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

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Last updated: 02 Dec 2025

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2025) Use of emergency departments for lower urgency care 2017–18 to 2023–24, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 24 June 2026.

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Emergency department presentations for lower urgency care Expand

The specification for ED presentations for lower urgency care is based on the National Healthcare Agreement (NHA) indicator: PI 19–Selected potentially avoidable GP-type presentations to emergency departments, 2022.

Table T4: Data sources and data items
	Description
Data sources	National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NNAPEDCD): 2017–18 to 2023–24 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Estimated Resident Population (ERP) as of 30 June 2001, 2017 to 2023
Data items	Age Sex SA2 of patient’s usual residence Type of visit Triage category Arrival mode Episode end status Time and date of ED presentation

Table T5: Measure description and calculation
	Description
Measurement type	Crude, age-specific, sex-specific and age-standardised rates (per 1,000 population)
Numerator	A presentation is classified as an ED presentation for lower urgency care if the following conditions are true: Emergency presentation type of visit Allocated triage category 4 (semi-urgent: within 60 minutes) or 5 (non-urgent: within 120 minutes) The status of the patient at the end of the non-admitted patient ED service episode, was reported as completed, and the patient departed without being admitted or referred to another hospital for admission, or did not die. This includes patients who: did not wait to be attended by a health care professional left at own risk after being attended by a health care professional before the non-admitted patient emergency department service episode was completed registered, were advised of another health service and left the ED without being attended by a health care professional Arrived by transport other than ambulance or police/correctional services vehicle. Presentations without these details (e.g. not stated arrival mode or episode end status) were excluded.
Denominator	Estimated resident population as of 30 June at the beginning of the financial year, by area, age group and sex.
Calculation	Crude, age-specific and sex-specific rates: (Numerator ÷ denominator) × 1,000. Age-standardised rates: Direct age-standardisation method, using the ABS ERP as of 30 June 2001 as the standard population.
Geography	SA2 of the patient’s usual residence reported at the following levels: National Remoteness Areas (RA) 2021 Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) – Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) 2021 Primary Health Network (PHN) 2023 Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) 2021.
Disaggregation by in-hours and after-hours	In-hours Weekdays from 8:00 am to 7:59 pm (excluding public holidays, see Appendix 1) Saturdays from 8:00 am to 12:59 pm (excluding public holidays, see Appendix 1) After-hours Weekdays before 8:00 am or after 7:59 pm Saturdays before 8:00 am or after 12:59 pm Sundays all day Public holidays (see Appendix 1)
Age-group disaggregation	Age groups for PHN areas 0–14 15–24 25–44 45–64 65+ 0–64 65–79 80+ Age groups for SA3s 0–64 0–14 15–24 25–44 45–64 65+ Exclusions: If a patient’s age was unknown, their records were excluded from the age-specific rates and age-standardised results only.
Sex disaggregation	Male Female Exclusions: Records were excluded from the sex results if sex was recorded as ‘not stated/inadequately described’ or ‘intersex or indeterminate’. The number of presentations in the category ‘intersex or indeterminate’ are unable to be presented due to small numbers.

Number of emergency department presentations by time of presentation and triage category Expand

Table T6: Data sources and data items
	Description
Data sources	NNAPEDCD: 2017–18 to 2023–24
Data items	SA2 of patient’s usual residence Type of visit Triage category Time of ED presentation

Table T7: Measure description and calculation
	Description
Eligible presentations	A presentation is included if it was classified as an Emergency presentation type of visit.
Measurement type	Count of eligible presentations
Disaggregation	Disaggregated by hour of presentation and by the following triage category groups: Triage 1 and 2 combined (resuscitation: immediate – within seconds; and emergency: within 10 minutes) Triage 3 (urgent: within 30 minutes) Triage 4 (semi-urgent: within 60 minutes) Triage 5 (non-urgent: within 120 minutes) Time of presentation is reported by hour in a 24-hour time, i.e. 13 = 1:00 pm to 1:59 pm
Geography	SA2 of patient’s usual residence reported at the following geography: National PHN 2023 area

Number of emergency department presentations where patients were subsequently admitted to hospital, by triage category Expand

Table T8: Data sources and data items
	Description
Data sources	NNAPEDCD: 2017–18 to 2023–24
Data items	SA2 of patient’s usual residence Type of visit Triage category Episode end status

Table T9: Measure description and calculation
	Description
Eligible presentations	A presentation is included if: it was classified as an Emergency presentation type of visit the patient was subsequently admitted to the hospital or referred to another hospital for admission (Episode end status 1 and 3).
Measurement type	Count of eligible presentations
Disaggregation	Disaggregated by the following triage category groups: Triage 1 and 2 combined (resuscitation: immediate – within seconds; and emergency: within 10 minutes) Triage 3 (urgent: within 30 minutes) Triage 4 (semi-urgent: within 60 minutes) Triage 5 (non-urgent: within 120 minutes)
Geography	SA2 of patient’s usual residence reported at the following geography: National PHN 2023 area

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

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