Falls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalisations in Australia. Falls remain a major safety and quality risk and can cause significant harm to older people in hospital, aged care services, care delivered in the community and the home.
Today the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released revised national guidance on how to prevent falls and fall-related injury. This is the first revision of the Falls Guidelines since 2009.
Clear actions for professionals
Preventing falls and harm from falls in older people: Best Practice Guidelines (Falls Guidelines 2025) have been updated to provide clear recommendations and good practice points based on evidence from systematic reviews and expert opinion.
The Falls Guidelines have been updated with supporting resources for each setting:
- Residential Aged Care Services
- Hospitals
- Community Care
Health professionals can use this guidance to work with people at risk of harm from falls to reduce risk factors and tailor interventions for a person-centred approach.
The evidence base for the revised Falls Guidelines has been developed in collaboration with Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society (ANZFPS). A public consultation provided important feedback from the sector in 2024, with subject matter experts refining the guidance.
Visit our Falls Prevention webpage to download a copy of the new guidelines and supporting resources for each setting.
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