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Get contact detailsEmergency department care activity
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An ED presentation occurs following the arrival of the patient at the ED and commences at the point of being registered or triaged. Triage is the process during which a health professional assesses the urgency of the care needs, including assigning one of five urgency categories to the health record.
Explore the data
Explore the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital EDs in 2022–23 and for recent years in the data visualisation below.
Information is presented by the following patient characteristics:
- age and sex (as recorded in the data)
- Indigenous status
- the remoteness of the patient's residential address
- the socioeconomic status of the area that the patient lives in.
The data can also be explored by:
- state and territory
- hospital peer group
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
- hospital (where data is available).
Emergency department presentations
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Presentations
This line graph shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (number of presentations and presentations per 1,000 population). National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, there were 8,800,919 presentations to emergency departments, which amounted to 334 presentations per 1,000 population in Australia.
Peer group
This line graph shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by peer group. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, the number of presentations ranged by peer group; from 3,283,660 presentations in Public acute group A hospitals to 220,429 presentations to Other hospitals.
Age and sex
These column graphs show the number of presentations per 1,000 population to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments in 2022–23. Data is presented by age group and sex. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, there were 343.6 presentations for females and 341.4 for males, per 1,000 population.
Indigenous status
This column graph shows show the number of presentations per 1,000 population to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments in 2022–23. Data is presented by age group and Indigenous status. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, Indigenous Australians had more presentations per 1,000 population, compared with Other Australians for all age groups. For example. Indigenous Australians in the age group of 35-39 had 946.4 presentations per 1,000 in Australia, compared to 259.8 presentations per 1,000 Other Australian’s in the same age group.
Hospitals and LHNs
This table shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2013–14 to 2022–23, by triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
In 2022–23:
- there were 8.80 million presentations to emergency departments in Australia – a rate of 334 per 1,000 population
- most ED presentations were to Principal referral and women’s and children’s and Public acute group A hospitals (71%, combined).
Emergency presentations have increased over the last five years, from 8.35 million in 2018–19 to 8.80 million in 2022–23, representing an average annual increase of 1.3% per year. However the number of presentations fluctuated during the years that were affected by COVID, decreasing in 2019–20, increasing in 2020–21 and decreasing again 2021–22.
Presentations to Public acute group C hospitals have increased the most (3.9% per year since 2018–19).
Age and sex
- In 2022–23, while, overall, males accounted for 49% of all ED presentations and females accounted for 51%, there were differences across age groups. In age groups under 15 years, a higher proportion of presentations were for males, but for age groups between 15 to 44 years and 85 years and over, most presentations were for females. In the age groups between 45 and 84 years, presentations were more evenly split between males and females.
- For both males and females, the highest rates of presentation per 1,000 population were for patients aged 85 or over – 941presentations per 1,000 population for males, and 764 per 1,000 population for females.
- The second highest presentation rates for both males and females were seen in patients aged 4 and under – who presented at EDs at a rate of 707 per 1,000 population for males and 592 per 1,000 population for females.
- While ED presentation rates were highest in the very young and very old age groups, 44% of all ED presentations were for people aged between 25 and 64.
Indigenous status
- Overall, 8.4% of ED presentations were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (who make up 3.8% of the Australian population).
- Across all age groups, the presentation rates per 1,000 population were greater for First Nations people compared to Other Australians. The largest difference was for people aged 40–44 where the presentation rate was 980 per 1,000 population for First Nations people and 256 per 1,000 population for Other Australians.
Remoteness area of usual residence
- People living in Major cities (who make up 72% of the Australian population), accounted for 62% of ED presentations – 294 presentations per 1,000 people.
- People living in Remote and Very remote areas (who make up 1.9% of the population) accounted for 3.6% of presentations.
- Information on presentation rates should be interpreted with caution as the scope of the ED data collection is ‘formal’ EDs that meet specific criteria and may not be evenly accessible to people across all geographic areas.
Socioeconomic status of area of usual residence
- People living in the lowest socioeconomic (most disadvantaged) areas were most likely to visit an ED, accounting for 24% of ED presentations (410 presentations per 1,000 people). This was followed by people who lived in areas classified as being in the second lowest socioeconomic position – who presented at a rate of 386 presentations per 1,000 population.
- People living in the highest socioeconomic (least disadvantaged) areas were least likely to visit an ED. They accounted for 14% of all ED presentations (233 presentations per 1,000 people).
What other information is available?
Appendix information is available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Reports released prior to 2017–18 can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023) Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS website, accessed 8 November 2023
ABS (2023) Regional population, ABS website, accessed 8 November 2023
Emergency department care access
Emergency department (ED) waiting time is the time elapsed for each patient from presentation in the ED to commencement of clinical care.
A patient is considered to have been 'seen on time' when the time between arrival at the ED and the time that their clinical care starts is within the time specified in the definition of the triage category they are assigned:
- Resuscitation: Immediate (within seconds)
- Emergency: within 10 minutes
- Urgent: within 30 minutes
- Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes
- Non-urgent: within 120 minutes.
Explore the data
The data visualisation below presents the following emergency department waiting time statistics by triage category:
- proportion seen on time
- 50th percentile (median) waiting time (half of all people waited less than this time)
- 90th percentile waiting time (90% of people waited less than this time).
In addition to the national data, the data can also be explored for recent years by:
- state and territory
- hospital (where data is available)
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).
Waiting times in emergency departments
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Triage category
These column graphs show the waiting time statistics (proportion seen on time, median (50th percentile) waiting time and 90th percentile waiting time) for emergency presentations in 2022–23. Data is presented by triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, the proportion of patients seen on time ranged by triage category; from 100% of Resuscitation presentations to 58% of Urgent patients.
States and territories
These line graphs show the waiting time statistics (proportion seen on time, median (50th percentile) waiting time and 90th percentile waiting time) for emergency presentations in 2018–19 to 2022–23. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, 65% of patients were seen on time, compared with 71% in 2018–19.
Hospitals and LHNs
This figure explores waiting times in emergency departments between in 2013–14 and in 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (number of patients presenting to the ED and the percentage of patients who commenced treatment within the recommended time), triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
Over the last five years, the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ has decreased and the time in which 90% of presentations were seen has increased.
In 2022–23:
- the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ was 65%, down from 67% in 2021–22 and from 71% in 2018–19
- Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals had the lowest overall proportion of presentations ‘seen on time’ (61%), and Other hospitals had the highest proportion (92%)
- 50% of patients were seen within 20 minutes, consistent with the previous year and higher than the preceding three years
- the time within which 90% of presentations were seen was 2 hours and 4 minutes, an increase from 1 hour and 40 minutes in 2018–19.
What other information is available?
Appendixes are available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Previous reports can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
An emergency department (ED) stay is the period between a patient presenting at an ED, and when that person is recorded as having physically departed the ED (regardless of whether they were admitted, referred, discharged or left at their own risk).
Explore the data
The data visualisation below presents the following measures related to time spent in the emergency department:
- proportion of patients with a length of stay of 4 hours or less
- 50th percentile (median) time spent in the ED (half of all people waited less than this time)
- 90th percentile time spent in the ED (90% of people waited less than this time).
The data is presented by:
- state and territory
- admission status
- triage category
- peer group.
The data can also be explored by:
- trends over time
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
- hospital (where data is available).
Time spent in emergency departments
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Peer group
This column graph shows the proportion of all emergency department patients whose length of stay was 4 hours or less in 2022–23. Data is presented by admission status (all, subsequently admitted or not admitted), peer group and triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, 55.8% of all patients in all hospitals completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours.
States and territories
These line graphs show the proportion of all emergency department patients whose length of stay was 4 hours or less between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by admission status (subsequently admitted or not admitted), peer group and triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, of all patients subsequently admitted to hospital, 30.7% completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours or less. Of all patients not subsequently admitted to hospital, 65.9% completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours or less.
Hospitals and LHNs
This graphic explores emergency department waiting time statistics between 2013–14 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (median waiting time (50%), number of presentations, percentage who depart within 4 hours and time until most (90%) depart), triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
Nationally, over the last five years, the time in which 90% of presentations were completed has increased, and the proportion of presentations completed within 4 hours has decreased.
In 2022–23:
- 50% of ED presentations were completed within 3 hours and 39 minutes, which is around 41 minutes longer than in 2018–19 (2 hours, 58 minutes)
- the time in which 50% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (6 hours, 4 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (3 hours, 4 minutes)
- 90% of ED presentations were completed within 10 hours and 32 minutes which is just over 3 hours longer than in 2018–19 (7 hours, 29 minutes)
- the time in which 90% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (18 hours, 23 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (7 hours, 19 minutes)
- 56% of patients who presented to ED had their care completed within 4 hours compared to 61% in 2021–22 and 70% in 2018–19
- for patients subsequently admitted to the same hospital, one-third (31%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
- for patients not subsequently admitted, two-thirds (66%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
- 79% of ED presentations occurred between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
What other information is available?
Appendix information is available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Previous emergency department care reports can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
Admitted patient safety and quality
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What is SABSI?
Staphylococcus aureus (also known as golden staph or S. aureus) is a usually harmless bacteria commonly found inside the nose and on the skin. However, if the bacteria enters the bloodstream a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABSI) can occur.
Contracting SABSI can be life-threatening and hospitals aim to minimise cases by implementing infection prevention and control policies, including good hygiene practices. Surveillance and reporting of healthcare-associated SABSI rates in hospitals helps to improve patient safety.
Types of SABSI
The two types of SABSI reported on are:
- methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) – which can be treated with commonly used antibiotics, and
- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which resists treatment by many types of antibiotics, and is associated with poorer patient outcomes.
Data on healthcare associated infections associated with hospital care are presented in the following data visualisation and summarised in the sections below. The data presented are for the latest year for which national data are available, and over time.
Healthcare-associated infections
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
This data visualisation contains 4 tabs:
1. Column graph showing number and rate of SABSI in public hospitals for 2020–21
2. Line graph showing number and rate of SABSI in public hospitals over time from 2010–11 to 2020–21.
3. Table showing SABSI number and rates by hospital between 2010–11 and 2020–21. Data is able to be filtered by type of SABSI, public/private sector, hospital peer group.
4. Data notes.
Nationally, in 2021–22:
- there were 1,546 cases of SABSI in public hospitals during 21.1 million patient days of care – an average of 30 cases per week. This is equivalent to a rate of 0.73 cases per 10,000 public hospital patient days.
- 15% of SABSI cases were resistant to antimicrobial treatment (MRSA) and 85% were MSSA cases.
Of the 700 public hospitals in Australia that contributed data, 197 (33%) hospitals reported at least one SABSI case.
Rates varied by the type of hospital (peer group) – from 0.47 per 10,000 patient days in Small hospitals to 0.92 in Major hospitals which, along with Children's hospitals (0.82), are more likely to deliver services with a higher risk of SABSI.
Seven states and territories met the national benchmark
All states and territories achieved rates below the current nationally-agreed performance benchmark of 1.0 case per 10,000 patient days, except the Australian Capital Territory. Rates ranged from 0.62 in Western Australia to 1.08 in the Australian Capital Territory.
Trends over time
Overall, SABSI rates have decreased at the national level from 1.09 cases per 10,000 patient days in 2010–11 to 0.73 in 2021–22. Rates by state/territory fluctuate from year to year.
On 1 July 2020, the agreed national benchmark changed from no more than 2.0 cases of healthcare-associated SABSI per 10,000 days of patient care to no more than 1.0 case.
Since 2010–11, rates of healthcare-associated MRSA have also declined – from 0.29 cases per 10,000 patient days to 0.11 cases. These cases accounted for 27% of all SABSI cases in 2010–11 compared with 15% of all cases in 2021–22.
In 2021–22, 149 private hospitals (23%) voluntarily submitted SABSI data to the data collection. The rate of private hospital participation in the NSABDC was calculated using the 643 private hospital listed in the Australian Government Department of Health’s list of Commonwealth Declared Hospitals as 31 October 2021. Due to the participation rate, data may not be representative of the private hospital sector as a whole. Also, data provided by public and private hospitals should not be compared, as the procedures, types of cases and patients treated, and therefore the risk of healthcare-associated SABSI in each sector, differ.
In 2021–22:
- there were 189 cases of SABSI in private hospitals during 5.6 million private hospital patient days. This is equivalent to a rate of 0.34 cases per 10,000 private hospital patient days.
- 7.9% of SABSI cases were resistant to antimicrobial treatment (MRSA) and 92% were MSSA cases.
The interactive table in the data visualisation above presents data on SABSI healthcare-associated infections by hospital between 2010–11 and 2021–22 – see 'Hospitals' tab. It includes both public and private hospitals.
See the Hospital Safety and Quality theme page for more data downloads for healthcare-associated infections in public and private hospitals.
Data are from the AIHW National Staphylococcus aureus Bacteraemia Data Collection (NSABDC). NSABDC data are supplied by all states and territories for public hospitals and participating private hospitals.
The SABSI rate is calculated as the number of healthcare-associated cases (patient-episodes) of Staphylococcus aureus divided by the total number of patient days under surveillance (x 10,000).
For more information about data quality and methods see:
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) – Antimicrobial resistance
Australian Government Department of Health – Antimicrobial resistance
Health Direct – Staph infections
Previous releases
AIHW – Bloodstream infections associated with hospital care 2019–20
Definitions of the terms used in this section are available in the Glossary.