Overview

Injury is a major contributor to mortality, morbidity and permanent disability in Australia.

Most injuries requiring hospitalisation are the result of falls and transport accidents, while most deaths from injuries occur as a result of falls and suicide. 

More reports and statistics on injury can be found under Hospitals and Life expectancy & deaths.

Latest findings

There were 199 hospitalisations involving injuries sustained on passenger ships and fishing boats Bee and wasp stings were responsible for 1,256 hospitalisations in 2017–18 There were 3,520 hospitalisations due to contact with venomous animals and plants in 2017–18 Males were twice as likely to be hospitalised due to a watercraft-related injury compared with females Brown snake bites resulted in 215 hospitalisations in 2017–18 Redback spider bites accounted for 283 hospitalisations in 2017–18 In 2017–18, 2,670 people were hospitalised for a watercraft-related injury There were 933 hospitalisations caused by injuries sustained while surfing or boogie boarding

Latest reports

See all reports

Highlights

The number of hospitalisationsdue to injury has steadily increased each year over the past decade and now exceeds 460,000
Malesaccount for nearly 60% of all hospitalisations due to injury, and a similar proportion of all injury deaths
Most hospitalisationsdue to injury occur in the 65+ age group for females, while for males, the majority occur in the 25–44 age group
Indigenous Australiansare twice as likely as other Australians to be seriously injured, and also twice as likely to die of an injury
40%of injuries requiring hospitalisation are due to falls, and transport accidents account for around 13%
12,000deaths a year are due to injury—8% of all deaths
Femalesare more likely to be hospitalised for injuries due to intentional self-harm than males; males are more likely to die as a result of suicide
Where you livecan affect your chances of serious injury or death from injury, with highest rates of injury among people in remote areas