00:00The 2026 Senior Australian of the Year is Professor Henry Brodati AO.
00:10Professor Henry Brodati has transformed the way the world understands dementia.
00:15He was heavily influenced by his own father's Alzheimer diagnosis at just 52
00:20and has gone on to become a global leader in dementia research, diagnosis and care.
00:25In his decades of work, Henry has helped bring dignity, understanding and hope
00:30to those living with dementia and to those who care for them.
00:34Congratulations, Professor Henry Brodati, the 2026 Senior Australian of the Year.
00:43I was a one-year-old arriving in this wonderful country with my Holocaust survivor parents.
00:51This makes this a very poignant and extraordinary award for me,
01:02especially in the aftermath of the Bondi Massacre.
01:07I'm very grateful.
01:08I would like to dedicate this to all of us who are older
01:14and all of us who hopefully will get older
01:19and especially to those affected by dementia and their families
01:25and especially to my father who died with dementia aged 59
01:31and to my mother who was his carer.
01:36It was his illness, it was his gift to me
01:38that led me to co-founding and eventually leading Alzheimer's associations
01:45both in New South Wales and in Australia
01:47and later Alzheimer's Disease International.
01:51We started with four countries
01:53and now have over 100 countries represented.
01:56It led to me becoming a clinician
01:59and an advocate for people with dementia and their families
02:03and a researcher.
02:08Look, we can't deny it.
02:10Dementia is a national health priority.
02:13It's our challenge.
02:15It's our challenge, all of us.
02:17I mentioned over 430,000 Australians
02:20and over a million family carers are touched by dementia.
02:26Direct and indirect costs total over $18 billion.
02:32You know what that is?
02:33That's the same amount we spend on the PBS
02:36on our national health for medications.
02:42And by mid-century, these numbers will double
02:44because we're getting older.
02:46So, we have a vision,
02:52the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at UNSW,
02:55and our vision is to live our life
02:57with good cognitive health, our full lifespan.
03:01So, is that possible?
03:03Can we really prevent dementia or at least delay its onset?
03:07Well, yes.
03:09Almost half the cost of dementia
03:11is caused by preventable factors
03:14that we can modify in our lifestyle now.
03:19Our randomised control trial
03:21of an intensive online lifestyle coaching programme
03:24had the best results yet in the world
03:28in maintaining cognition.
03:31We did a cost-benefit analysis.
03:33The programme paid for itself
03:35in reducing health costs.
03:38We designed this a decade ago.
03:40We can do better.
03:40We can do a lot better.
03:44Look, I'm sorry about the comedian we had earlier,
03:47but I want to say
03:48that people think more about their hair
03:52than what's underneath.
03:56We should treasure our brains
03:58just as we have our hearts.
04:02Australia's got a proud record in prevention.
04:05Smoking, skin cancer, lots of other examples.
04:07It's a yes-brainer.
04:11Australians would benefit
04:12from a national healthy brain promotion programme.
04:17We need the slip, slop, slap of brain health.
04:21And this needs to be a whole-of-life approach.
04:24The earlier we start, the better.
04:25So is there hope for dementia?
04:29You bet.
04:31As well as prevention,
04:32there are new drugs for Alzheimer's,
04:34new diagnostic tests,
04:36more information about risk factors,
04:38more support for carers,
04:40and a new philosophy now
04:42of living positively with dementia
04:43for many years
04:44through rehabilitation
04:46after a diagnosis.
04:48Of course, there's the reality
04:50and the sadness
04:51of living with dementia.
04:53I experience that.
04:55And the challenge
04:56of providing care and services.
04:58We don't have a dementia navigator programme
05:00like we do have
05:01for breast cancer in Australia.
05:03So before I finish,
05:05just let me give you a warning.
05:07Many people have been duped
05:09by deepfake videos of me
05:11spruiking cures
05:13or preventions for dementia.
05:14You can buy it for $375
05:17and Bredardi recommends it.
05:19They're scams.
05:20Don't believe them.
05:22So let me conclude.
05:23Over four decades,
05:25we have moved
05:26from hopelessness to hope,
05:30from stigma to science.
05:32And I'm proud
05:33to have been part
05:34of this transformation.
05:36There is so much we can do.
05:40There's so much we must do.
05:41Thank you very much.
