Emergency department care

Emergency departments (EDs) are an essential component of Australia’s health care system. Many of Australia’s public hospitals have purpose-built EDs, staffed 24 hours a day, providing care for patients who require urgent medical, surgical or other attention.

Explore more details on ED care via the links at the bottom of the page.

Media release

Emergency department activity increased in 2018–19

• There were 8.4 million presentations to Australian public hospital EDs in 2018–19—an average of about 23,000 presentations per day and up 4.2% from 2017–18.
• Principal diagnoses of Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes accounted for 1 in 4 presentations (2 million). These include fractures, burns, toxic effects of medicinal and non-medicinal substances, and other complications.
• 52% of patients were assigned to the 3 most urgent triage categories (Resuscitation, Emergency and Urgent), ranging from 37% for patients aged 5 to 14 to 69% for patients aged 95 and over.
• Most ED patients went home after being treated (60%) and almost one third of patients (31%) were admitted to hospital for further care.

Around three-quarters of patients receive care on time

In 2018–19, 71% of patients were ‘seen on time’, including almost all of those requiring immediate care and 75% of those requiring care within 10 minutes. The overall proportion seen on time has fallen since 2014–15 (74%).

Of all ED presentations:

• in 2018–19, 90% of patients were seen within 1 hour and 40 minutes. This measure was fairly consistent over the previous 4 years, varying from 1 hour and 33 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes
• 50% of patients were seen within 19 minutes, consistent with waiting times for the previous year, and similar to waiting times in 2014–15 (18 minutes).

Fewer ED visits are completed in 4 hours

• Overall, 70% of ED visits were completed within 4 hours in 2018–19, down from 73% in 2014–15.
• 90% of ED visits were completed within 7 hours and 29 minutes in 2018–19, up from 7 hours and 14 minutes in 2017–18.

Males, children and older adults are over-represented

• Patients aged 4 years and under (who make up less than 7% of the population) accounted for 11% of presentations.
• Patients aged 65 and over (who make up about 15% of the population) accounted for 22% of presentations.

Where do I find more information?

The latest data on ED care is available for download below.