Accidental poisoning
Citation
AIHW
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2023) Accidental poisoning, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 06 December 2023.
APA
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). Accidental poisoning. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/accidental-poisoning
MLA
Accidental poisoning. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 06 July 2023, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/accidental-poisoning
Vancouver
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Accidental poisoning [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2023 [cited 2023 Dec. 6]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/accidental-poisoning
Harvard
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2023, Accidental poisoning, viewed 6 December 2023, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/accidental-poisoning
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On this page:
Introduction
Substances involved in accidental poisoning hospitalisations
Substances involved in accidental poisoning deaths
Trends over time
Seasonal differences
Age and sex differences
Severity
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Remoteness
Data details
Related AIHW publications
References
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Accidental poisoning is caused by exposure to a substance in an amount that harms the body. It is the 9th most common reason for injury hospitalisation and leads to thousands of hospitalisations and more than a thousand deaths in Australia each year.
Accidental poisoning mostly involves pharmaceutical drugs. In this report, the term ‘pharmaceutical drugs’ includes those prescribed by a health practitioner and those obtained by other means.
Accidental poisoning resulted in around:
8,800 hospitalisations in 2021–22
34 per 100,000 population
1,400 deaths in 2020–21
5.3 per 100,000 population
This represents 1.6% of injury hospitalisations and 9.8% of injury deaths.
Intentional poisoning injuries are included under Self-harm and suicide and Assault and homicide. The adverse effects of correctly prescribed and consumed drugs are not included in this report.
Substances involved in accidental poisoning hospitalisations
In 2021–22:
- harmful exposure to pharmaceutical drugs made up 80% of accidental poisoning hospitalisations (Table 1)
- harmful exposure to other substances, including alcohol, organic solvents and gases, made up the other 20% of accidental poisoning hospitalisations (Table 2).
Type of pharmaceutical |
Hospitalisations |
% |
Rate (per 100,000) |
---|---|---|---|
Other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances (includes hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classified, such as insulin) (X44) |
2,437 |
34 |
9.5 |
Antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs not elsewhere classified (includes benzodiazepines and psychostimulants with potential for use disorder, such as amphetamines) (X41) |
2,053 |
29 |
8 |
Narcotics and psychodysleptics, not elsewhere classified (includes opioids such as codeine, morphine and heroin) (X42) |
1,416 |
20 |
5.5 |
Non-opioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatic drugs (includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (X40) |
846 |
12 |
3.3 |
Other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system (X43) |
341 |
5 |
1.3 |
Total |
7,093 |
100 |
28 |
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
- Codes in brackets refer to the ICD-10-AM (11th edition) external cause codes (ACCD 2019).
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables B7–8.
Type of non-pharmaceutical substance |
Number |
% |
Rate (per 100,000) |
---|---|---|---|
Other gases and vapours (not included in X46 below), such as exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide (X47) |
230 |
13 |
0.9 |
Alcohol (X45) |
180 |
10 |
0.7 |
Organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapours (X46) |
118 |
7 |
0.5 |
Pesticides (X48) |
91 |
5 |
0.4 |
Other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substances (X49) |
1,128 |
65 |
4.4 |
Total |
1,747 |
100 |
6.9 |
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
- Organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapours include aerosol and solvent-based products such as, deodorant, hair care products, laughing gas (nitrous oxide), paint, paint thinner, glue, nail polish remover, cleaning spray, felt-tip markers, mineral turpentine, methylated spirits, and petrol.
- Codes in brackets refer to the ICD-10-AM (11th edition) external cause codes (ACCD 2019).
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables B7–8.
Substances involved in accidental poisoning deaths
In 2020–21:
- harmful exposure to pharmaceutical drugs made up 85% of accidental poisoning hospitalisations
- alcohol was the most common non-pharmaceutical cause of accidental poisoning hospitalisations (Table 3).
Type of substance |
Deaths |
% |
Rate (per 100,000) |
---|---|---|---|
Other specified and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances (includes drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system, hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classified, such as insulin) (X43–X44) |
727 |
53 |
2.8 |
Narcotics and psychodysleptics, not elsewhere classified (includes opioids such as codeine, morphine and heroin) (X42) |
196 |
14 |
0.8 |
Antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs not elsewhere classified (includes benzodiazepines and psychostimulants with potential for use disorder, such as amphetamines) (X41) |
223 |
16 |
0.9 |
Alcohol (X45) |
130 |
10 |
0.5 |
Non-opioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatic drugs (includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (X40) |
11 |
1 |
0.0 |
Other and unspecified gases, vapours, chemicals and noxious substances (X46–X49) |
25 |
2 |
0.1 |
Other identified unspecified accidental poisoning |
53 |
4 |
0.2 |
Total |
1,365 |
100 |
5.3 |
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
- Codes in brackets refer to the ICD-10 external cause codes (WHO 2011).
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.
For more detail, see Data tables E10–11.
Trends over time
Over the period from 2017–18 to 2021–22, the age-standardised rate of hospitalisations due to poisoning declined by an annual average of 5.7%. From 2012–13 to 2016–17, there was an average annual increase of 3.4%.
There is a break in the time series for hospitalisations between 2016–17 and 2017–18 due to a change in data collection methods (see the technical notes for details).
For deaths due to poisoning, the age-standardised rate for 2020–21 was 17% lower than a year earlier. Between 2011–12 and 2020–21 the rate rose and fell back to the same level. (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Accidental poisoning hospitalisations and deaths, by sex, by year
2 matching line graphs on separate tabs, 1 for hospitalisations and 1 for deaths. The 3 lines represent the trend for males, persons and females over 10 years. The reader can choose to display rate per 100,000 population or number, with the default set to rate of hospitalisations
For more detail, see Data tables C1–3 and F1–4.
Seasonal differences
Hospitalisations due to accidental poisoning remain relatively consistent across seasons (Figure 2).
Some other types of injury show a seasonal pattern – see the interactive display.
Figure 2: Seasonal differences in accidental poisoning hospitalisations, 2019–20 to 2021–22
Notes
- Admission counts have been standardised into two 15-day periods per month.
- A scale up factor has been applied to June admissions to account for cases not yet separated.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables C1–3 and F1–4.
Age and sex differences
Accidental poisoning hospitalisation rates were slightly higher for males than females (in 2021–22), while the rate of death for males was more than twice the rate for females (in 2020–21).
Age patterns were very different between hospitalisations and deaths (Figure 3).
For accidental poisoning hospitalisations in 2021–22:
- males made up a greater proportion (53%) than females
- when comparing life-stage age groups, children aged 0–4 had the highest rate of hospitalisation (85 per 100,000 population). Further breakdown of the 65-and-over age group reveals that those aged 85 and over have similarly high rates.
For accidental poisoning deaths in 2020–21:
- males made up a greater proportion (69%) than females
- people aged 25–44 and 45–64 had much higher rates than other age groups (7.8 and 9.7 per 100,000 population, respectively).
Figure 3: Accidental poisoning hospitalisations and deaths, by age group and sex
Column graph representing sex within 6 life-stage age groups. The reader can choose to display either rate per 100,000 population or number. The default displays rate of hospitalisation for males and females and the reader can also choose to display persons. The reader can also choose to display deaths.

For more detail, see Data tables A1–3 and D1–3.
Severity
There are many ways that the severity, or seriousness, of an injury can be measured. Some of the ways to measure the severity of hospitalised injuries are:
- number of days in hospital
- time in an intensive care unit (ICU)
- time on a ventilator
- in-hospital deaths.
The average number of days in hospital, and the rate of in-hospital deaths for accidental poisoning were lower than the average for all injury hospitalisations, but the percentage of cases that included either time in an ICU or on continuous ventilatory support were higher (Table 4).
Accidental poisoning |
All injuries |
|
---|---|---|
Average number of days in hospital |
2.6 |
4.7 |
% of cases with time in an ICU |
8.1 |
2.0 |
% of cases involving continuous ventilatory support |
5.9 |
1.1 |
In-hospital deaths (per 1,000 cases) |
3.5 |
5.9 |
Note: Average number of days in hospital (length of stay) includes admissions that are transfers from 1 hospital to another or transfers from 1 admitted care type to another within the same hospital, except where care involves rehabilitation procedures.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables A12–13.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:
- there were 794 hospitalisations in 2021–22 due to accidental poisoning (Table 5)
- the hospitalisation rate for males was 1.1 times as high as for females
- hospitalisation rates were highest for children aged 0–4
- there were 77 deaths due to accidental poisoning in 2020–21 (Table 6)
- the rate of death for males was 1.3 times as high as for females
|
Males |
Females |
Persons |
---|---|---|---|
Number |
413 |
381 |
794 |
Rate (per 100,000) |
94 |
87 |
90 |
Note: Persons includes cases where sex is intersex, indeterminate or missing.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
|
Males |
Females |
Persons |
---|---|---|---|
Number |
44 |
33 |
77 |
Rate (per 100,000) |
12 |
8.7 |
10 |
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Deaths data only includes data for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables A4–5 and D4-5.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians, compared with non-Indigenous Australians, after adjusting for differences in population age structure, were:
- 3.1 times as likely to be hospitalised due to accidental poisoning in 2021–22 (Table 7)
- 3.0 times as likely to die because of accidental poisoning in 2020–21 (Table 8).
|
Males |
Females |
Persons |
---|---|---|---|
Indigenous Australians |
101 |
91 |
96 |
Non-Indigenous Australians |
34 |
29 |
31 |
Notes
- Rates are age-standardised to the 2001 Australian population (per 100,000).
- ‘Non-Indigenous Australians’ excludes cases where Indigenous status is missing or not stated.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
|
Males |
Females |
Persons |
---|---|---|---|
Indigenous Australians |
16 |
12 |
14.2 |
Non-Indigenous Australians |
7.0 |
2.7 |
4.8 |
Notes
- Rates are age-standardised to the 2001 Australian population (per 100,000).
- ‘Non-Indigenous Australians’ excludes cases where Indigenous status is missing or not stated.
- Deaths data only includes data for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.
For more detail, see Data tables A6 and D8.
The rate of hospitalisation for accidental poisoning was highest among the 0–4 life-stage age group for both Indigenous and other Australians (Figure 4).
Deaths data are not presented here because of small numbers.
Figure 4: Accidental poisoning hospitalisations by Indigenous status, by age group and sex, 2021–22
Column graph representing hospitalisation data for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 6 life-stage age groups. The reader can choose to display rate per 100,000 population or number. The reader can also choose to display data for persons, males, or females, with the default set to rate for persons.

For more detail, see Data tables A4–A6 and D4–D8.
Remoteness
In 2021–22, people living in Very remote areas had the highest rate of hospitalisation for accidental poisoning and people living in Major cities had the lowest rate. People living in Very remote areas, using age-standardised rates, were 1.5 times as likely to be hospitalised for poisoning as those living in Major cities (Table 9).
People living in Outer regional areas had higher rates of death by accidental poisoning than those in other areas in 2020–21 (Table 10).
Males |
Females |
Persons |
|
---|---|---|---|
Major cities |
34 |
30 |
32 |
Inner regional |
35 |
29 |
32 |
Outer regional |
50 |
40 |
45 |
Remote |
36 |
60 |
47 |
Very remote |
47 |
52 |
49 |
Note: Rates are age-standardised per 100,000 population.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
Males |
Females |
Persons |
|
---|---|---|---|
Major cities |
6.5 |
2.8 |
4.7 |
Inner regional |
6.7 |
2.7 |
4.6 |
Outer regional |
6.9 |
3.5 |
5.2 |
Remote |
n.p. |
n.p. |
n.p. |
Very remote |
n.p. |
n.p. |
n.p. |
n.p. not published because of small numbers, confidentiality, or other concerns about the quality of the data.
Note: Rates are age-standardised per 100,000 population.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.
For more detail, see Data tables A9 and D9.
The highest rate of hospitalisation for accidental poisoning was among the 0–4 life-stage age group living in Very remote areas of Australia. (Figure 5).
Deaths data are not presented because of small numbers.
Figure 5: Accidental poisoning hospitalisations by remoteness, by age group and sex, 2021–22
Column graph representing hospitalisation data for each of the 5 remoteness categories by 6 life-stage age groups. The reader can choose to display rate per 100,000 population or number. The reader can also choose to display data for persons, males, or females, with the default displaying rate for persons.

For more detail, see Data tables A7–A9 and D9–10.
For information on how statistics are calculated by remoteness, see the technical notes.
Data details
Technical notes: how the data were calculated
Data tables: download the full tables
The following are recent publications with information on accidental poisoning. For older publications, see Reports.
Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia
Alcohol and other drug treatment services
The first year of COVID-19 in Australia: direct and indirect health effects
ACCD (Australian Consortium for Classification Development) 2019. The international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision, Australian modification (ICD-10-AM), 11th ed. Tabular list of diseases and alphabetic index of diseases. Adelaide: Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA), Lane Publishing.
WHO (World Health Organization) 2011. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, tenth revision. Fifth edition 2016. Geneva: WHO.