Category Archives: 11th Biennial Conference News

Meet the speaker series – Prof Cathy Said

Today we would like to introduce Professor Cathy Said. Cathy is the inaugural Professor Physiotherapy, Western Health & The University of Melbourne and a program director with the Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Science. Cathy has over 25 years’ experience working in neurological and gerontological rehabilitation. Her research focuses on fall prevention and the rehabilitation of gait and balance in older people and people with stroke. She is also passionate about how to bridge the divide between research evidence and practice, including how we can better meet the needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Cathy’s presentation for the conference is titled ‘Exercise and Falls Prevention for older people from CALD communities’. In this interview Cathy discusses her research passion, some of the critical issues for fall prevention and some advice for Early and Mid Career Researchers.

Less than a year to go until the 11th Biennial ANZFPS Conference

In the lead up to the conference the Early and Mid- Career Researchers (EMCR) committee will be interviewing each of the presenters as part of the ‘Meet the Speaker Series’.

Today we would like to introduce Prof Rich Masters. Rich is a Professor of Human Movement Psychology in Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at the University of Waikato, Health, Sport and Human Performance. Rich is interested in understanding psychological markers of the way in which people learn and perform movements, with particular emphasis on nonconscious, implicit, processes. His work crosses discipline boundaries into rehabilitation, surgery, speech sciences, movement disorders, ageing, sports sciences, psychology and developmental disorders and disabilities.

In this interview Rich discusses his research passion, some of the future challenges for fall prevention and a teaser for his upcoming presentation.

Please visit https://anzfpconference.com.au/ for more information and key dates in the lead up to the conference.

Meet the speaker series – Prof Pazit Levinger

As part of our meet the invited speaker series we would like to introduce Prof Pazit Levinger. Professor Levinger is a Principal Researcher (Accredited Exercise Physiologist) at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI). She also holds Honorary positions at the Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University and the Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University.

She has over 18 years experience, skills and expertise in active ageing, physical activity and falls prevention, quantitative gait analysis and clinical biomechanics. Her current research focuses on research translation and community work with local government engagement. She is an expert in the area of age-friendly outdoor sites specifically designed for older people. Pazit currently works closely with government bodies in strategic development and planning around the built environment. She leads the ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park project, which won various industry awards for its impact on the community and older people’s wellbeing.

In this interview Pazit discusses her research passion, some of the future challenges for fall prevention and how her research has aimed to address these challenges.

Announcing Invited Speakers for the 2025 Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society Conference

We are excited to announce a stellar line-up of International and National Speakers at our 2025 ANZFPS Conference in Sydney. We will be hearing about the research from our two International Keynote Speakers:

and from our Plenary Speakers:
– Prof Rich Masters, Waikato University, NZ
– Prof Pazit Levinger, National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne
– Dr Toby Ellmers, Imperial College London, UK
– Prof Lisa Keay, University of New South Wales, Sydney
– Prof Denise Taylor, Auckland University of Technology, NZ
– A/Prof Michele Callisaya, Monash University, Melbourne
– A/Prof Ruth Peters, The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW, Sydney
– Prof Cathy Said, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne
– Prof Rebecca Ivers, University of New South Wales, Sydney
– Prof Alison Hutchinson, Deakin University, Geelong

Save the date! 11th Biennial Conference: 23-25 November, 2025, Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney, NSW

“Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge” by DRX is licensed under CC BY 4.0

The Australia & New Zealand Fall Prevention Society are pleased to announce that the 11th Biennial Australia & New Zealand Fall Prevention Society Conference will be held at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel, Sydney, NSW on the 23rd to 25th of November 2025.

We look forward to another memorable conference filled with high quality talks on fall prevention.