Congenital anomalies are a cause of child death and disability, and a major cause of perinatal death. The AIHW is re-establishing a national congenital anomalies data collection and this is the first report it has released on congenital anomalies since 2008. Based on data from 6 jurisdictions it presents information on congenital anomalies in babies born in 2016 that were diagnosed up to 12 months of age. Over 8,900 (3%) babies were born with a congenital anomaly in 2016 – around 32 babies per 1,000 births.
An early release of preliminary 2017 and 2018 national congenital anomalies data are being made available and these data tables can be found under ‘Data’. Please note that the preliminary 2017 data include data from 7 of 8 jurisdictions while the 2018 data includes 6 of 8 jurisdictions, therefore, totals are not comparable with the final 2016 data used throughout this report. Final 2017 and 2018 data and a full update of the Congenital anomalies web report will be released in mid-2023.