Patient characteristics

The need for, and accessibility of, admitted patient care services can vary for different population groups. This section presents information on the use of admitted patient care services for different population groups based on their demographic characteristics.

In the data visualisation below, you can explore information on hospitalisations from 2020–21 to 2024–25, by age group, sex, Indigenous status, hospital sector and geography.

Age group and sex

In 2024–25:

• just over half of all hospitalisations (52%, 6.7 million) were for females (as identified in the data)
• females accounted for over two-thirds (69%) of hospitalisations for people aged 20–39, the age range that includes most hospitalisations for childbirth
• females also accounted for more patient days than males (17.7 million and 16.6 million patient days, respectively)
• people aged 65 and over (who make up 17% of the population) accounted for 45% of hospitalisations and 52% of patient days
• people aged 85 and over (who make up 2.1% of the population) accounted for 6.9% of hospitalisations and 13% of patient days.

Regarding rates of hospitalisation for males and females in different age groups, in 2024–25:

• there were 470 hospitalisations per 1,000 population in total. Males were hospitalised at a rate of 452 per 1,000 males and females at a rate of 487 per 1,000 females
• hospitalisation rates increased with age, with those aged 5–14 hospitalised at a rate of 99 per 1,000 population and those aged 85 years and over hospitalised at a rate of 1,511 per 1,000 population
• females had higher hospitalisation rates per 1,000 population than males in all age groups between 15–54, which is likely due in part to reproductive years falling within this age range
• for age groups 55 and above, males were more likely than females to be hospitalised, with the difference increasing with age. 

First Nations people

In 2024–25:

• 716,000 hospitalisations (5.6%) were reported for First Nations people – a rate of 984 hospitalisations per 1,000 population for First Nations people 
• 86% of hospitalisations for First Nations people were in public hospitals (616,000), compared with 58% of hospitalisations for other Australians (7.7 million).
• First Nations people had high rates of same-day acute hospitalisations for dialysis (434 per 1,000 population), which is just over 8 times the rate for other Australians (54 per 1,000 population)
• First Nations people had 284 overnight acute hospitalisations per 1,000 population, which is 1.9 times the rate for other Australians (150 per 1,000).

Remoteness area of usual residence

In 2024–25, hospitalisation rates:

• were highest for people living in Very remote and Remote areas (841 and 537 per 1,000 population, respectively), and lowest for those living in Major cities (404 per 1,000 population)
• for public hospitals, ranged from 678 per 1,000 population for people living in Very remote areas to 227 per 1,000 for people living in Major cities 
• for private hospitals, ranged from 177 per 1,000 for people living in Major cities to 88 per 1,000 population for people living in Remote areas. In part, this may reflect the distribution of private hospitals across remoteness areas.

Socioeconomic area of usual residence

In 2024–25, hospitalisation rates:

• were highest for people living in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic areas (461 hospitalisations per 1,000 population) and were lowest for people living in the least disadvantaged socioeconomic areas (383 hospitalisations per 1,000 population)
• in public hospitals, were highest for people living in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic areas (350 per 1,000 population)
• in private hospitals, were highest for people living in the least disadvantaged socioeconomic areas (225 per 1,000 population).