Beloved actor Michael Caton reveals serious fall and calls for urgent action on epidemic

Legendary actor Michael Caton has issued an emotional plea to Australians and their governments, speaking exclusively to 7NEWS about the need to tackle one of the nation’s deadliest and most neglected health crises: falls among older people.

He joins a major new push from experts and community leaders to launch Australia’s first national falls prevention alliance.

Every day, 17 Australians die and 400 are hospitalised because of falls, costing the health system $3 billion a year.

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Despite decades of world-leading research, Australia has no national plan to prevent these injuries and deaths.

Caton, 82, who starred in Packed to the Rafters and The Castle, told 7NEWS he joined the campaign after suffering falls himself.

“My first fall was about 18 months ago … it came as a bit of a shock because it was a vertigo thing,” he said. “But I’ve learned that if I feel it coming, I just take a knee — it’s hard to hurt yourself badly if you’re already at knee level.”

“It’s a huge amount of people injured and die, and there seems to be nothing really being done about it by the federal or state governments. It kills more people than road accidents, cancer, everything. And we do nothing about it.”

The Packed To The Rafters star was moved to act after suffering falls himself. Credit: 7NEWS

He hopes his voice will help break the stigma around ageing and injury.

“People think that because you’re over 60, that’s just the way things are,” Caton said. “But it doesn’t have to be. You can live a full life if you know what you’re dealing with.”

Caton urged governments to act — and voters to hold them accountable.

“Get onto your local member and tell them to get off their backsides and start a campaign like Slip, Slop, Slap,” he said. “You could save a third of those lives if people were educated about how to deal with it.”

Caton worked his way into Australian hearts almost three decades ago with his star turn in The Castle. Credit: 7NEWS

Independent MP Allegra Spender knows the heartbreak firsthand after losing her mother, fashion designer Carla Zampatti, to a fall on stairs at a charity event in Sydney in 2021.

“It was a terrible shock,” she told 7NEWS. “You go from having a family member to suddenly everything’s changed.”

She says the government must act now.

“I will be asking the Health Minister to respond to because I think there are some very sensible ideas coming out here and I think that the government needs to consider how can it invest better in prevention to help older Australians and their families.”

Independent MP Allegra Spender (right) lost her legendary fashion designer mother Carla Zampatti (centre) to a fall four years ago. Credit: Supplied

Professor Anne Tiedemann from the University of Sydney, who co-founded the Alliance, says the collaboration of researchers, politicians and community groups could finally deliver change.

“Many falls are preventable, so we’re losing our loved ones unnecessarily,” she said.

The Falls Prevention Alliance Australia is calling for federal and state governments to:

Develop a National Falls Action Plan — modelled on the 2024 Dementia National Action Plan, a falls action plan would set measurable reduction targets and coordinate the delivery of evidence-based interventions across states and territories;Increase funding for intervention programs — for example to support community exercise programs and provide additional Medicare and health fund rebates for care;Fund a national public health campaign — similar to those for smoking prevention and skin cancer, the campaign would provide Australians with practical information about how to prevent falls and where to go for advice.