Expression of Interest – Falls

Queensland Health (Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Service)is looking for a consumer or carer who has lived experience of falling (ideally in a hospital setting) or for a consumer representative who is currently sitting on a Falls Prevention committee. There are two opportunities for consumers/carers to be involved and ideally it would be great to have the one person interested in both opportunities.

Opportunity one:

Be a guest speaker at the Tri Nations Falls Forum

When and where:Tuesday 19 September at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

What:Three nations come together to share evidence-based knowledge, translate that knowledge into practice and share learnings from in-patient/acute hospital settings.

At the forum you will speak for approximately20 minutes and you may wish to talk about:

  • Experience with falling themselves or the carer/family member of someone who has experienced a fall.
  • How did the fall affect them e.g. mobility, confidence
  • Did they make changes as the result of the fall e.g. modifications at home, physio review, bought new footwear, eyes checked
  • How did they feel when they fell e.g. shocked, knew it was going to happen, embarrassed, didn’t tell anyone, fear of falling.

Remuneration: You will be remunerated at the rate recommended by Health Consumers Queensland. To attend this full day forum it will be $374 and this includes pre-reading and preparation and travel time.

Travel: Parking can be provided at no cost at 15 Butterfield St. There is a small budget allocated to travel which will cover car transportfrom within Brisbane e.g. Bribie Island to Beenleigh.

Flyer attached.

Opportunity two:

A consumer representative on National Standard 10 Falls Prevention Reference Group. The main functions of the working group are to:

  1. Facilitate consultation, cooperation and liaison between services, facilities and key stakeholders across the continuum with regards to falls.
  2. Promote a consistent, sustainable and evidence-based model for falls prevention and harm minimisation across Queensland.
  3. Support activities that help increase public awareness and activation to decrease risk factors and consequences of falls (e.g. April No Falls, Queensland Bedside Audit)

The National Standard 10 Falls Prevention Reference Group meets quarterly (additional ad hoc meetings will be convened if required to facilitate business with the approval of the Chair) by teleconference. The consumer/ carer would be there to provide a consumer perspective to the issues being discussed and to speak up for the needs of families and consumers. Ideally the consumer/carer has lived experience of falling and the impact it has had; it would also be useful if you sit on a local Falls committee as well.

Remuneration:You will be remunerated at the rate recommended by Health Consumers Queensland. To attend a meeting for four hours and under you will be remunerated at $187 and this covers pre-reading and travel time.

If you’d like to view a copy of the Terms of Reference for the committee please email consumer @hcq.org.au.

Please complete this Expression of Interest and return to Suzanne Wirges via: y Tuesday 11 July.

For more information about this opportunity please contact Stephanie Gettens on: 07 332 89790 or email

Personal Details
Surname: / Given Name:
Address: / Postcode:
Phone No.:
Mob: / Email:
Please highlight to indicate your response
Do you identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander? / Yes / No
Do you identify as being Culturally or Linguistically Diverse? / Yes / No
Do you identify as being from a non-English speaking background? / Yes / No
Do you identify as being transport disadvantaged or physically isolated? / Yes / No
Do you identify as having a disability? / Yes / No
Are you a member of the Health Consumers Queensland Consumer Network? / Yes / No
Are you happy for Health Consumers Queensland to share this form with Queensland Health as part of the process for this application? / Yes / No
Would you like Health Consumers Queensland to retain this application for future vacancies? Applications not retained are destroyed once the application process is complete. / Yes / No

Would you like to express an interest in (please highlight what you are interested in):

  • Speaker at the forum
  • Consumer on the committee
  • Both

Other Needs and Requirements
I will require support to attend the forum and/or committee / Yes / No
If yes, please provide details and indicate other support that you require, for example, disability support worker, interpreter, Auslan interpreter, closed captioning, hearing loop, dietary requirements etc.
Dietary requirements
I have special dietary requirements / Yes / No
Please give details
Please describe any experience (if any) as a health consumer representative including committees, focus groups, surveys, governance roles, etc.
Please describe any connections you have to your community (e.g. networks, groups)?
Please describe your interest in this activity