Falls

Falls were the leading cause of injury hospitalisations in 2023–24 and the leading cause of injury deaths in 2022–23.

In 2023–24, fall injuries are estimated to have cost the health system over $5 billion. For more detail, see the health system spending report.

Note: Expenditure is an estimate - ICD-10 code inclusions may vary between reporting groups.

Fall injuries resulted in:

Types of falls

In 2023–24, fall on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling, other fall on same level and unspecified fall were the fall types most often associated with injury hospitalisations (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Number and age-standardised rate of fall-related injury hospitalisations, by type of fall, Australia, 2023–24

Notes:

1. ASR is the age-standardised rate of hospitalisations per 100,000 persons.
2. ASRs where the numerator is less than 20 are not shown due to data volatility.
3. Only the top 10 fall types are included in this graph.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and ABS National, state and territory population.

Table 1 below presents falls injury hospitalisations by the 20 most frequently recorded detailed fall types during 2023–24. Hospitalisations where the fall type was unspecified have been excluded from this ranked table.

Note: Unspecified fall types are excluded from this table

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

In 2022–23, most fall injury deaths were for unspecified fall, other fall excluded from above and fall on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Number and age-standardised rate of injury deaths by type of fall involved, Australia, 2022–23

Notes:

1. ASR is the age standardised rate per 100,000 persons.
2.  ASRs where the numerator is less than 20 are not shown due to data volatility.
3. Only the top 10 fall types are included.

Source: AIHW National Mortality Database and ABS National, state and territory population.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

Fall injuries over time

Over the past decade, the rate of fall injury hospitalisations has increased, with age-standardised rates ranging from about 747.1 in 2014–15 to 768.8 per 100,000 in 2023–24 (Figure 3). The number of hospitalisations increased from 195,296 to 248,211 in the same period. The hospitalisation rate in 2023–24 was 1.2% lower than the previous 5-year average rate of 778.1 per 100,000 population.

Figure 3: Number and age-standardised rate of fall injury hospitalisations, by financial year, Australia

Notes:

1. Numbers and age-standardised rates of hospitalisations are represented in columns and as a line graph by financial years. Columns are case counts, while the line graph represents age-standardised rates per 100,000 population.
2. Break in series between 2016–17 and 2017–18. See technical notes for detail.
    

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and ABS National, state and territory population.

The number of injury deaths caused by falls is increasing. For fall deaths in 2022–23, the age-standardised rate was 8.2% higher than the previous 5-year average rate of 16.5 per 100,000 population (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Number and age-standardised rate of fall injury deaths, by financial year, Australia

Note: Numbers and age-standardised rates of injury death are represented in columns and as a line graph by financial years. Columns are case counts, while the line graph represents age-standardised rates per 100,000 population.

Sources: AIHW National Mortality Database and ABS National, state and territory population.

Trends varied by type of fall (Figure 5). Compared to the previous 5-year average, fall on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling hospitalisation rates changed the most (2.2% increase) followed by other fall on same level (1.4% decrease). For injury deaths involving a slip, trip or stumble on the same level, rates have decreased by 35.2% compared to the previous 5-year average.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

Seasonality

Hospital admissions due to fall injuries suggest some patterns over the year (Figure 6). There were higher numbers of all fall types (collectively) across 2023–24 as compared to the previous 5-year average. While the largest causes of falls (including slips, trips and stumbles, fall involving furniture and fall on the same level) did not vary throughout the year, types of falls that happened more often in summer included:

Falls on the same level due to pushing or collision by another person were markedly increased in winter, as were those involving ice and snow.

What injuries occur?

Body part injured and type of injury

In 2023–24, the three body parts most frequently injured in fall hospitalisations (Figure 7) were:

• head and neck (71,357 cases, an ASR of 219.4 per 100,000 population)
• hip and lower limb (63,664 cases, an ASR of 191.9 per 100,000 population)
• shoulder and upper limb (55,847 cases, an ASR of 184.1 per 100,000 population)

There is some variation by the type of fall and body part affected:

• falls from slipping, tripping and stumbling, stairs and steps, and high places like cliffs commonly resulted in hip and lower limb injuries
• shoulder and upper limb injuries were most common in falls involving playground equipment, skating equipment or during collisions or pushing by another person.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

Fractures were by far the most common type of injury during fall hospitalisations (53%, 131,438 hospitalisations). The most frequent injuries by body part were fractures to the shoulder and upper limb, and fractures to the hip and lower limb (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Age-standardised rate of fall injury hospitalisations by type of injury and body part injured, Australia, 2023–24

Notes:

1. Age-standardised rates per 100,000 population.
2. Body part injured: Trunk includes thorax, abdomen, lower back, lumbar spine & pelvis), Shoulder and upper limb excludes hand and wrist, Other includes multiple and incompletely specified body regions, Not specified includes injuries not described in terms of body location, Hip and lower limb excludes ankle and foot.
3. Type of injury: Other/multiple includes other specified and/or multiple injuries.

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and ABS National, state and territory population.

Activity while injured and place of occurrence

Falls injury hospitalisation rates generally increased with age for all places of occurrence, with the exception of schools, sports areas, industrial and construction areas and prisons or juvenile detention centres (Table 2).

Note: Crude rates per 100,000 population.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Where place of occurrence is recorded as a residential aged care service, falls risk increased with increasing age. Falls on the same level, slips trips and stumbles and falls involving furniture or mobility conveyances were common types resulting in hospitalisations. For more details on fall injuries occurring in residential aged care services, please go to: Residential aged care quality indicators. Falls are a reportable indicator for measuring quality of care in residential aged care services. Please refer to the GEN Aged Care Data website for further detail about falls and major injuries in residential aged care.

Severity

The average number of days in hospital for fall injuries was higher than the average for all hospitalised injuries in 2023–24, while the percentages of cases that included time in an ICU and cases that involved continuous ventilatory support were both lower. The rate of in-hospital deaths was higher (Table 3).

Notes:

1. Average number of days in hospital (length of stay) includes admissions that are transfers from one hospital to another or transfers from one admitted care type to another within the same hospital, except where care involves rehabilitation procedures.
2. All injuries includes fall injuries in the total calculations.
   

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

Age and sex

Rates of hospitalisation and death caused by fall injuries differ by age and sex (Figure 9).

In 2023–24, Australians aged 65 years and over were almost 12 times as likely to be hospitalised due to a fall than adults aged 25 to 44 years, with crude rates of hospitalisation of 3,298.7 and 276.9 per 100,000 persons, respectively. Very young children, aged 0 to 4 years, also had high crude rates of fall injury hospitalisations, compared to other age groups (579.2 per 100,000 persons in 2023-24) (Figure 9).

Fall injury death rates have increased with age over the past decade (Figure 9). Falls from stairs and steps and Unspecified falls caused increased mortality in people aged over 75 years over the past decade, while death rates from slips, trips and stumbles decreased over the same period in the same age bracket.

Common types of falls among younger people

Most falls in people aged under 15 years occur among males, and falls involving playground equipment was the top ranked cause of hospitalisation for both sexes.

Notes:

1. Unspecified fall types are excluded from this table.
2. Crude rate is presented per 100,000 population.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Common types of falls among people of working ages

Tables 5a and 5b look at people of working age, grouped into 15 to 49-year-olds and those who are between 50 to 64 years old. Most falls in these age groups occur among females and those aged 50+, with slips, trips and stumbles being the major causes.

Notes:

1. Unspecified fall types are excluded from this table.
2. Crude rate is presented per 100,000 population.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Notes:

1. Unspecified fall types are excluded from this table
2. Crude rate is presented per 100,000 population

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Common types of falls among people aged 65+

The vast majority of falls injury hospitalisations occur in these older adults, with females predominating and rates increasing with age (Table 6). Slips, trips and stumbles are the major specified cause of fall injury hospitalisations among older people.

Notes:

1. Unspecified fall types are excluded from this table
2. Crude rate is presented per 100,000 population

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

First Nations people

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (First Nations people):

• there were 8,843 hospitalisations due to falls in 2023–24 (858.2 per 100,000)
• males were more likely than females to be hospitalised (870.4 and 845.6 per 100,000 population respectively)
• hospitalisation rates were highest among people aged 65+ (Figure 10)
• there were 61 deaths due to falls in 2022–23 (6.7 per 100,000)
• females were 1.1 times as likely as males to die (7.1 and 6.4 per 100,000 population) (Table 7).

Figure 10: Number and crude rate of fall injury hospitalisations among First Nations people, by age and sex, Australia, 2023–24

Note: Numbers and crude rates of injury hospitalisation are represented in columns and as a line graph by financial years. Columns are case counts, while the line graph represents crude rates per 100,000.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and ABS Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Notes:

1. Crude rates per 100,000 population.
2. Deaths data only includes data for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, as these jurisdictions are considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification in mortality data.

Source: AIHW National Mortality Database and ABS Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

Comparison between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians

First Nations people, when compared with non-Indigenous Australians, were:

Figure 11: Age-standardised rates of fall injury hospitalisations and deaths by Indigenous status and financial year, Australia

Notes:

1. Age-standardised rate per 100,000 population.
2. 'Non-Indigenous people’ excludes cases where Indigenous status is missing or not stated.
3. Deaths data only includes data for people whose usual residence was New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, as these jurisdictions are considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification in mortality data.

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, AIHW National Mortality Database and ABS Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The rate of fall injury hospitalisations was highest among the 65+ age group for both First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians, but across every other age group the rate was higher among First Nations people than non-Indigenous Australians (Figure 12). Deaths data are not presented because of small numbers.

Figure 12: Fall injury hospitalisations, by Indigenous status and age group, Australia, 2023–24

Notes:

1. Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
2. ‘Non-Indigenous Australians’ excludes cases where Indigenous status is missing or not stated.

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and ABS Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

For more detail, see Falls supplementary data tables.

State and territory

The states and territories with the highest rates of fall injury hospitalisations in 2023–24 were:

• Northern Territory (1,264.6 per 100,000)
• Australian Capital Territory (970.0 per 100,000)
• Queensland (908.8 per 100,000).

The states and territories with the highest rates of fall injury death in 2023–24 were:

• Tasmania (20.1 per 100,000)
• Western Australia (19.7 per 100,000)
• Northern Territory (19.0 per 100,000) (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Age-standardised rates of fall injury hospitalisations (2023–24) and deaths (2022–23), by state or territory of usual residence, Australia

Notes:

1. State and territory refers to the state and territory of usual residence for the individual.
2. Age-standardised rates per 100,000 population.

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, AIHW National Mortality Database, and ABS National, state and territory population.

Most states and territories recorded a decrease in age-standardised hospitalisation rates for most fall types compared to the previous 5-year average (Figure 14).

Exceptions include:

• Northern Territory: a 39% increase for falls involving a wheelchair, rising from 16 to 22.2 per 100,000 in 2023–24.
• Australian Capital Territory:
  • a 23% increase for falls on same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling, from 245.2 to 301.6 per 100,000 in 2023–24.
  • an 11% increase for other same level falls from, 172.0 to 191.0 per 100,000 in 2023–24.

Most states and territories showed an increase in death rates for most fall types compared to the previous 5-year average (Figure 14).

• Queensland had an increase of just over 11% in age-standardised death rates, increasing from 16.7 to 18.6 per 100,000 in 2022–23.
• Western Australia had an increase of about 10% in age-standardised death rates, increasing from 18.0 to 19.7 per 100,000 in 2022–23.
• South Australia’s age-standardised death rates increased by just under 8%, from 15 to 16.1 per 100,000 in 2022–23.

For more information please see the geography dashboard.

Remoteness

Areas of Australia which are more remote tend to have higher rates of hospitalisation and death from injury than less remote areas. People living in Very remote areas, when compared with people living in Inner regional areas, were 1.4 times as likely to be hospitalised for an injury caused by a fall in 2023–24.

While most types of falls demonstrate the highest rates of hospitalisation in Very remote areas, Major cities had the highest rate of hospitalisations due to falls on and from stairs and steps while Inner regional areas had the highest rates for falls on and from ladders (Figure 15).

For information on how statistics are calculated by remoteness, see the technical notes.

Socioeconomic areas

Rates of hospitalisation for falls related injuries were similar across socioeconomic areas, ranging between 720.7 and 819.8 per 100,000 (Figure 16).

People living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, when compared with people living in the least socioeconomically disadvantaged were 1.3 times as likely to die from a fall in 2022–23 (20.2 compared to 15.5 per 100,000 population).

For most types of falls, hospitalisations rates by level of socioeconomic disadvantage were relatively similar. There are some differences in trends across different types of falls:

• The most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had the highest hospitalisation rates from falling from, out of or through a building or structure, slipping, tripping and stumbling, other falls from one level to another, and other falls on the same level. These areas also had relatively high rates of falls involving wheelchairs, ladders, scaffolding, beds and chairs.
• The least socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had the highest hospitalisation rates of falls on and from stairs and steps, and diving or jumping into water.

Data details

• Technical notes: how the data were calculated
• Glossary
  
  

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