Introduction

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of injuries occurring among patients during an episode of admitted patient care in Australian hospitals, referred to as hospital-onset injuries. It describes:

  • the frequency of hospital-onset injuries among admitted patients from 2015–16 to 2024–25
  • variation in injury frequency across different population groups and health care service aspects
  • the causes and types of injuries sustained
  • patient outcomes for those who experienced an injury during an episode of admitted care and those who did not.

Hospital-onset injuries

Injuries arising during an episode of hospital admitted patient care are defined as separations meeting the following criteria:

  • at least one ICD-10-AM code in the range S00–T98 Injury, poisoning or certain other consequences of external causes recorded as an additional diagnosis
  • a condition flagged as onset during the episode of admitted patient care
  • meeting denominator criteria (see Technical notes)

Injuries due to Complications of surgical and medical care (T80–T88) and Sequelae of injuries, of poisoning and of other consequences of external causes (T90–T98) are not described in detail as these classifications are reported elsewhere (ACSQHC 2026, AIHW 2025a, AIHW 2025b).

 

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