FPM wraps up major pain medicine events in Melbourne

Overview

National Pain Education Summit, 1 October 

We kicked off the three days with the National Pain Education Summit: From standards to practice, bringing together more than 150 delegates and speakers from across the pain sector. The summit focused on how we move the Australian Standards for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education from endorsement to implementation.

Across three major sessions, the program brought together evidence, lived experience and practical examples. Sessions focused on:

• Why improving pain education is a national priority.
• Translating the standards into practical action across education, training and healthcare settings.
• Cultural safety and equity as core requirements of contemporary pain education.

The day closed with a focus on what comes next, including proposed practical steps to support implementation of the standards, discussion of our upcoming audit tool and opening the Pain Education Standards Network on LinkedIn to the broader pain community.

2026 FPM Spring Meeting, 2-3 October 

Following the summit, more than 170 delegates and 24 session speakers and workshop facilitators joined us at the RACV City Club for the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting, “Advancing pain care: Challenges and opportunities”.

• Workshops for FPM supervisors of training and examiners.
• Emergency response workshops on advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment (OIVI).
• The FPM welcome reception.

Day two featured a packed scientific program exploring the challenges and opportunities shaping pain care. Speakers brought together different specialties and perspectives, with sessions on:

• Pelvic pain as a model for integrated care.
• Bridging specialties in complex pain care.
• Interventional pain medicine, evidence, innovation and patient selection.
• Emerging research and translation shaping the future of pain care.

In conversation with session speakers and FPM leaders

We had the opportunity to catch up with some of our fantastic session speakers, chairs and FPM leaders to recap their sessions, reflect on the discussions and share key takeaways from across the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting, including:

• Welcome to the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting from our 2026 convenor, Dr Harry Sivakumar and FPM leadership.
• ePPOC closure and where to next for pain outcomes and benchmarking?: Professor Michael Veltman and Dr Irina Hollington discuss the pain sector-wide response.
• Bridging specialties in complex pain care: Dr Rushab Shah and Dr Dan Hubik discuss where pain care intersects with rheumatology and psychiatry.
• Perioperative opioid stewardship: Dr Meg Allen discusses stakeholder perspectives on opioid stewardship and changing practice with Professor Michael Veltman.
• Pelvic pain and endometriosis a key focus at major pain medicine meeting: Read the FPM media release.

You can watch the full 2026 FPM Spring Meeting playlist here.

For more updates, information and the latest news and events relating to the Australian Standards for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education, keep an eye on the online hub, FPM LinkedIn and the new Pain Education Standards Network.

Register for OnDemand

Couldn't make it to the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting? Continue the conversation from the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting with OnDemand access to selected presentations and discussions. 

Whether you missed the meeting or would like to revisit key sessions, OnDemand gives you access to the fantastic speakers from the day and their expert insights, emerging evidence and practical approaches across pelvic pain and endometriosis, interdisciplinary pain management, opioid stewardship, interventional pain medicine and the future of outcomes measurement in pain care.

Register for OnDemand and watch wherever and whenever it suits you.

Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to the National Pain Education Summit, including our speakers, panellists, lived experience contributors and the faculty team who brought the day together.

For the 2026 FPM Spring Meeting, we thank convenor Dr Harry Sivakumar, our speakers and session chairs, healthcare industry sponsors and exhibitors, and the FPM and ANZCA staff who worked behind the scenes to make the meeting possible.