Neurological conditions in Australia:
Parkinson's disease in Australia
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Last updated:
Topic: Neurological conditions
Citation
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2025) Parkinson's disease in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2026.
This article is part of Neurological conditions in Australia
- Cerebral palsy in Australia
- Epilepsy in Australia
- Functional neurological disorder in Australia
- Guillain-Barré syndrome in Australia
- Huntington's disease in Australia
- Migraine and headaches in Australia
- Motor neurone disease in Australia
- Multiple sclerosis in Australia
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome in Australia
- Myasthenia gravis in Australia
- Parkinson's disease in Australia This page
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition which progressively worsens over time. The movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s disease often commence on one side of the body, before gradually impacting both sides. There are 4 main clinical signs which are used to diagnose Parkinson’s disease:
- tremor
- bradykinesia (slow movement)
- stiffness and tight muscles
- postural instability
Although the exact causes of Parkinson’s disease are unknown, head trauma, family history and pharmaceutical and/or environmental toxins are believed to increase risk of onset (Parkinson’s Australia 2024).
There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. Treatments use a combination of medicines, surgery and lifestyle changes to manage the symptoms (Healthdirect 2023).
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An estimated 69,200 people in Australia were living with Parkinson’s disease in 2014, equivalent to 295 per 100,000 population
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Parkinson’s disease accounted for 1 in 5 deaths where neurological conditions were the underlying cause, and 1.3% of all deaths, in 2023
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Parkinson’s disease was responsible for 45,100 DALY, equivalent to 9.3% of the total disease burden attributed to neurological conditions and 0.8% of the total disease burden in Australia, in 2024
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Males were hospitalised for Parkinson’s disease at a rate that was 1.8 times as high as for females in 2023–24 (63 and 35 per 100,000 population, respectively)
This report presents both crude and age-standardised rates, where available.
Crude rates are based on unadjusted data and indicate whether there is a difference between populations without accounting for differences in the age structures of the populations.
Age-standardised rates are based on data that are adjusted to account for differences in the age structures of the populations.
Therefore, a difference between 2 populations in crude rates indicates that the rate differs between them. The differences may be due to any number of factors, including different age structures of the populations. In contrast, a difference between 2 populations in age-standardised rates indicates that the rate differs between them but that this difference is not due to different age-structures.
For example, a difference in the prevalence rate between males and females indicates that prevalence differs between them, and this difference in prevalence could be due to any number of risk factors, including age. A difference in the age-standardised prevalence rate between males and females indicates that prevalence differs between them and, furthermore, that this difference in prevalence is not due to age.
For more details about rate calculations see the Technical notes in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
For interactive visualisations on hospitalisations, emergency department presentations, health-system costs, burden of disease and mortality for Parkinson’s disease, see Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6, respectively, in the Neurological conditions in Australia report. Change the toggles in the visualisations from “all neurological conditions” to “Parkinson’s”.
For downloadable data tables, see Data section of this article.
How common is Parkinson’s disease in Australia?
Based on a report from Deloitte Access Economics (2015), in 2014:
- an estimated 69,200 (0.3% or 294 per 100,000) Australians were living with Parkinson’s disease (this is an outdated estimate, and work is in progress to produce an updated and potentially more accurate estimate, see dropdown box on limitations of this estimate further below)
- males accounted for just over half of Australians living with Parkinson’s disease
-
53%
of Australians living with Parkinson's disease were males
- older age-groups had higher rates of Parkinson’s disease, with the 85 years and over age-group having the highest rate (3%, or 2,970 per 100,000 population)
- in the 85+ years age-group, 3.7% of men and 2.6% of women were living with Parkinson’s disease.
The prevalence estimates obtained from the 2015 Deloitte Access Economics report are based prescribed medications data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) combined with Medicare data. To reduce overestimation due to people being prescribed Parkinson’s disease medications for other conditions, the rates were adjusted by the age-gender specific proportion of medications that were prescribed explicitly for Parkinson’s disease. This proportion was calculated using data from the General Practice and Research Network.
The report acknowledges that estimates produced may:
- overestimate prevalence due to misdiagnoses, with the potential for other conditions to be misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease resulting in medications for Parkinson’s disease being prescribed for people who do not have the condition
- underestimate prevalence due to misdiagnoses, with the potential for people living with Parkinson’s disease being diagnosed with another condition, and thus not being prescribed the appropriate medications.
It is, however, unclear whether the over- and under-estimation due to misdiagnoses cancel each other out.
The report by Deloitte Access Economics does not contain detailed information about the methodology, such as the specific item numbers used to identify people living with Parkinson’s disease in the PBS data, and so the methodology cannot be fully evaluated.
In addition, the data are from 2014, and thus more than 10 years old.
To produce an updated estimate, the AIHW is engaged in a collaboration with researchers from the University of Tasmania on a project using linked data from the National Health Data Hub.
Based on self-reported data from the National Health Survey (NHS) 2022 (ABS 2023), an estimated 28,500 (0.1% or 110 per 100,000 population) Australians were living with Parkinson’s disease. Due to small cell restrictions and confidentiality rules, no further disaggregation is possible.
Importantly, the NHS 2022 may underestimate the true prevalence of Parkinson’s disease. The survey collects information on long-term health conditions, which is defined as a medical condition (illness, injury or disability) which was current at the time of interview and had lasted, or was expected to last, 6 months or more. Whilst Parkinson’s disease is a long-term condition, it is was not on the prompt cards of the survey which may lead to underreporting and thus underestimation. Moreover, because Parkinson’s disease is a rare condition, the sampling strategies of the NHS may not capture a representative sample of people with the condition – that is, people with Parkinson’s disease may be under-sampled, resulting in an underestimate of the true prevalence of the condition.
Hospitalisations
Based on the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), in 2023–24:
- there were 13,200 hospitalisations with Parkinson’s disease recorded as the principal diagnosis, equivalent to 49 hospitalisations per 100,000 population (37 per 100,000 population, age-standardised), and another 18,000 hospitalisations with Parkinson’s disease recorded as an additional diagnosis
- hospitalisations due to Parkinson’s disease (principal diagnosis) represented 3.6% of all neurological condition hospitalisations
- the median age of people hospitalised due to Parkinson’s disease was 76 years (76 years for males and 77 years for females)
- males were hospitalised for Parkinson’s disease (principal diagnosis) at a rate that was 1.8 times as high as for females (63 and 35 per 100,000 population, respectively) – age-standardisation increased this sex difference (51 and 25 per 100,000 population, respectively)
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Males had an age-standardised rate of hospitalisations that was 2 times as high as the rate for females.
- the average length of stay due to Parkinson’s disease was 5.3 days.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023–24, hospitalisation rates due to Parkinson’s disease:
- for people living in the highest socioeconomic areas were 2.5 times as high as for people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas (76 and 31 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, respectively) – after age-standardisation, the rate of hospitalisations was consistently higher for people living in higher socioeconomic areas (59, 40, 37, 25 and 22 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, from the highest to lowest socioeconomic quintiles, respectively)
- were highest for Major cities (54 per 100,000 population), and lowest for Remote and Very remote areas (14 per 100,000 population) – age-standardisation did not change the relative positions of the different remoteness areas (45 and 13 per 100,000 population for Major cities and Remote and Very remote areas, respectively).
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
From 2015–16 to 2023–24, the crude rate of hospitalisations due to Parkinson’s disease remained at approximately 49 per 100,000 population, though it did fluctuate in the intervening years. After adjusting for different population age structures over time, there was a decrease from 42 to 37 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.
Information on procedures in the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD) is reported using the Australian Classification of Health Interventions (ACHI) which classifies surgical operations, procedures and other types of interventions performed for the purpose of investigating and/or remedying health state.
In 2023–24, there were 39,000 procedures for hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, equating to around 3.0 procedures per hospitalisation. The majority (84%) of these were generalised allied health interventions, 2.6% were therapies using agents not elsewhere classified and 1.8% were cereal anaesthesia.
For more information on surgeries and intervention types, see Surgery and other interventions.
In July 2015, a list of 29 supplementary codes for chronic conditions (U78–U88) were incorporated in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) 9th edition.
These codes represent a distinct list of clinically significant chronic conditions, which are part of the patient’s current health status on admission but do not meet the criteria for inclusion as a principal and/or additional diagnosis in that episode of care.
In 2023–24:
- there were 56,800 (210 per 100,000 population, or 155 per 100,000 population, age-standardised) supplementary Parkinson’s disease chronic condition code (U80.1) recorded
- the rate of Parkinson’s disease chronic condition codes were 1.6 times as high among males as among females (260 and 160 hospitalisations per 100,000 population, respectively) – 210 and 110 per 100,000 (age-standardised) for males and females, respectively.
For further information, see Supplementary codes for chronic conditions.
Emergency department presentations
Based on the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NAPEDC), in 2023–24:
- there were 1,800 emergency department (ED) presentations due to Parkinson’s disease (principal diagnosis), equivalent to 6.6 ED presentations per 100,000 population (5.1 per 100,000 population, age-standardised), and 710 ED presentations with Parkinson’s disease recorded as an additional diagnosis
- males presented at ED for Parkinson’s disease at a rate that was 2.1 times as high as females (8.9 compared with 4.3 per 100,000 population, respectively) – this difference remained after age-standardisation (7.3 compared with 3.2 per 100,000 population for males and females, respectively)
- the median age of people who presented at ED for Parkinson’s disease was 75 years (75 years for males and 75.5 years for females)
- almost three-quarters of ED presentations due to Parkinson’s disease were subsequently admitted to hospital.
-
72%
of ED presentations due to Parkinson's disease were admitted to hospital.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023–24, ED presentation rates for Parkinson’s disease:
- were slightly higher for people living in the 2 lowest socioeconomic areas (6.5 and 7.5 per 100,000 population, respectively), compared with people living in the 2 highest socioeconomic areas (6.2 and 6.1 per 100,000 population, respectively) – age-standardisation removed these differences (approximately 5 per 100,000 population for all 5 socioeconomic quintiles)
- were highest people living in Inner regional and Outer regional areas (7.6 and 7 per 100,000 population, respectively) – age-standardised rates were slightly higher for Major cities (5.2 per 100,000 population), compared with Inner regional areas (4.5 per 100,000 population), Outer regional areas (4.6 per 100,000 population) and Remote and Very remote areas (4.7 per 100,000 population).
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
From 2018–19 to 2023–24, the crude rate of ED presentations due to Parkinson’s disease increased slightly from 6.3 to 6.6 per 100,000 population. After adjusting for age, the rate of ED presentations decreased very slightly, from 5.3 to 5.2 per 100,000 population.
Health-system costs
Note on comparing previous health expenditure reports
The scope of expenditure and methods used in the most recent 2023–24 disease expenditure study (AIHW 2025) are similar to those used in the 2022–23 report however there are changes that have been made that make comparison of data between the 2023–24 report and the 2022–23 report to be done with caution. For more information see the methodology of the Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025).
In 2023–24:
- an estimated $433.0 million of health system expenditure was attributed to Parkinson’s disease – representing 6.6% of expenditure attributed to neurological conditions
- health system expenditure attributed to Parkinson’s disease was 1.7 times higher for males compared with females ($273.1 and $158.9 million, respectively)
- more than half (59%) of the health-system expenditure attributed to Parkinson’s disease was for public hospital admitted patient services (129.2 million, 30%) and medications dispensed on the PBS ($125.7 million, 29%), while more than one sixth was spent on public hospital outpatient services ($64.3 million, 15%).
For more information, see Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 (AIHW 2025).
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30%
of the Parkinson's disease health system expenditure was for public hospital admitted patient services.
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29%
of the Parkinson's disease health system expenditure was for PBS medications.
-
15%
of the Parkinson's disease health system expenditure was for public hospital outpatient services.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
The Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025) did not include statistics disaggregated by socioeconomic areas.
Except for Major cities ($1.4 million per 100,000 population), the rate of health-system costs for Parkinson’s disease decreased with increasing remoteness. The rate was highest for people living in Inner regional areas ($1.8 million per 100,000 population) and lowest for people living in Very remote areas ($0.9 million per 100,000 population).
Trends over time
Between 2013–14 and 2023–24, after adjusting for inflation (reported in constant prices), total health-system expenditure attributed to Parkinson’s disease was 1.6 times as high in 2023–24 compared with 2013–14 ($433.0 million and $266.9 million, respectively) (AIHW 2025).
Burden of disease
Burden of disease is measured using the metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALY, also referred to as total burden). One DALY is one year of healthy life lost due to disease or injury.
DALY caused by living with disease or injury are referred to as non-fatal burden and measured in years lived with disability (YLD). DALY caused by premature death are referred to as fatal burden and measured in years of life lost (YLL).
In 2024:
- Parkinson’s disease was responsible for 45,100 DALY, equivalent to 9.3% of the total disease burden attributed to neurological conditions and 0.8% of the total disease burden in Australia
- of the total burden attributed to Parkinson’s disease, 61% was fatal burden (years of life lost, YLL) and 39% was non-fatal (years lived with disability, YLD)
- almost three-quarters of the DALY attributed to Parkinson’s disease was in people aged 75 years and over (AHW 2024).
For more information, see Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 (ABDS) (AIHW 2024).
-
74%
of the total burden attributed to Parkinson's disease was for people aged 75+ years.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
The most recent burden of disease statistics disaggregated by socioeconomic and remoteness areas, at the time of writing this report, are from the ABDS 2018 (AIHW 2021).
In 2018 the age-standardised rate of total disease burden attributed to Parkinson’s disease was:
- similar for people living in different socioeconomic areas (1.1 to 1.2 DALY per 1,000 population for each socioeconomic quintile)
- higher for people living in Inner regional areas (1.2 DALY per 1,000 population) and Major cities (1.1 DALY per 1,000 population) than for people living in Outer regional areas and Remote and Very remote areas (1.0 DALY per 1,000 population each).
Trends over time
Between 2003 and 2024, the crude rate of total disease burden due to Parkinson’s disease increased year-on-year from 1 to 1.7 DALY per 1,000 population, respectively. After adjusting for different population age structures over time, the year-on-year increase remained, changing from 0.9 to 1.2 DALY per 1,000 population, respectively (AHW 2024).
NDIS and aged care
As of 31 March 2025, there were 4,500 registered NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) plans where Parkinson’s was reported as the primary or secondary condition. Of these plans, 4,200 had Parkinson’s listed as the primary condition affecting care (NDIS 2025).
These numbers represent people who are eligible for NDIS funding based on evidence required by the National Disability Insurance Agency, they should not be used as an indication of prevalence.
Based on Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) assessments, between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022:
- there were 13,900 people in permanent residential care with Parkinson’s disease listed as a condition affecting care, with a median age of 84 years
- 46% of these were women and 54% were men, with median ages of 85 and 83 years, respectively.
In October 2022, the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) was replaced with the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model, which does not capture health condition information. Therefore, the most recent data for this section are from 2021–22, with no further updates. For more information, see the National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse tab in the Data sources section of the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
Mortality
Based on the National Mortality Database (NMD), in 2023:
- Parkinson’s disease was recorded as the underlying cause of 2,500 deaths (9.2 deaths per 100,000 population, or 6.6 deaths per 100,000 population, age-standardised) and an associated cause of 2,100 deaths (7.7 deaths per 100,000 population, or 5.5 deaths per 100,000 population, age-standardised)
- Parkinson’s disease was the underlying cause of 1 in 5 (21%) deaths where neurological conditions were the underlying cause, and 1.3% of all deaths
- the rate of deaths due to Parkinson’s disease (underlying cause) for males (12 per 100,000 population) was 1.8 times as high as for females (6.6 per 100,000 population) – the sex difference increased after age-standardisation (9.6 and 4.2 per 100,000 population for males and females, respectively)
- the median age of death for people with Parkinson’s disease recorded as the underlying cause was 83 years (83 years for males and 85 years for females).
-
The age-standardised mortality rate (per 100,000) for males was almost 2.3 times as high as for females.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023, the age-standardised mortality rate with Parkinson’s disease recorded as the underlying cause:
- was lowest for people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas (6.1 per 100,000 population) and highest for people living in the middle and 2 highest socioeconomic areas (6.7, 7.4 and 6.7 deaths per 100,000 population, respectively)
- was lowest for people living in Remote and Very remote areas (5.0 deaths per 100,000 population), followed by people living in Outer regional areas (5.7 deaths per 100,000 population), and highest for people living in Inner regional areas and Major cities (both with 6.7 deaths per 100,000 population).
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this article.
Trends over time
Between 2013 to 2023, mortality rates for Parkinson’s disease (underlying cause) increased steadily from 6.6 to 9.2 deaths per 100,000 population – after age-standardisation there was still an increase but to a lesser degree, from 5.6 to 6.6 deaths per 100,000 population.
First Nations people
How common is Parkinson’s disease among First Nations people?
The Deloitte Access Economics (2015) report did not include prevalence statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people.
Hospitalisations
For First Nations people, based on the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), in 2023–24:
- there were 105 hospitalisations due to Parkinson’s disease, equivalent to 10 hospitalisations per 100,000 population
- the median age of hospitalisation due to Parkinson’s disease was 67 years (67 years for males and 64 years for females)
- the average length of stay for hospitalisations due to Parkinson’s disease was 6.4 days.
Emergency department presentations
For First Nations people, based on the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NAPEDC), in 2023–24:
- there were 50 ED presentations due to Parkinson’s disease, equivalent to 4.9 ED presentations per 100,000 population
- males accounted for more than half (58%) of Parkinson’s disease ED presentations, with 5.6 ED presentations per 100,000 population, compared with 4.1 per 100,000 population for females.
Health-system costs
The Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24 report (AIHW 2025) did not include statistics for First Nations people. AIHW is working to expand the scope of the Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia report in future updates to include spending on First Nations people.
Burden of disease
Burden of disease is measured using the metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALY, also referred to as total burden). One DALY is one year of healthy life lost due to disease or injury.
DALY caused by living with disease or injury are referred to as non-fatal burden and measured in years lived with disability (YLD). DALY caused by premature death are referred to as fatal burden and measured in years of life lost (YLL).
The most recent burden of disease statistics for First Nations people, at the time of publication of this article, are from the ABDS 2018 (AIHW 2022).
In 2018:
- Parkinson’s disease was responsible for 225 DALY (total burden), equivalent to 0.9 DALY per 1,000 population (age-standardised)
- males accounted for 58% of the total burden due to Parkinson’s disease, equivalent to 1.2 DALY per 1,000 population compared with 0.7 DALY per 1,000 population for females (both rates age-standardised)
- more than two-thirds (69%) of the total disease burden attributed to Parkinson’s disease in First Nations people was fatal burden (YLL), with the remaining 31% non-fatal (YLD).
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First Nations males had an age-standardised DALY rate that was 1.7 times as high as the rate for First Nations females (per 1,000 population).
Mortality
For First Nations people, in 2023, there were 18 deaths with Parkinson’s disease listed as the underlying cause (1.8 deaths per 100,000 population), equivalent to 0.4% of all First Nations deaths, and 18 deaths with Parkinson’s disease listed as an associated cause.
More information and representative organisations
Healthdirect is a government supported online service that provides health information, advice and referrals to the community. The healthdirect webpage on Parkinson’s disease contains information covering topics such as symptoms, causes, how to get diagnosed, treatments and resources for further support.
Parkinson's MOOC (2025-02) is an online course developed in conjunction with the Wicking Dementia Centre and Menzies Institute for Medical Research. It is designed to be accessible to and informative for all people, including people living with Parkinson’s disease and their support networks, medical and allied health professionals and the wider community.
National Parkinson's Alliance is a collaboration of stakeholders in the Australian Parkinson’s community who have come together to shape policy, strategies and initiatives to change the lives of people affected by Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s Australia is a national advocacy organisation committed to improving the lives of people affected by Parkinson's disease, including patients, families, caregivers, researchers, and health-care professionals. The organisation focuses on national advocacy, community engagement, and raising awareness to support and empower the Parkinson’s community.
Shake it up Australia Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation seeks to promote and funds Parkinson’s disease research in Australia aimed at better treatments and ultimately a cure.
Fight Parkinson’s is an organisation providing research, education and support for people living with Parkinson’s.
Data sources
For details about the data sources used in this article, including the condition codes used to extract information about Parkinson’s disease from each source (for example, mortality, hospitalisations et cetera), see Data sources in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
The prevalence estimates for Parkinson’s disease from the Deloitte Access Economics (2015) report are in section ‘3.1.3 Prevalence of PD in 2014’ of the report.
The prevalence estimates for Parkinson’s disease from the NHS 2022 are based on the condition code 150301.
Notes
The Neurological conditions in Australia 2025 project was undertaken by members of the Chronic Conditions Unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The AIHW acknowledges the ongoing contributions and consultation provided by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Neurological Conditions Expert Advisory Group. A special thanks is extended to Professor Jane Alty for their expert advice on Parkinson’s disease. For further information on contributions to the project, see Notes in the Neurological conditions in Australia report.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023) Microdata: National Health Survey, 2022, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata, accessed March 2025.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2021) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on disease burden, AIHW website, accessed 11 September 2025.
AIHW (2022) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on disease burden among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, AIHW website, accessed 5 May 2025.
AIHW (2024) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024, AIHW website, accessed 5 May 2025.
AIHW (2025) Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24, AIHW website, accessed 29 October2025.
Deloitte Access Economics (2015) Living with Parkinson’s disease: An updated economic analysis 2014, Fight Parkinson’s, accessed 26 November 2024.
Healthdirect (2023) Parkinson's disease, Healthdirect Australia website, accessed 22 May 2025.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) (2025) Participants by diagnosis: Participants count by diagnosis data [data set], Participant datasets, NDIS website, accessed 21 May 2025.
Parkinson’s Australia (2024) Parkinson’s symptoms, causes & FAQs, Parkinson’s Australia website, accessed 15 November 2024.