wellness
Free senior fitness programs from Brisbane City Council are filling up fast in New Farm
Older residents across New Farm and Teneriffe are snapping up no-cost exercise sessions funded by local council, and the waiting lists are growing.
How we reported this
Brisbane City Council's Active and Healthy program has expanded its free senior fitness sessions to six days a week at New Farm Park from 1 July, adding Tuesday and Thursday morning slots that were missing from last year's timetable. The sessions, which run from 7:30am to 8:30am along the Oxlade Drive riverfront, are open to residents aged 60 and over at no cost whatsoever, no membership, no casual fee, no equipment required.
The timing matters. Hormone health, bone density and cardiovascular decline accelerate sharply after 60, and the mid-winter months push sedentary behaviour up across the board as cooler mornings keep people indoors. Council data released in June showed that physical inactivity costs the Brisbane local government area an estimated $340 million annually in preventable health expenditure, a figure that underpins the political will to keep funding these programs even as other discretionary council budgets face pressure.
What's on offer and where to find it
New Farm Park is the anchor venue, but it's not the only one. The Teneriffe Ferry Terminal precinct hosts a Wednesday morning tai chi class, also free, also council-funded, that has been running since March 2025 under the delivery partnership with not-for-profit provider Communify Queensland. Communify coordinates the instructors and handles enrolments, while council covers the cost through its Seniors Active Living grants, which disbursed $2.1 million across inner-city suburbs in the 2025-26 financial year.
The New Farm Neighbourhood Centre on Merthyr Road acts as the administrative hub for residents who want to register in person. Staff there can also connect older residents with the complementary Falls Prevention program, a six-week structured course that runs at the New Farm Library on Brunswick Street every second month. The next cohort starts 18 August, with 20 places available. As of Thursday, 14 had already been claimed.
Beyond tai chi and the riverfront sessions, council added a low-impact aqua aerobics class at Spring Hill's Centenary Pool in June, a short bus ride on the 199 route from Brunswick Street, specifically for New Farm and Fortitude Valley seniors who need a gentler joint-friendly option. The class runs on Monday and Friday at 9am and costs nothing for holders of a Queensland Seniors Card.
The evidence behind the push
Group exercise for older adults isn't just good optics. A 2024 Griffith University study tracking 1,200 Queenslanders over 65 found that participants in council-facilitated outdoor group fitness programs were 34 percent less likely to report symptoms of depression after 12 weeks compared with a control group exercising alone. Social connection, not just physical activity, drove the result, which is why the New Farm Park sessions deliberately build in a 15-minute informal gathering time after the workout finishes, near the rotunda at the park's eastern end.
Participation numbers from last financial year show 312 unique residents in the inner-north postcodes 4005 and 4006 used at least one free council senior fitness service. Council's target for 2026-27 is 420, a 35 percent increase, driven partly by the new Tuesday and Thursday timeslots.
Residents thinking about joining should register sooner rather than later. The Oxlade Drive sessions already have a waitlist of 11 for the Tuesday morning slot. Registration is free and takes about three minutes through the Brisbane City Council Active and Healthy online portal, or in person at the Merthyr Road Neighbourhood Centre between 9am and 3pm weekdays. Bring your Queensland Seniors Card if you have one, though it is not mandatory for most programs. A GP check-in before starting is always wise, the New Farm Medical Centre on Brunswick Street bulk-bills Seniors Card holders for those pre-exercise consultations.