Epilepsy Tasmania

08/10/2026

💜 DAY 8 | RECOMMENDATION 8

This is a big one for Tasmania.

Recommendation 8 calls for an appropriately funded and resourced comprehensive epilepsy centre in every Australian jurisdiction.

Tasmania is a jurisdiction.

That opens an important conversation about what comprehensive epilepsy care should look like in a small island state — what should be delivered locally, what may still need highly specialised interstate expertise, and how those pieces should connect so families are not left to coordinate the system themselves.

A comprehensive model should feel like one connected system from the perspective of the person living with epilepsy, even when care crosses organisational or state boundaries.

🎥 Watch Paul unpack Recommendation 8:
https://youtu.be/5iQQmdqgzcE

What would you want a Tasmanian comprehensive epilepsy centre to provide?

💜 Join or support Walk4Epilepsy: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas



https://youtu.be/5iQQmdqgzcE?si=S8P1RleuollRwdLY

Day 8 of Walk4Epilepsy reaches one of the biggest recommendations f...

07/10/2026

💜 DAY 7 | RECOMMENDATION 7

What if an answer that was not available when you were diagnosed might be available now?

Recommendation 7 asks the Australian Government and relevant stakeholders to investigate better access to genetic testing early in epilepsy diagnosis pathways — and to offer genetic testing to adults with a longstanding epilepsy diagnosis.

For some people, identifying a genetic cause can help clarify diagnosis, guide care and inform treatment decisions. It can also bring an end to years of uncertainty.

For Tasmania, the opportunity is not to duplicate every highly specialised genetics service locally. It is to build reliable pathways so Tasmanians can access appropriate testing, interpretation and counselling wherever the expertise sits.

🎥 Watch Paul’s Day 7 conversation:
https://youtu.be/vFuxYt3wFuo

💜 Join or support Walk4Epilepsy: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

Day 7 of Walk4 Epilepsy looks at Recommendation 7 from the Senate I...

06/10/2026

💜 THANK YOU FOR MOVING FOR THE MOMENTS 💜

To everyone who is pounding the pavement and Moving for the Moments this October — we want to say a very big THANK YOU!

Every step, every kilometre, every cheer and every conversation is helping create moments of understanding, resilience, hope and connection for the 1 in 25 Australians impacted by epilepsy.

Thank you for being part of Walk for Epilepsy 2026.

06/10/2026

💜 DAY 6 | RECOMMENDATION 6

What if the scan you need exists — but not where you live?

Recommendation 6 calls for the Australian Government to work with states and territories to urgently improve equitable access to neuroimaging services.

For Tasmania, that matters. Access to MRI, PET and CT can involve more than the scan itself — it can mean waiting, travel, time away from work or school, and sometimes interstate care.

Equity does not mean putting every piece of equipment in every town. It means making sure someone can get the clinically appropriate investigation when they need it, without their postcode becoming an unnecessary barrier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQM6PzhzQNE&t=33s

Have distance or waiting times affected your access to specialist investigations?

💜 Join or support Walk4Epilepsy: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

05/10/2026

🚶‍♂️💜 DAY 5 | RECOMMENDATION 5

“Medicare reimbursement for EEG services.”

Not exactly the catchiest topic for a morning walk. 😄

But behind Recommendation 5 is a much more important question:

Can someone who needs an EEG actually get the right test, at the right time?

EEGs are a critical part of investigating and managing epilepsy, yet access to more complex testing can be particularly challenging outside major metropolitan centres.

That's especially relevant to Tasmania.

Better funding, smarter use of technology and access to specialist interpretation could all help reduce the disadvantage created by geography.

Sometimes we don't need to move the patient to the expertise.

We can move the information to the expertise.

🎥 That's today's Walk4Epilepsy conversation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp_YhIQoKBU

Have you or someone you care for experienced delays, travel or difficulty accessing EEG testing in Tasmania?

💜 Join or donate: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

Day 5 of Walk4Epilepsy takes on a recommendation that sounds techni...

04/10/2026

A massive thank you to the George Town Lions Club who had a stall at the Futures Expo last weekend, to sell our adorable purple plushies, raising awareness and funds for those in Tasmania impacted by epilepsy.

03/10/2026

🚶‍♂️💜 DAY 4 | RECOMMENDATION 4

You've had a first seizure. What happens next?

You've been diagnosed with epilepsy. What happens next?

You've tried medications but you're still having seizures. What happens next?

Recommendation 4 calls for clear optimal care pathways for epilepsy, drug-resistant epilepsy and developmental and epileptic encephalopathies.

For Tasmanians, that pathway may sometimes cross Bass Strait.

That's okay.

What's not okay is expecting individuals and families to build the bridge between services themselves.

🎥 Today Paul talks about what a genuinely connected epilepsy pathway could look like — from local care through to highly specialised interstate services when they're needed.

https://youtu.be/oXnn3LBpvuo?si=oi1MFaKDvfXjsB5J

Where in your epilepsy journey did you feel most unsure about what should happen next?

💜 Join or donate: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

Day 4 of Walk4Epilepsy looks at Recommendation 4 from the Senate In...

02/10/2026

🚶‍♂️💜 DAY 3 | RECOMMENDATION 3

When someone with epilepsy needs help, is the right expertise actually available — and can they access it?

Recommendation 3 calls for a national epilepsy workforce plan.

For Tasmania, this question has particular weight.

A smaller specialist workforce means a vacancy, retirement or shortage can have a disproportionate impact. And good epilepsy care can involve much more than a neurologist — from GPs and specialist nurses to EEG expertise, psychology, genetics, dietetics and other disciplines.

The answer isn't necessarily having every specialist service in every Tasmanian town.

It's building strong local capability and reliable pathways to specialist expertise when it is needed.

🎥 Paul explores what that could mean for Tasmania on Day 3:
https://youtu.be/xLn2TYNjrwk?si=3cBXDOg-kqLZ-lUh

Have you struggled to access someone with the right epilepsy expertise in Tasmania?

💜 Join or donate: https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

Day 3 of my Walk4Epilepsy challenge, and today I’m unpacking Recomm...

02/10/2026

🚶‍♂️💜 **DAY 2 | RECOMMENDATION 2**

**How well does our community really understand epilepsy?**

For Day 2 of Walk4Epilepsy, our CEO Paul Quilliam looks at **Recommendation 2 of the Senate Inquiry into Epilepsy in Australia — a national epilepsy awareness campaign.**

Because awareness is about much more than knowing that epilepsy exists.

It’s understanding that seizures can look very different. It’s knowing what to do when someone has a seizure. It’s reducing stigma and fear. And it’s helping schools, workplaces, health professionals and the wider community respond with greater knowledge and confidence.

For Tasmania, that raises a really practical question:

**Where do we most need better understanding of epilepsy?**

🎥 Watch Paul’s Day 2 walk here:
https://youtu.be/Td8S2nu4Zlg?si=wsI07XlDUU2jqV9C

💬 Then tell us what you think in the comments.

And there’s still plenty of October ahead to join Paul and thousands of others taking part in Walk4Epilepsy.

🚶 Join the challenge
💜 Support Epilepsy Tasmania

👉 https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas

🚶‍♂️💜 **DAY 2 | RECOMMENDATION 2****27 RECOMMENDATIONS. 27 WALKS....

01/10/2026

🚶‍♂️💜 **27 RECOMMENDATIONS. 27 WALKS. 27 CONVERSATIONS.**

Today we’re starting something a little different for **Walk4Epilepsy 2026**.

Last month, the Australian Senate’s *Epilepsy in Australia* inquiry delivered its final report, containing **27 recommendations**.

So across 27 walks, Epilepsy Tasmania CEO Paul Quilliam is taking one recommendation at a time and asking a simple question:

**What could this actually mean for people living with epilepsy, their families and communities here in Tasmania?**

🎥 **DAY 1 | RECOMMENDATION 1**
**A National Epilepsy Action Plan**

This first recommendation calls for the development and implementation of a National Epilepsy Action Plan, aligned with the World Health Organization’s global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

Getting 27 recommendations into a Senate report was an important milestone. The conversation now turns to what implementation could look like — and we want people affected by epilepsy to be part of that conversation.

These won’t be 27 policy lectures.

**They’ll be 27 walks and 27 conversations.**

▶️ **Watch Day 1:** https://youtu.be/O_CRTA4Meos

💜 **Join the walk. Join the conversation.**
https://www.walkforepilepsy.org.au/event/tas