There have been a number of articles published on falls in recent weeks surrounding the release of the Australian National Fall Guidelines.

• We know how to prevent falls in older Australians, and save lives. So, why aren’t we?
  Croakey. Authors: Anne Tiedemann, Jasmine Menant, Kim Delbaere and Cathie Sherrington
• 17 older Australians die from falls every day. Here are 5 things you can do to reduce your risk.
  The Conversation. Authors: Anne Tiedemann and Cathie Sherrington
• Cardio and strength training boost health as you age. But don’t forget balance exercises to reduce your chance of falls
  The Conversation. Authors: Anne Tiedemann, Cathie Sherrington and Geraldine Wallbank

Hosted in partnership between the CRE in the Prevention of Fall Related Injuries, The Australia New Zealand Falls Prevention Society and Injury Matters, this informative webinar introduced the newly released Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls in Older People: Best Practice Guidelines (2025), developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. These comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines provide best practice recommendations for preventing falls in hospitals, residential aged care, and community care settings. This video offers an overview of the updated guidelines, their development and discuss their application across various care environments. Viewers will hear from contributors involved in the development of the guidelines and gain insights into person-centred strategies to reduce falls risk and support healthy ageing.

In this new Croakey article, Prof Anne Tiedemann, A/Prof Jasmine Menant, Prof Kim Delbaere and Prof Cathie Sherrington write:

“We now need government leadership, sustained investment and coordinated action to prevent avoidable harm, and ensure all Australians can age with confidence, mobility and independence”.

Read about what needs to happen to ensure the new National Fall Prevention Guidelines create real change.

We know how to prevent falls in older Australians, and save lives. So, why aren’t we?

Presented by the ANZFPS Early-Mid Career Researcher Sub-Committee
Presenters: Dr Benignus Logan and Sandeep Gupta
Friday 30 May

Links from the webinar:
– Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) – Worldwide Journal club
– The Asia-Pacific Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Frailty
– British Geriatrics Society – Fit for frailty
– Agency for Clinical Innovation – Frailty Taskforce
– Northern Sydney Frailty Initiative
– Intergenerational playgroups

Dr Benignus Logan is a specialist geriatrician in Brisbane. He is in the final stages of completing his PhD which has examined frailty and goals of care in older people living with chronic kidney disease. Benignus works with the Australian Frailty Network, and established Frailty Nexus as a community of practice for researchers and healthcare professionals with an interest in frailty. Benignus will present an introduction to frailty, including its prevalence, how to measure it and give us an overview of the current research on frailty being undertaken by the Australian Frailty Network (AFN).

Sandeep Gupta is the Head of Physiotherapy at Canterbury Hospital, Sydney. He has been the Co-chair of the Agency for Clinical Innovation’s Frailty Expert Advisory Group and a member of the Executive for the ACI’s Frailty Taskforce. Sandeep has a Masters by research, is actively engaged in research and is a co-author on six peer reviewed publication. Sandeep will present an overview of clinical applications of frailty, including interventions designed to improve the patient outcomes for people treated for frailty.

With Presentations from Dr Jennie Hewitt and Rik Dawson.

Presented by the ANZFPS Early-Mid Career Researcher Sub-Committee

Presenters: Dr Jennie Hewitt and Rik Dawson

Dr Jennie Hewitt will discuss the implementation of Sunbeam (successful fall prevention intervention) into RACF. Rik Dawson will discuss his experience delivering fall prevention exercise using telehealth focusing on the user experience. Jennie and Rik will also discuss how AN-ACC has influenced fall prevention activities and provided opportunities for practice change in RACF.

Dr Jennie Hewitt is a physiotherapist, educator, and academic researcher with a passion for delivering best practice. She has been awarded an Australian National Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Commendation for Better Practice for her work on the Sunbeam Aged Care Exercise Program. She attained the Morley Award, for the paper most likely to influence policy and practice, from the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. Her work has been used to advocate for Australian Aged Care Funding Reform, she appeared as an expert witness at the Royal Commission and has worked as Technical Advisor to the Federal Chief Allied Health Officer on the implementation and scaling of the Sunbeam Program in 119 aged care facilities across Australia. In 2022 she won the innovAGEING award with Whiddon for a project that used exercise to address chronic pain and deconditioning and in 2023 she was named as an Ageing Asia Global Trailblazer.

Rik Dawson graduated from Sydney University in 1993. Rik is a titled Gerontological Physiotherapist, Vice President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and the APA representative on the Aged Care Quality Standard Clinical Working Group. Rik was the owner of Age well Physiotherapy, a practice that employed physiotherapists and occupational therapists in Aged Care across Australia. Rik sold his practice in 2020 and is now enrolled at Sydney University as PhD candidate where he is focusing on telehealth for older people. Rik is a graduate of the AICD and has been a Director of the APA since 2017. Rik was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Director member on the Physiotherapy Research Foundation where he worked to connect research to policy and practice. Rik currently chairs the Nominations, Remuneration, and Governance Board sub-committee. He has a passion for communication, advocacy, leadership and good governance. Rik believes that linking strategy to member value is key to non-profit organisation’s success.