Healthy Ageing Summit 2026

Gold Coast I 29 & 30 May 2026

AUSactive CECs

Healthy Ageing Summit 2026
29 & 30 May | Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise

Join Australia’s leading event dedicated to transforming the future of ageing. The Healthy Ageing Summit 2026 brings together world-class presenters, practitioners, and innovators for two powerful days of education, inspiration, and connection.

Designed for fitness professionals, allied health practitioners, wellness coaches, and anyone working with midlife and older adults, this Summit delivers cutting-edge research, practical frameworks, and real-world strategies you can implement immediately.

Presenters and Sessions

Ian ODwyer

Ian O'Dwyer

Foundation Movement Specialist & Co Founder FeelSOMA

Dr Wendy Sweet

Dr Wendy Sweet

Menopause Specialist &
Pioneer

Dr Paul Taylor

Dr Paul Taylor

Psychophysiologist &
Neuroscientist

Healthy Ageing Summit

What You'll Experience...

  • Expert-led keynote sessions on movement, menopause, neuroscience, sleep, audiology, chronic disease, mindset, and behaviour change.

  • Live demonstrations of functional movement, exercise prescription and assessments for ageing clients.

  • Evidence-based insights aligned with the 7 Pillars of Longevity.

  • Interactive workshops designed to build your confidence and professional skillset.

  • Networking opportunities with leaders across fitness, health and wellness.

  • Exclusive exhibitor access featuring the latest tools, tech and solutions for ageing populations

Bonus Sessions: Keynote & Panel Conversations

These sessions bring the Summit together. Featuring the opening keynote and two all-presenter panels, they offer a big-picture lens on healthy ageing — connecting ideas, challenging assumptions and translating insight across the seven pillars into real-world understanding.

Keynote: The Pathway of Life

Healthy ageing isn’t defined by a single method, qualification, or protocol — it’s shaped by the quality of choices we make over time. In this opening keynote, Ian O’Dwyer invites professionals to pause and critically examine what they practise, teach, and believe. Through a Feel SOMA lens, the session explores how movement, fascia, neural response, recovery, environment, and belief systems influence how we live and age. Rather than viewing ageing as decline, this keynote reframes it as an adaptable, empowered process — offering permission to evolve, integrate what works, and discard what no longer serves longevity, resilience and real-world living.

Healthy ageing is often spoken about, but rarely defined. This opening panel sets the lens for the entire Summit by exploring what healthy ageing actually means when viewed through the whole person — not a single behaviour, discipline, or outcome. Drawing on expertise in movement, sleep, hormonal health and population trends, the panel reframes prevention as building capacity, resilience and quality of life across time, particularly for adults aged 45+. Rather than offering protocols or quick fixes, this discussion challenges outdated assumptions, highlights the interconnected nature of health and introduces a shared mindset for the sessions that follow. This panel provides the conceptual foundation for the Summit and invites attendees to think differently about how we support people to live, move and age well.

Ageing does not begin at 60 — it is shaped decades earlier by the beliefs we adopt, the habits we reinforce, and the environments we move within. This panel reframes ageing through a 45+ preventative health lens, exploring how midlife choices quietly set the trajectory for longevity, resilience and quality of life. Bringing together movement, science, coaching, communication and lived experience, the discussion challenges age-based assumptions and fear-driven narratives that limit potential long before decline appears.

Panellists examine how the seven pillars of healthy ageing apply upstream — from movement and stress to connection, purpose, sleep, nutrition and environment — and what professionals must change now to support ageing well across the lifespan. This is a practical, thought-provoking conversation designed to reshape how we think, coach and live from midlife onward.

Panelists: Laraine Dunn, Fiona Cosgrove, Angela Lee Jenkins, Dr Paul Taylor, Ian O'Dwyer

  • Stay ahead of emerging industry trends in healthy ageing and longevity.

  • Learn from renowned presenters including Dr Paul Taylor, Dr Wendy Sweet, Shena Dale, Angela Lee Jenkins, Ian O’Dwyer, Reece Cooper (Audiology), and much more.

  • Gain practical skills you can use immediately with clients 45+.

  • Build your expertise to stand out as a leader in the fastest-growing demographic market.

  • Connect with a like-minded community passionate about helping people age well.

Who It's
For

Perfect for:

  • Personal trainers

  • Exercise physiologists

  • Allied health professionals

  • Pilates & yoga instructors

  • Health & wellness coaches

  • Community program leaders

  • Aged care & retirement village teams

If your work involves supporting adults through midlife and beyond, this event is for you.

Ticket Inclusions

  • Access to all sessions across both days

  • Summit workbook + downloadable resources

  • Exhibitor hall entry

  • Exhibitor Discounts

  • Morning tea, lunch & afternoon tea

  • Network Drinks
  • Certificate of attendance
     (CPD/CEC eligible depending on provider guidelines)

  • Access to selected session recordings (depending on ticket level)

What People Say About Us....

I'm so happy to have come across the Healthy Ageing Summit and the wealth of knowledge the program has provided me with.
After attending a lecture on ‘Exercise for Cancer Patients’, I'm delighted to have graduated as a Cancer Exercise Specialist and look forward to being able to help patients & survivors on their road to recovery…a topic that has limited information available for health and fitness professionals designed to work with this population.

I highly recommend the Healthy Ageing Summit for anyone in the fitness industry working with the Ageing Demographic. The knowledge and support provided by the team is invaluable. This has taken my small business to the next level!Thanks so much.
Matthew Lamb
Matthew Lamb
Cancer Exercise & Functional Ageing Specialist Optimal Health
Can’t thank the Healthy Ageing Summit enough for such awesome content. Being in the industry for 30+ years has seen me invest into many things and the Healthy Ageing Summit was time and money very well spent. I highly recommend attending as it will take your career to the next level!
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Giselle Larsen
Personal Trainer & Gym Manager
One of the big reasons why I did the Healthy Ageing Summit was because I was looking for genuine information to help build my business in the Ageing Demographic. Most of my clients are in this age group and it is hard to find dedicated information in one place. Amazing content! Thank you
Elena Feldman
Elena Feldman
Health & Wellness Coach
Absolutely fantastic event!! One of the best I've ever attended. The range of topics on Healthy Ageing was comprehensive and outstanding. I loved learning the latest from the best in the industry both here and from overseas, covering a range of topics from understanding the body, functional exercise and nutrition, to understanding the brain and genetics.

This event not only gave me the tools and strategies to help my clients, but also the tools and strategies to better position and expand my business in this growing sector.

If you want to be a leading healthy ageing expert and help your clients ensure their "health span matches their life span" ..

Don't miss this event !!

Rachel Cohen
Rachel Cohen
Xperteze Fitness & Nutrition

Appraising the Human Being through Observation, Listening and Curiosity

Assessment is more than a checklist—it’s a human conversation. In this immersive Feel SOMA workshop, appraisal is reframed as a process grounded in observation, listening, and genuine curiosity. Participants will explore how to move beyond isolated symptoms and instead understand the person as an integrated, adaptive system. Central to the session is the concept of tissue trust, learning to interpret pain and restriction as meaningful information rather than problems to fix. By observing movement, posture, breathing, expression and language, practitioners gain insight into mechanical patterns, neural response and fluid flow.

This session shifts the focus from chasing pain points to creating safety, support, and adaptability—empowering practitioners to deliver more intelligent, compassionate, and sustainable outcomes that support healthy ageing and long-term resilience.

Ian O’Dwyer is a globally respected movement specialist, educator, and co-founder of Feel SOMA, a practical self-care system that enhances movement, recovery, tissue health, and performance through accessible fascia and myofascial techniques. With nearly four decades in the health, fitness, and wellbeing space, his diverse career spans movement coaching, bodywork, sports conditioning, mentorship, and global presenting. Ian also co-founded PTA Global and led OD on Movement for over 20 years, shaping the next generation of movement professionals.

Known affectionately as “OD,” he brings an inclusive, insightful, and transformative approach that blends biomechanics with emotional and physical wellbeing. His ability to connect with audiences, simplify complex principles, and inspire action makes him a standout keynote speaker for the 2026 Healthy Ageing Summit.