Variation by remoteness area

In 2017–18, 63% of ED presentations were reported for people living in Major cities—who make up about 71% of the Australian population, about 289 ED presentations per 1,000 people.

People living in Remote and Very remote areas (who make up about 2% of the population) accounted for more than 3% of presentations, about 554 and 435 ED presentations per 1,000 people, respectively.

For people living in Major cities, 54% of presentations were assigned to the 3 most urgent triage categories (Resuscitation, Emergency, and Urgent), compared with about 37% of presentations reported for people living in Remote areas.

See Table 3.3 for caveat information on these data. Available to download in the data section.

Where to go for more information

Information on waiting times for ED presentations by remoteness of area of usual residence is presented in the ‘Waiting times’ section of this report, and ‘Chapter 5–How long did people wait for ED care?’ . Available to download in the pdf version of this report.