Overview

Injury is a major contributor to mortality, morbidity and permanent disability in Australia—almost half a million people are hospitalised each year as a result of injury, and a further 12,000 people die.

Most injuries requiring hospitalisation are the result of falls and transport accidents, while most deaths from injuries occur as a result of falls and suicide. 

More reports and statistics on injury can be found under Hospitals and Life expectancy & deaths.

Latest findings

Fractures accounted for 50% of mobility scooter injuries Fractures were the most common type of injury for hospitalised cyclists (55%) In 2015–16, about 12,000 Australians were hospitalised as the result of a pedal cycle related injury From 1999–00 to 2015–16, 651 pedal cyclists died as the result of their injuries, an average of 38 deaths per year Falls and transport accidents were the two main mechanisms of mobility scooter-related death; 62% and 33% respectively Rates of hospitalised pedal cyclist cases rose for those 25 and older, and fell at younger ages From 1999–00 to 2015–16, injuries in older cyclists rose, and were more severe than those at younger ages About 4 in 10 hospitalised pedal cyclists were injured off-road Pedal cyclists accounted for 1 in 5 of all injury hospitalisations from land transport crashes 69 people died as a result of a mobility scooter-related incident; three-quarters were 80+ years (84%) and male (79%) 2,300 people were hospitalised as a result of mobility scooter-related injury in 2011–16; males (52%) and females (42%) Falls (96%) and transport accidents (4%) were the main cause of injury

Featured reports

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Highlights

The number of hospitalisationsdue to injury has steadily increased each year over the past decade and now exceeds 460,000
Malesaccount for nearly 60% of all hospitalisations due to injury, and a similar proportion of all injury deaths
Most hospitalisationsdue to injury occur in the 65+ age group for females, while for males, the majority occur in the 25–44 age group
Indigenous Australiansare twice as likely as other Australians to be seriously injured, and also twice as likely to die of an injury
40%of injuries requiring hospitalisation are due to falls, and transport accidents account for around 13%
12,000deaths a year are due to injury—8% of all deaths
Femalesare more likely to be hospitalised for injuries due to intentional self-harm than males; males are more likely to die as a result of suicide
Where you livecan affect your chances of serious injury or death from injury, with highest rates of injury among people in remote areas