one of the founding partners in the Running Clinic at North Sydney, recruiting some of Sydney's foremost podiatrists to address the injuries caused by the running boom.

Ray moved the practice to Narrabeen Sports Medicine Centre to work alongside some of Australia's best sports physicians, orthopaedic specialists and physiotherapists — so that assessment and treatment of the lower limb could happen in genuine collaboration rather than isolation. That multidisciplinary setting is still where we practise today.

Dr Muhammad (Mo) Maarj now leads the clinic alongside Michael Gumatay and Aymen Maarj, adding PhD-level research in hypermobility and a specialty in custom foot and ankle orthotics. The collaboration Ray built the practice around continues — with physiotherapists, sports physicians and orthopaedic surgeons at Narrabeen.