On World Brain Day, Australia's leading clinicians say it is time brain health received the same national focus as other major health challenges. Concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy have pushed brain health into the headlines, but Australia's leading clinicians warn they're just the tip of a much bigger problem.
Neurological conditions including stroke, dementia, traumatic brain injury, migraine, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease are now the leading cause of disability worldwide, yet Australia still has no coordinated national strategy for brain health.
Although not every major disease has a standalone strategy, there are national plans to address other major health challenges like cancer and dementia. Brain health is yet to receive that same coordinated national focus. On World Brain Day, neurologists, general practitioners, allied health providers, researchers and people with lived experience will gather in Melbourne to call for Australia's first National Brain Health Strategy.
Professor Tissa Wijeratne OAM (Senior Neurologist and Chair of the Migraine Foundation, Chair of World Brain Day, and Co-Chair of Australia's Brain Health Summit), said recent interest in concussion had created an opportunity to think much more broadly about brain health.
"Concussion has rightly captured people's concerns, but it is only one part of the story. The brain writes every chapter of our lives. It allows us to think, learn, work, communicate, love and live independently."
"We have national strategies for cancer, mental health and dementia, and broader frameworks for prevention, but still no national plan for the organ that drives every thought, movement and memory." "It's time brain health received the same level of national commitment, because without a healthy brain, there is no healthy person. Without healthy people, there is no healthy workforce and without a healthy workforce, there is no healthy economy. That is why Australia needs a National Brain Health Strategy."
"I have sat with patients and families in the moment everything changes, after a stroke, a brain injury or a diagnosis of dementia. I would much rather help people protect their brain before that day ever comes."
"Every Australian has a brain. Every Australian deserves a plan to protect it."
Dr Mukesh Haikerwal AC (Acting Chief Executive Officer of Brain Injury Australia, General Medical Practitioner, former National President of the Australian Medical Association and Co-Chair of Australia's Brain Health Summit), said people with neurological conditions were too often left to navigate a system that did not reflect the way they experienced illness.
"We have made real progress in other health areas because governments have backed national strategies and long-term reform. Brain health has simply not received that same attention, despite the enormous toll neurological conditions take on Australians, their families and the health system."
Dr Haikerwal said too many Australians are still being left to navigate a fragmented system that makes brain care harder to access than it should be.
"Whether it follows a stroke, a car crash, family violence, a workplace accident, illness or a hit on the football field, too many people are left trying to join the dots between GPs, hospitals, specialists and rehabilitation. People should not need a medical degree to work out where to go next."
"A National Brain Health Strategy would bring prevention, treatment and rehabilitation together so people spend less time navigating the system and more time getting the care they need." Michelle Scoble, an Aboriginal health liaison officer with lived experience of migraine, said having someone to talk to and a simple brain health plan can help people get the support they need earlier. "Brain health is about making sure people don't have to face things alone, as a First Nations woman, I know it can be hard to find your way through the health system when something isn't right."
"Everyone deserves support that is easy to access, culturally safe, and gives them the confidence to ask for help early."
Many of the biggest threats to brain health can be prevented, delayed or better managed through earlier action. Better control of blood pressure and diabetes, regular physical activity, healthy sleep, hearing protection, social connection and quitting smoking can all reduce the risk of neurological disease later in life.
About us:
World Brain Day 2026 is led by the World Federation of Neurology under the theme Brain Health: Access for All.
Australia's Brain Health Summit, convened by the Migraine Foundation Australia and Brain Injury Australia, will bring together clinicians, allied health practitioners, researchers, consumer organisations, universities and policymakers to begin shaping Australia's first National Brain Health Strategy.
