Use of emergency departments for lower urgency care 2017–18 to 2023–24

In 2017–18 to 2021–22, patients’ place of usual residence was recorded in the NNAPEDCD using the 2016 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). In 2022–23 and 2023–24, patient’s place of usual residence was recorded in the NNAPEDCD using the 2021 SA2 ASGS. Records prior to 2022–23 have been mapped to SA2 2021. Correspondences from SA2 2016 to SA2 2021 can be found on the ABS’ Correspondences page (ABS 2021a). 

Measures calculated for geographic areas were compiled by applying a geographic concordance to the unit record data. Records were attributed to each area based on the percentage of the SA2 population that fell within that respective area. 

Records with missing or invalid location data are included in the national total, but not allocated to a Remoteness Area, Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) quintile, Primary Health Network (PHN) or Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3). Additionally, due to records with missing SA2 information, the sum of counts by SA3 and PHN areas presented in this report may not sum to counts by state presented in other reports.

PHN areas with at least 85% of the population residing in Major cities were classified as metropolitan, based on the ABS remoteness area classification ASGS 2021 and he population distribution as of 30 June 2021. PHN areas with less than 85% of the population residing in Major cities were classified as regional.

For the purpose of suppression, PHN areas with 95% of the geographic area classified as Remote or Very remote were classified as remote. This affected three PHNs – Country WA, Northern Territory and Western Queensland. This was calculated using the square kilometres of Statistical Area Level 1s (SA1s), based on Albers Conic Equal Area projection. Results for these PHN areas were included in the regional PHN group in this publication.

See Appendix 2 for the metropolitan or regional classification of each PHN area.

Identification of SA3s with similar socioeconomic or remoteness characteristics can help when making comparisons between areas. Results for SA3s are presented by ABS categories of remoteness and, in Major cities, also by socioeconomic groups. Results are grouped into the following categories: 

• Major cities
  • Higher socioeconomic areas
  • Medium socioeconomic areas
  • Lower socioeconomic areas
• Inner regional
• Outer regional
• Remote and Very remote.

SA3s in major cities

The majority of SA3s (191 of 340) across Australia are in the Major cities (based on ASGS 2021). SA3 populations can be diverse in the terms of socioeconomic groups. To better enable fair comparisons within city areas, SA3s were divided into three socioeconomic groups: higher, medium and lower using the 2021 ABS Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD). IRSD is one of the Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA) produced by the ABS and ranks SA1s from the most disadvantaged area (lowest quantile) to the least disadvantaged area (highest quantile), based on the relative socioeconomic conditions at an overall area level, not at an individual level. The socioeconomic groups were categorised into the following: 

• Lower – SEIFA IRSD quintiles 1 and 2
• Medium – SEIFA IRSD quintiles 3 and 4
• Higher – SEIFA IRSD quintile 5.

SA3s in Major cities were allocated to a socioeconomic group based on the largest number of SA1s in each group. Where the number of SA1s was equal in 2 groups, the socioeconomic group was allocated based on the highest proportion of the population. This affected two SA3’s – Port Phillip (Vic) and Perth City (WA). 

Across all SA3s in Major cities, the population percentage in the chosen socioeconomic group ranged from 37% to 95%, using the population distribution as of 30 June 2021. This indicates that some SA3s have a broad diversity in socioeconomic disadvantage. 

SA3s by remoteness 

SA3 boundaries align well with the ABS remoteness classification for Major cities, Inner regional and Outer regional areas. SA3s are not as well defined between Remote and Very remote areas, so these categories were combined into a single category (Remote and Very remote) for this release. 

SA3s were allocated to one remoteness category based on the largest percentage of the population in each of the categories, using the population distribution as of 30 June 2021. This ranged from 50% to 100%. However, if 95% of the geographic area in an SA2 was Remote or Very remote, it was categorised based on geographic area rather than population. This affected four SA3s – Broken Hill and Far West (NSW), Outback – North and East (SA), Goldfields (WA) and Mid West (WA). 

Ungrouped SA3s 

In cases where no SA1s within an SA3 had a SEIFA IRSD score, or the population in the SA3 area was too small to assign to a group, the SA3 was allocated as ‘Ungrouped’. This affected two SA3s – Illawarra Catchment Reserve (NSW) and Blue Mountains – South (NSW).

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2021a) Correspondences – Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2025. 

ABS (2021b) Statistical Area Level 3 – Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2025. 

ABS (2023a) Remoteness Areas – Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2025. 

ABS (2023b) Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2025. 

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2025) Primary Health Networks (PHNs) collection of concordance files, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Australian Government, accessed 19 June 2025.