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Media release
From:
Launch of New Australian Clinical Standards for Fracture Prevention to Address the Unacceptable Crisis in Osteoporosis Care in Australia
October 20 is World Osteoporosis Day. Osteoporosis is vastly underdiagnosed and remains untreated in millions of people worldwide.
Every year, about 190,000 older Australians are admitted to hospitals or community services for an osteoporotic fracture, costing the taxpayer several billions annually. Osteoporosis is a silent disease as most don’t know they have it till they have a fracture after a minor fall or bump. Most of these fractures could have been prevented with early intervention and good medical management. Shockingly, however, an older person who has suffered an osteoporotic fracture has a 80-90% chance of NOT being investigated and/or treated for the disease causing these fractures. As a result, these people will sustain more fractures, pain and disability. 20-30% of people die within 12 months of suffering a hip fracture.
To get on top of this unacceptable situation, Secondary Fracture Prevention Services (aka Fracture Liaison Services, FLS, or Osteoporosis Refracture Programs, ORP) were introduced in some states (mostly in NSW) but their efficacy varies widely depending on what the service looks like and does. Most services are in dire need of more funding and more staffing in order to produce much needed better outcomes. The silent disease has largely remained ignored by policymakers yet osteoporotic fractures in women are more common than breast cancer.
To change this, the SOS Fracture Alliance (https://www.sosfracturealliance.org.au/), an association of patient advocacy groups, medical and allied health professionals has developed the first ever National Clinical Standards for Australian Secondary Fracture Prevention Services. These Standards will benchmark these services, improve their quality and, with that, outcomes for patients. In the medium to long-term, the Standards will reduce the number of fractures and cost for the health system. There is currently an enormous gap between what we can do to prevent and treat osteoporosis and what is being done.
On World Osteoporosis Day we are highlighting the under-recognition of this disease, the need for greater attention from policymakers and promoting the launch of new national clinical standards of care to manage this disease.
The Standards will be officially launched by Dr Mike Freelander MP at Parliament House on the 5th of November 2025, with attendance by other MPs and members of the public.
Attributable Quotes:
Professor Markus Seibel, Endocrinologist and Chair, SOS Fracture Alliance: “For decades, older Australians have missed out on quality management of osteoporosis. With a rapidly ageing population, we cannot afford ignoring this health issue any longer, particularly as in Australia, we are lucky to have subsidised and effective medications and other therapies that reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures. The new Clinical Standards will improve the management of patients with osteoporosis across the nation.”
Dr Fiona Mackie, Patient Advocate and osteoporosis sufferer: "If I, a doctor with health literacy, have to push for an osteoporosis diagnosis after breaking an ankle at the age of 52, what hope do other Australians have? We urgently need national standards of care and more attention from policymakers to prevent this silent health crisis."
Beryl Logie, Patient Advocate and osteoporosis sufferer: ”I am passionate about osteoporosis because I know there is help for people with it if only the help was more widely available. A first fracture is bad enough but when something can be done to prevent a second one it should be done.”
