Overview

Injuries are a major health care issue in Australia. In the latest years for which data was available, injuries caused:

  • over 544,000 hospitalisations
  • almost 13,800 deaths – injury is the leading cause of death for people aged 1–44
  • 8.4% of the burden of disease in Australia
  • 7.6% ($8.9 billion) of health expenditure in Australia.

Most injuries requiring hospitalisation are the result of falls, contact with objects or transport accidents, while most deaths from injuries are the result of falls or suicide.

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Latest findings

The top 3 causes of hospitalised injury in 2019–20 were falls, contact with objects, and transport accidents

The first few months of COVID-19 resulted in a 14% reduction in hospitalised injuries compared to previous years

80% of injury deaths due to choking and suffocation were for people aged 65 and over

133,000 falls hospitalisations in 2019–20 among older Australians

Fractures were the most common type of injury

2 in 3 falls hospitalisations were for females