Nature of injuries

Body parts injured

For sports injury hospitalisations in 2024–25, the top three most injured body parts across all ages were:

  • hip and lower limb, excluding ankle and foot (around 17,000 cases or 62 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
  • shoulder and upper limb, excluding wrist and hand (about 14,800 cases or 54 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
  • head and neck (nearly 11,200 cases or 41 hospitalisations per 100,000 population) (Figure 2).

People aged 15–24 were more likely to sustain injuries to the hip and lower limb (145 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), and head and neck (100 hospitalisations per 100,000 population). Shoulder and upper limb injuries occurred more often among those aged 5–14 (125 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).

Sports injury hospitalisations for children aged 0–4 were most likely to be for head and neck injuries (15 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).

Figure 2: Common injuries of sports injury hospitalisations by body part, Australia, 2024–25

Diagram of human body shows percentage of body parts injured in hospitalisations in 2024–25, including injury types.

Diagram of human body shows percentage of body parts injured in hospitalisations in 2024–25, including injury types.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see data table 12.

Type of injuries sustained

The image shows a person with a left-arm sling.A person can be hospitalised with multiple injuries, some of which will be more serious than others. This report only presents data about the main injury – known as the principal diagnosis – additional concurrent injuries are not included.

This report discusses common injury types including:

  • Fracture: A partial or complete break in a bone.
  • Soft-tissue injury: Sprain or strain of muscles, ligaments or joints.
  • Open wound: A break in the skin such as a cut, puncture or bite.
  • Intracranial injury: Injury inside the skull (often a concussion).
  • Dislocation: A separation of different bones where they join.
  • Superficial injury: An injury to the skin surface such as abrasion, bruising or blistering.

In just over half of all sports injury hospitalisations in 2024–25, fractures were the main injury (around 31,800 cases), followed by soft-tissue injuries (17% of injuries or 10,400 cases) and open wounds (7.6% of injuries or just over 4,600 cases).

People aged 15–24 were more likely to sustain a fracture (235 hospitalisations per 100,000 population) and soft-tissue injury (99 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), while those aged 5–14 were more likely to sustain an open wound (37 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).

Just over one-third of all fractures occurred in the shoulder or upper limb (36% of fractures or 11,600 cases), followed by the hip or lower limb (23% of fractures or 7,300 cases), and wrist or hand (18% of fractures or 5,600 cases).

For more detail, see data table 10 and 12.

Concussions

Most hospitalisations for intracranial injuries (injuries inside the skull) in sports (81%) were concussions in 2024–25. Concussions are usually caused by a knock to the head but can also be caused by an impact to the body (Concussion in Sport Australia 2024).

There has been growing concern in Australia and internationally about the incidence of sport-related concussion and potential health ramifications for athletes (Concussion in Sport Australia, 2024). While short-term symptoms are reversible, a single knock to the head can have serious consequences in later life (Queensland Brain Institute 2021).

Concussions can occur in nearly every sport, not just contact sports. In 2024–25, there were just over 2,600 sports-related concussion hospitalisations: almost 1,800 cases for males and 810 cases for females.

For more detailed data on concussions, see data tables 7, 8 and 9.

Place of occurrence

Place of occurrence was specified in just over half (55%) of all sports injury hospitalisations in 2024–25. Of these cases, around 70% (or 23,700 cases) occurred at a dedicated sports area, such as an equestrian facility, indoor sporting hall or swimming centre (Figure 3). Outdoor sporting ground was the most recorded place of injury (almost 16,200 cases) with injuries more likely to occur among those aged 15–24 (185 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).

Figure 3: Top 10 places of sports injury occurrence, Australia, 2024–25

Bar chart shows bodies of water (2.9%), home (2.7%) and school (2.4%) were also common places of sports injury occurrence in 2024–25.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see data table 4.

Injury hospitalisations from swimming and diving most frequently occurred in bodies of water such as pool, dam, and pond (40% of swimming and diving-related injury hospitalisations or 345 cases), followed by the beach (18% or 155 cases), in swimming centres (16% or 135 cases), and at home (12% of swimming and diving-related injury hospitalisations or 100 cases).

  • In the home, sports injury hospitalisations were more likely to occur among those aged 5–14 (14 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).

  • 1.5 2.2 Males Females

    In aged care facilities, females aged 65+ were more likely to be hospitalised with a sports injury compared to males aged 65+ (2.2 and 1.5 per 100,000 population), with falls the leading cause.

Emergency admissions were more common than elective

About two-thirds of sports injury hospitalisations in 2024–25 were emergency admissions, which is when a patient arrives at hospital (usually through the emergency department) and is admitted within 24 hours. All reported sports activities had more emergency admissions than elective admissions (an admission that could be delayed by at least 24 hours), except for team water sports (65% elective), netball (61% elective), and touch football (58% elective).

For more detail, see data table 14.

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