Summary
This report describes trends in the occurrence of injury deaths in Australia from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2010 and provides a summary of injury deaths in 2009-10. The information is based on all causes of death recorded on death certificates - that is, the underlying cause of death and any other causes.
Injury deaths in 2009-10
Injury was recorded as a cause of 10,668 deaths in 2009-10 in Australia, corresponding to a crude rate of 49 deaths per 100,000 population. Rates were 61 (males) and 37 (females) per 100,000).
Rates were highest in the oldest age groups: 177 (males) and 164 (females) per 100,000 aged 65 and older. Rates for males were much higher than for females except in the oldest and youngest groups. At 15-24 years, the rates were 41 (males) and 13 (females) per 100,000.
The age-standardised injury death rate for residents of the Northern Territory-93 deaths per 100,000 population-was about twice the national rate. The age-standardised injury death rate tended to increase with increasing remoteness of place of residence. The rate for residents of Remote areas (75 deaths per 100,000 population) was 1.8 times the rate for residents of the Major cities (41 per 100,000 population).
The 2 main causes of injury deaths in 2009-10 were unintentional falls (33%; 3,480 deaths) and suicide (21%, 2,247 deaths). More than 93% (3,251) of fall injury deaths occurred at ages 65 and older. There were more than 3 times as many male suicides (1,710) as female suicides (537).
Trends in injury deaths
The age-standardised rate of injury deaths decreased by an average of 3% per year, from 55 to 47 deaths per 100,000 between 1999-00 and 2004-05, and changed little after that. The number of injury deaths varied, but was close to around 10,000 per year during this period.
Rates of injury deaths involving most external causes tended to decline from 1999-00 to 2007-08, by 4.1% per year for transport injury, 3.2% for thermal injury, 2.7% for suicide and 5.2% for homicide. Drowning rates declined by an average of 5.5% per year to 2007-08 then rose. Rates of poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals fell sharply to 2001-02, then rose by 2.2% per year to 2007-08. Rates of fall injury deaths did not show a marked trend.
Analysis of changes in rates over time was complicated, especially for some external causes of injury, due to changes in the way that causes have been recorded and classified over recent years. An accompanying technical report describes the changes in detail.
Trends in injury deaths among Indigenous people
Age-standardised injury death rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fluctuated but tended to decline over the period from 1999-00 to 2009-10. Rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 2 to 3 times as high as rates for Other Australians over this period.
Summary
1. Introduction
- Structure of this report
- Chapter structure
- Methods
2. Overview of injury deaths
- What is the profile of injury deaths in 2009-10?
- How have injury deaths changed over time?
- How have injury deaths varied by age and sex over time?
- How have injury deaths varied by remoteness of usual residence over time?
- How have injury deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
- How have the causes of injury mortality varied over time?
3. Transport injury
- What methods were used?
- Overview of transport injury deaths
- How many deaths due to unintentional transport injury were there in 2009-10?
- How have unintentional transport injury deaths changed over time?
- How have unintentional transport injury deaths varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional transport injury deaths varied by remoteness?
- How have unintentional transport injury deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
4. Drowning
- What methods were used?
- Overview of total drowning
- How many unintentional drowning deaths were there in 2009-10?
- How have unintentional drowning deaths changed over time?
- How have unintentional drowning deaths varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional drowning deaths varied by remoteness?
- How have unintentional drowning deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
5. Poisoning, pharmaceuticals
- What methods were used?
- Overview of total poisoning by drugs
- How many unintentional poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals were there in 2009-10?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals changed over time?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals varied by remoteness?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving pharmaceuticals of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
6. Poisoning, other substances
- What methods were used?
- Overview of total poisoning deaths involving other substances
- How many unintentional poisoning deaths involving other substances were there in 2009-10?
- Associated factors
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving other substances changed over time?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving other substances varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional poisoning deaths involving other substances varied by remoteness?
- How have deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from unintentional poisoning involving other substances changed over time?
7. Falls
- What methods were used?
- Overview of fall injury deaths
- How many unintentional fall injury deaths were there in 2009-10?
- How have unintentional fall injury deaths changed over time?
- How have unintentional fall injury deaths varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional fall injury deaths varied by remoteness?
- How have unintentional fall injury deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
8. Thermal injury
- What methods were used?
- How many unintentional thermal injury deaths were there in 2009-10?
- How have unintentional thermal injury deaths changed over time?
- How have unintentional thermal injury deaths varied by age and sex?
- How have unintentional thermal injury deaths varied by remoteness?
9. Other unintentional injury
- What methods were used?
- How many other unintentional injury deaths were there in 2009-10?
- Overview
- Trends for selected mechanisms of injury
10. Suicide deaths
- What methods were used?
- How many suicides were there in 2009-10?
- How have suicides changed over time?
- How have suicides varied by age and sex?
- How have suicides varied by remoteness?
- How have suicides by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
11. Homicide deaths
- What methods were used?
- How many homicides were there in 2009-10?
- How have homicides changed over time?
- How have homicides varied by age and sex?
- How have homicides varied by remoteness?
- How have homicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changed over time?
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Appendix A: Data issues
Appendix B: Additional tables
Appendix C: Road injury deaths
End matter: Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Symbols; Glossary; References; List of tables; List of figures; List of boxes; Related publication