Overview

Injuries are a major health care issue in Australia. In the latest years for which data was available, injuries caused:

  • over 544,000 hospitalisations
  • almost 13,800 deaths – injury is the leading cause of death for people aged 1–44
  • 8.4% of the burden of disease in Australia
  • 7.6% ($8.9 billion) of health expenditure in Australia.

Most injuries requiring hospitalisation are the result of falls, contact with objects or transport accidents, while most deaths from injuries are the result of falls or suicide.

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Latest findings

83% of injury deaths due to choking and suffocation were for people aged 65 and over

The top 3 causes of injury deaths in 2018–19 were falls, suicide and accidental poisoning

There were over 544,000 cases of hospitalisated injury in 2018–19

Over 5,000 falls deaths in 2019–20 among older Australians

2 in 3 falls hospitalisations were for females

133,000 falls hospitalisations in 2019–20 among older Australians