Summary

All injury deaths in 1999

A total of 8,361 injury deaths were registered in 1999. Of these, 70% were male. The age-standardised rate for males of all ages was 62.4 per 100,000 population and 26.2 per 100,000 for females of all ages. Rates of injury death were highest for young adults in the age range 20–39 years, and for males in particular who accounted for more than 30% of all injury deaths in 1999.

In 1999, the most common cause of injury death was suicide which accounted for 30% of all injury deaths in that year. This was followed by transport-related injury which accounted for 24% of all injury deaths.

Following a downward trend between 1979 and 1993, rates commenced a steady but slight upward movement in 1994.

The Northern Territory had the highest rate of injury deaths in 1999 (63.0 per 100,000 population), followed by Tasmania (54.2 per 100,000) and Western Australia (46.8 per 100,000).

Of all deaths registered in Australia in 1999, the most common underlying causes were diseases of the circulatory system (40%), neoplasms (28%), and diseases of the respiratory system (8%), followed by injury (6% of all deaths).

Injury and poisoning was the fourth leading cause of death of Australians and is the leading cause of death for persons aged 1–44 years, accounting for 51% of all deaths in this age group in 1999. (During the first year of life, congenital and perinatal conditions were the most common cause of death.)