Suicide and fatalities from road accidents were the main causes
of injury death in Australia in 2002, according to a report
released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW).
Injury Deaths, Australia 2002 shows that 5,271 males
and 2,549 females died from injuries they sustained in 2002, with
suicide accounting for 2,320 deaths and transport-related
fatalities numbering 1,907.
Report author Renate Kreisfeld, from the AIHW's National Injury
and Surveillance Unit, said that although suicide topped the list
at 30% of all injury deaths, the numbers are continuing to
fall.
'The male suicide rate in 2002 was the lowest since 1985, and
was 20% lower than in 1997. The much lower female rates, though,
have changed very little in recent years.
'Suicide rates for the States and Territories were fairly
similar, with the ACT lower, and Tasmania and the Northern
Territory higher, than the national rate of 11.8 deaths per 100,000
population.'
Forty-five per cent of suicide fatalities involved hanging,
strangulation or suffocation, followed by poisoning (31%) and the
use of a firearm (9%).
Transport-related deaths also declined slightly, accounting for
24% of all injury deaths.
'Males outnumbered females by nearly 3 to 1 for the 1,907
transport-related deaths,' Ms Kreisfeld said.
'Most transport-related deaths (1,666 out of 1,907) resulted
from on-road collisions involving a motor vehicle. As in previous
years, males aged 15-29, and males aged 80 years and over, had the
highest rates of motor vehicle deaths. But in the 80+ age group
there was a notable rise in the number of female deaths and a fall
in the number of male deaths between 2000 and 2002.'
A total of 1,517 people died as a result of an accidental falls
(19% of total injury deaths). Fall rates were concentrated in the
older age groups, and were particularly high among both males and
females aged 85 years and older.
There were 232 deaths from accidental drowning in 2002. Of
these, 42 were children under five years, 20 of whom drowned in a
swimming pool. Three times as many men as women drowned in
2002.
Other findings in the report include:
- Injury was the cause of half of all deaths recorded for people
between the ages of 1 and 44 years in 2002.
- Young adults in the 20-39 years age range accounted for
one-third of all injury deaths.
- The Northern Territory had a considerably higher rate of injury
deaths than any other State or Territory, mostly due to a higher
rate of transport-related injury.
17 December 2004
Further information: Renate Kreisfeld, AIHW
National Injury Surveillance Unit, tel. 08 8201 7624.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of Injury Deaths, Australia
2002, December 2004.