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Potentially avoidable deaths

What is being tracked?

Measure: Number of potentially avoidable deaths in hospital for people with disability, compared with people without disability per 100,000 people

This measure is part of the Health and wellbeing priority of the Strategy. This priority is about supporting the health of people with disability by improving their experience when they need to access health services.

The desired outcome is that there are fewer potentially avoidable deaths in hospital of people with disability compared with people without disability.

This measure replaces the previous measure – proportion of people with disability who reported unmet need for hospital admission in the last 12 months.

The data for this measure are currently based on individuals who received disability-related government payments or services between 2020–21 and 2021–22. This does not represent all people with disability in Australia. It is an interim method agreed for use through the National Disability Data Asset co-governance arrangements until data improvements make more suitable additional data available. For more information, see the NDDA Disability Indicators Explanatory Notes.

Potentially avoidable deaths are deaths where the underlying cause is considered to be potentially preventable (through screening and primary prevention) or potentially treatable through existing primary or hospital care. This is an internationally recognised way of assessing health outcomes and health system performance.

There are some things to keep in mind:

  • The potentially avoidable death criteria were not specifically designed for people with disabilities
  • Sometimes, a person's disability might be incorrectly recorded as the cause of death instead of another potentially avoidable cause
  • Some people with disability, such as older people aged 65 and over, are less likely to receive disability-related government payments or services, and are poorly represented in the data
  • The true difference in potentially avoidable deaths in hospital between people with and without disabilities is likely larger.

For more information, please see the Potentially Avoidable Deaths Fact Sheet.

Last updated:

Outcome area: Health and wellbeing Priority: Health and wellbeing

  • Baseline value

    228potentially avoidable deaths in hospital per 100,000 people with disability in 2020–21

    33potentially avoidable deaths in hospital per 100,000 people without disability in 2020–21

  • Latest value

    238potentially avoidable deaths in hospital per 100,000 people with disability in 2021–22

    33potentially avoidable deaths in hospital per 100,000 people without disability in 2021–22

No change the latest data are similar to the baseline

View the data source

Trends

Has the number of potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people with disability changed over time compared with people without disability?

The data in the graph and the table below show the number of potentially avoidable deaths in hospital of people with disability, compared with people without disability (per 100,000). Data from 2020–21 to 2021–22 are used. In 2021–22, there were 238 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people with disability during hospital admission or emergency department presentation, compared with 33 deaths per 100,000 people without disability. In 2020–21, there were 228 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people with disability, compared with 33 deaths per 100,000 people without disability. The baseline used to track change over time is 2020–21.

^ ACT data are currently excluded for 2021–22 due to a technical issue. Work is underway to resolve this.

Source: National Health Data Hub | Data source overview

Population groups

How this measure varies by…

  • Does the number of potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people with disability vary by sex?

    The data in the graph and the table below show the number of potentially avoidable deaths in hospital of people with disability, compared with people without disability (per 100,000), grouped by sex. In 2021–22, there were 225 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 males with disability during hospital admission or emergency department presentation, compared with 255 deaths per 100,000 females with disability.

    Source: National Health Data Hub | Data source overview

  • Does the number of potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people with disability vary by age?

    The data in the graph and the table below show the number of potentially avoidable deaths in hospital of people with disability, compared with people without disability (per 100,000), grouped by age. In 2021–22, there were 668 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 people aged 65 and over with disability during hospital admission or emergency department presentation, compared with 8 deaths per 100,000 people with disability in the under 15 age group.

    Source: National Health Data Hub | Data source overview

Where did these data come from?

Data on potentially avoidable deaths in hospital come from linked data collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Learn more about these data
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