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.

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Latest findings

55% of injury hospitalisations and 61% of injury deaths were for males

There were over 532,500 injury hospitalisation cases in 2017–18

The top 3 causes of hospitalised injury in 2017–18 were falls, contact with objects, and transport accidents

Bee and wasp stings were responsible for 1,256 hospitalisations in 2017–18

Redback spider bites accounted for 283 hospitalisations in 2017–18

There were 3,520 hospitalisations due to contact with venomous animals and plants in 2017–18

Highlights

The number of hospitalisationsdue to injury has steadily increased each year over the past decade and now exceeds 530,000
Malesaccount for 55% of all hospitalisations due to injury, and 61% 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
Where you livecan affect your chances of serious injury or death from injury, with highest rates of injury among people in remote areas
42%of injuries requiring hospitalisation are due to falls, and transport accidents account for around 12%
13,000deaths a year are due to injury
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