You don't have to live with chronic wounds to feel their impact. You don't even have to care for someone who does. Everyone gets the occasional wound, and any wound can become chronic if it's not treated properly. 

More than 450,000 Australians live with the pain, shame, isolation and expense of a chronic wound, and Wound Awareness Week exists to support them. 

This Wound Awareness Week, we're asking Australia to Be Wound Aware: because Wounds Affect EVERY Body. We'll be exploring: 

• The unexpected consequences of even small wounds 
• The common myths and misconceptions getting in the way of good care 
• Wound care basics: things you can do at home to help healing 
• Preventing common wounds, like tears in ageing skin. 

Breaking down barriers to good care

Wounds Australia CEO Jeff Antcliff said some common myths about wound care were preventing good care delivery. 

"The results of our recent survey to find out what the nation knows about wounds were illuminating," Mr Antcliff said. "We know that many chronic wounds could have been prevented or healed with the right treatment at the right time, and our survey told us why people aren't following best practice." 

For example, our survey results showed that: 

• One in three respondents believed wounds need to dry out to heal
• 14% said wounds heal with time and don't need treatment
• 13% thought exposing their wound to the ocean was beneficial.

"These are myths that may cause greater harm," Mr Antcliff said. "Wound Awareness Week – part of our multi-year Be Wound Aware campaign to educate the nation about wounds – is about debunking these myths by teaching people the basics, like acute wound care, sources of professional advice, and easy ways to reduce your risk of chronic wounds." 

A shared financial burden

Every Australian is impacted by chronic wounds in another significant way – by relying on national health and aged care systems that spend $6.6 billion a year on often preventable chronic wounds. 

Professor Fiona Wood AO is a long-time Ambassador of Wound Awareness Week and highlighted the need for more to be done in this area in her National Press Club address in 2024. Watch her speech.

About Wound Awareness Week

• 1-7 September 2025, woundaware.org 
• An annual event run by Wounds Australia, the national peak body 
• Available for interview: 
• Professor Fiona Wood AO 
• Jeff Antcliff, CEO Wounds Australia 
• Wound Champions: people with lived experience of chronic wounds, or of caring for wounds 
• Bella Fitzgibbon, Vic 
• Tony McDonald, NSW 
• James O'Brien, NSW 
• Danielle Bewley, WA 
• Monique Bareham, SA 

About Be Wound Aware

• A national multi-year campaign to educate Australia about chronic wounds 
• Funded by a Federal Government grant 
• Woundaware.org

Media Contact:

For interviews, please contact Emma Noble, Communications Director, at Wounds Australia: emma.noble@woundsaustralia.org or 0432 899139.