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Emergency department care activity
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An ED presentation occurs following the arrival of the patient at the ED and commences at the point of being registered or triaged. Triage is the process during which a health professional assesses the urgency of the care needs, including assigning one of five urgency categories to the health record.
Explore the data
Explore the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital EDs in 2022–23 and for recent years in the data visualisation below.
Information is presented by the following patient characteristics:
- age and sex (as recorded in the data)
- Indigenous status
- the remoteness of the patient's residential address
- the socioeconomic status of the area that the patient lives in.
The data can also be explored by:
- state and territory
- hospital peer group
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
- hospital (where data is available).
Emergency department presentations
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Presentations
This line graph shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (number of presentations and presentations per 1,000 population). National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, there were 8,800,919 presentations to emergency departments, which amounted to 334 presentations per 1,000 population in Australia.
Peer group
This line graph shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by peer group. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, the number of presentations ranged by peer group; from 3,283,660 presentations in Public acute group A hospitals to 220,429 presentations to Other hospitals.
Age and sex
These column graphs show the number of presentations per 1,000 population to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments in 2022–23. Data is presented by age group and sex. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, there were 343.6 presentations for females and 341.4 for males, per 1,000 population.
Indigenous status
This column graph shows show the number of presentations per 1,000 population to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments in 2022–23. Data is presented by age group and Indigenous status. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, Indigenous Australians had more presentations per 1,000 population, compared with Other Australians for all age groups. For example. Indigenous Australians in the age group of 35-39 had 946.4 presentations per 1,000 in Australia, compared to 259.8 presentations per 1,000 Other Australian’s in the same age group.
Hospitals and LHNs
This table shows the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital emergency departments between 2013–14 to 2022–23, by triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
In 2022–23:
- there were 8.80 million presentations to emergency departments in Australia – a rate of 334 per 1,000 population
- most ED presentations were to Principal referral and women’s and children’s and Public acute group A hospitals (71%, combined).
Emergency presentations have increased over the last five years, from 8.35 million in 2018–19 to 8.80 million in 2022–23, representing an average annual increase of 1.3% per year. However the number of presentations fluctuated during the years that were affected by COVID, decreasing in 2019–20, increasing in 2020–21 and decreasing again 2021–22.
Presentations to Public acute group C hospitals have increased the most (3.9% per year since 2018–19).
Age and sex
- In 2022–23, while, overall, males accounted for 49% of all ED presentations and females accounted for 51%, there were differences across age groups. In age groups under 15 years, a higher proportion of presentations were for males, but for age groups between 15 to 44 years and 85 years and over, most presentations were for females. In the age groups between 45 and 84 years, presentations were more evenly split between males and females.
- For both males and females, the highest rates of presentation per 1,000 population were for patients aged 85 or over – 941presentations per 1,000 population for males, and 764 per 1,000 population for females.
- The second highest presentation rates for both males and females were seen in patients aged 4 and under – who presented at EDs at a rate of 707 per 1,000 population for males and 592 per 1,000 population for females.
- While ED presentation rates were highest in the very young and very old age groups, 44% of all ED presentations were for people aged between 25 and 64.
Indigenous status
- Overall, 8.4% of ED presentations were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (who make up 3.8% of the Australian population).
- Across all age groups, the presentation rates per 1,000 population were greater for First Nations people compared to Other Australians. The largest difference was for people aged 40–44 where the presentation rate was 980 per 1,000 population for First Nations people and 256 per 1,000 population for Other Australians.
Remoteness area of usual residence
- People living in Major cities (who make up 72% of the Australian population), accounted for 62% of ED presentations – 294 presentations per 1,000 people.
- People living in Remote and Very remote areas (who make up 1.9% of the population) accounted for 3.6% of presentations.
- Information on presentation rates should be interpreted with caution as the scope of the ED data collection is ‘formal’ EDs that meet specific criteria and may not be evenly accessible to people across all geographic areas.
Socioeconomic status of area of usual residence
- People living in the lowest socioeconomic (most disadvantaged) areas were most likely to visit an ED, accounting for 24% of ED presentations (410 presentations per 1,000 people). This was followed by people who lived in areas classified as being in the second lowest socioeconomic position – who presented at a rate of 386 presentations per 1,000 population.
- People living in the highest socioeconomic (least disadvantaged) areas were least likely to visit an ED. They accounted for 14% of all ED presentations (233 presentations per 1,000 people).
What other information is available?
Appendix information is available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Reports released prior to 2017–18 can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023) Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS website, accessed 8 November 2023
ABS (2023) Regional population, ABS website, accessed 8 November 2023
Emergency department care access
Emergency department (ED) waiting time is the time elapsed for each patient from presentation in the ED to commencement of clinical care.
A patient is considered to have been 'seen on time' when the time between arrival at the ED and the time that their clinical care starts is within the time specified in the definition of the triage category they are assigned:
- Resuscitation: Immediate (within seconds)
- Emergency: within 10 minutes
- Urgent: within 30 minutes
- Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes
- Non-urgent: within 120 minutes.
Explore the data
The data visualisation below presents the following emergency department waiting time statistics by triage category:
- proportion seen on time
- 50th percentile (median) waiting time (half of all people waited less than this time)
- 90th percentile waiting time (90% of people waited less than this time).
In addition to the national data, the data can also be explored for recent years by:
- state and territory
- hospital (where data is available)
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).
Waiting times in emergency departments
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Triage category
These column graphs show the waiting time statistics (proportion seen on time, median (50th percentile) waiting time and 90th percentile waiting time) for emergency presentations in 2022–23. Data is presented by triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, the proportion of patients seen on time ranged by triage category; from 100% of Resuscitation presentations to 58% of Urgent patients.
States and territories
These line graphs show the waiting time statistics (proportion seen on time, median (50th percentile) waiting time and 90th percentile waiting time) for emergency presentations in 2018–19 to 2022–23. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, 65% of patients were seen on time, compared with 71% in 2018–19.
Hospitals and LHNs
This figure explores waiting times in emergency departments between in 2013–14 and in 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (number of patients presenting to the ED and the percentage of patients who commenced treatment within the recommended time), triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
Over the last five years, the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ has decreased and the time in which 90% of presentations were seen has increased.
In 2022–23:
- the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ was 65%, down from 67% in 2021–22 and from 71% in 2018–19
- Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals had the lowest overall proportion of presentations ‘seen on time’ (61%), and Other hospitals had the highest proportion (92%)
- 50% of patients were seen within 20 minutes, consistent with the previous year and higher than the preceding three years
- the time within which 90% of presentations were seen was 2 hours and 4 minutes, an increase from 1 hour and 40 minutes in 2018–19.
What other information is available?
Appendixes are available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Previous reports can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
An emergency department (ED) stay is the period between a patient presenting at an ED, and when that person is recorded as having physically departed the ED (regardless of whether they were admitted, referred, discharged or left at their own risk).
Explore the data
The data visualisation below presents the following measures related to time spent in the emergency department:
- proportion of patients with a length of stay of 4 hours or less
- 50th percentile (median) time spent in the ED (half of all people waited less than this time)
- 90th percentile time spent in the ED (90% of people waited less than this time).
The data is presented by:
- state and territory
- admission status
- triage category
- peer group.
The data can also be explored by:
- trends over time
- local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
- hospital (where data is available).
Time spent in emergency departments
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Peer group
This column graph shows the proportion of all emergency department patients whose length of stay was 4 hours or less in 2022–23. Data is presented by admission status (all, subsequently admitted or not admitted), peer group and triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, 55.8% of all patients in all hospitals completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours.
States and territories
These line graphs show the proportion of all emergency department patients whose length of stay was 4 hours or less between 2018–19 and 2022–23. Data is presented by admission status (subsequently admitted or not admitted), peer group and triage category. National, state and territory data are available. In 2022–23, of all patients subsequently admitted to hospital, 30.7% completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours or less. Of all patients not subsequently admitted to hospital, 65.9% completed their emergency department stay within 4 hours or less.
Hospitals and LHNs
This graphic explores emergency department waiting time statistics between 2013–14 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (median waiting time (50%), number of presentations, percentage who depart within 4 hours and time until most (90%) depart), triage category and peer group. Hospital, Local Hospital Network (LHN), national, and state and territory data are available.
Highlights
Nationally, over the last five years, the time in which 90% of presentations were completed has increased, and the proportion of presentations completed within 4 hours has decreased.
In 2022–23:
- 50% of ED presentations were completed within 3 hours and 39 minutes, which is around 41 minutes longer than in 2018–19 (2 hours, 58 minutes)
- the time in which 50% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (6 hours, 4 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (3 hours, 4 minutes)
- 90% of ED presentations were completed within 10 hours and 32 minutes which is just over 3 hours longer than in 2018–19 (7 hours, 29 minutes)
- the time in which 90% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (18 hours, 23 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (7 hours, 19 minutes)
- 56% of patients who presented to ED had their care completed within 4 hours compared to 61% in 2021–22 and 70% in 2018–19
- for patients subsequently admitted to the same hospital, one-third (31%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
- for patients not subsequently admitted, two-thirds (66%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
- 79% of ED presentations occurred between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
What other information is available?
Appendix information is available to download in the Info and downloads section.
Previous emergency department care reports can be accessed in the Reports section.
Further information about the concepts on this page can be found in the Glossary.
Admitted patient activity
Various types of care are provided to admitted patients. The care type describes the overall nature of a clinical service provided to an admitted patient during an episode of care. This is not the same as the diagnosis or condition that a person might attend hospital for. A single type of care can be used to manage many different conditions. Care type can be classified as:
- Acute care
- Newborn care
- Subacute and non-acute care—Rehabilitation care, Palliative care, Geriatric evaluation and management, Maintenance care and Psychogeriatric care
- Mental health care.
Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on the above care types.
Explore the data
In the data visualisation below, you can explore the number of hospitalisations by care type for public and private hospitals between 2018–19 and 2022–23, and by hospital, between 2013–14 to 2022–23.
Type of care
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Hospital sector
This column graph shows the number of hospitalisations by care type and private/public between 2018–19 and 2022–23. National data is presented by public/private and care type (acute, geriatric evaluation and management, maintenance care, mental health care, newborn care, palliative care, psychogeriatric care and rehabilitation care). In 2022–23, there were 6,704,048 Acute care separations in public hospitals and 4,380,444 Acute care separations in private hospitals.
Hospitals and LHNs
This table explores on the number of hospital admissions between 2012–13 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (number of admissions and care type). Hospital-level data is available.
Highlights
In 2022–23, for the public and private sectors combined:
- 91% of hospitalisations were classified as episodes of Acute care
- 3.7% were classified as episodes of Rehabilitation care
- 2.9% were classified as episodes of Mental health care
- 0.5% were classified as episodes of Newborn care (this only refers to situations where the newborn requires specific care – not all births).
The proportions of hospitalisations for each care type varied by hospital sector. Public hospitals accounted for 60% of hospitalisations for Acute care, while private hospitals accounted for 80% of hospitalisations for Rehabilitation care.
Changes over time
Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.
Acute care
In 2022–23:
- around 9 in 10 hospitalisations in public (94%) and private hospitals (88%) were for Acute care
- the most common principal diagnosis reported for overnight acute hospitalisations was Single spontaneous delivery (childbirth with minimal or no assistance; 2.8% of hospitalisations)
- almost 1 in 4 (23%) of same-day acute hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Care involving dialysis.
Changes over time
- Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23, the number of Acute care hospitalisations increased by 4.4% for public hospitals and by 4.5% for private hospitals.
- Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.
Newborn care
Newborns receiving care may have both ‘qualified’ (where the baby requires specialised care) and ‘unqualified’ days (where routine care is provided as part of the care for the mother). Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on qualified and unqualified care.
In 2022–23:
- there were 82,100 hospitalisations for newborn care with at least one qualified day—the majority of these (86%) occurred in public hospitals
- nearly 1 in 4 hospitalisations for newborn care had a principal diagnosis of Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified (23% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns) followed by Medical observation and evaluation for suspected diseases and conditions, ruled out (14% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns)
- almost all (95%) hospitalisations for newborn care were Discharged home and less than 0.26% Died.
Changes over time
Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23:
- hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by 1.5% in public hospitals, and decreased in private hospitals by 5.7%
- for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by 8.1% in public hospitals and decreased by 7.4% in private hospitals.
Compared with 2018–19, in 2022–23:
- hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by an annual average of 2.8% (from 63,000 to 70,400) in public hospitals and increased in private hospitals by 0.2% (11,600 to 11,700)
- for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by an annual average of 2.7% in public hospitals and increased by 2.3% in private hospitals.
Subacute and non-acute care
- In 2022–23, 1 in 20 hospitalisations (5.0%) were for Subacute and non-acute care
- over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of hospitalisations for Subacute and non-acute care increased by 2.8% in public hospitals and increased by 15.5% in private hospitals
- over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase of 1.5% for Subacute and non-acute care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.0% in private hospitals.
Rehabilitation care
In 2022–23:
- there were around 449,000 Rehabilitation care hospitalisations, with 4 in 5 (80%) occurring in private hospitals
- New South Wales and Queensland combined accounted for 4 in 5 (81%) Rehabilitation care hospitalisations – 59% in New South Wales and 22% in Queensland.
Changes over time
- Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Rehabilitation care hospitalisations increased by 21.4% in public hospitals and 16.5% in private hospitals.
- Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.3% for Rehabilitation care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.2 % in private hospitals.
Palliative care
In 2022–23:
- nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of the 54,100 Palliative care hospitalisations occurred in public hospitals
- 1 in 2 (48%) hospitalisations for Palliative care had a neoplasm-related (cancer-related) principal diagnosis, with Malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung accounting for 7.4% of Palliative care hospitalisations.
Mental health care
In 2022–23:
- over 3 in 5 (62%) of the 354,000 Mental health care hospitalisations occurred in private hospitals
- females (as identified in the data) accounted for 59% of all Mental health care hospitalisations.
- Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals increased by 1.4% (from 134,000 to 136,000) and decreased by 0.3% in private hospitals (218,400 to 217,900).
- Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.6% (146,000 to 136,000) of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average increase of 0.4% (214,000 to 216,000) in private hospitals.
What other information is available?
More information on these data are available in the Admitted patient care 2022–23: What services were provided? data tables.
Definitions of the terms used in this section are available in the Glossary.
Acute care
An episode of Acute care for an admitted patient is one in which the principal clinical intent is to do one or more of the following:
- manage labour (obstetric)
- cure illness or provide definitive treatment of injury
- perform surgery
- relieve symptoms of illness or injury (excluding palliative care)
- reduce severity of illness or injury
- protect against exacerbation and/or complication of an illness and/or injury which could threaten life or normal functions
- perform diagnostic or therapeutic procedures
Rehabilitation care
Rehabilitation care is care in which the primary clinical purpose or treatment goal is improvement in the functioning of a patient with an impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction due to a health condition.
Rehabilitation care is always:
- delivered under the management of or informed by a clinician with specialised expertise in rehabilitation
- evidenced by an individualised multidisciplinary management plan, which is documented in the patient’s medical record, which includes negotiated goals within specified time frames and formal assessment of functional ability.
Palliative care
Palliative care is defined as care in which the primary clinical purpose or treatment goal is optimisation of the quality of life of a patient with an active and advanced life-limiting illness. The patient will have complex physical, psychosocial and/or spiritual needs.
Palliative care is always:
- delivered under the management of or informed by a clinician with specialised expertise in palliative care
- evidenced by an individualised multidisciplinary assessment and management plan, which is documented in the patient's medical record that covers the physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the patient and negotiated goals.
Mental health care
Mental health care is defined in this publication as care in which the primary clinical purpose or treatment goal is improvement in the symptoms and/or psychosocial, environmental, and physical functioning related to a patient’s mental disorder.
Mental health care:
- is delivered under the management of, or regularly informed by, a clinician with specialised expertise in mental health
- is evidenced by an individualised formal mental health assessment and the implementation of a documented mental health plan
- may include significant psychosocial components, including family and carer support.
Mental health care differs from mental health-related care reported in AIHW Mental health services reports. A hospitalisation is classified as mental health-related if:
- it had a mental health-related principal diagnosis, which, for admitted patient care in this report, is defined as a principal diagnosis that is either:
- a diagnosis that falls within the section on Mental and behavioural disorders (Chapter 5) in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, Australian Modification (ICD‑10‑AM) (codes F00–F99), or
- a number of other selected diagnoses (see the technical information for a full list of applicable diagnoses), and/or
- it included any specialised psychiatric care.
For 2021–22, mental health care refers to hospitalisations for which the care type was reported as Mental health. The care type Mental health was introduced from 1 July 2015. Prior to this, mental health admitted patient activity was assigned to one of the other care types.
‘Qualified’ newborn
A day is considered ‘qualified’ for health insurance benefits purposes when a newborn meet at least 1 of the following criteria:
- the newborn is the second or subsequent live born infant of a multiple birth, whose mother is currently an admitted patient
- the newborn is admitted to an intensive care facility in a hospital, being a facility approved by the Commonwealth Minister for the purpose of the provision of special care
- the newborn is admitted to or remains in hospital without its mother.
A newborn admission to hospital can occur at any time within the first 9 days of life, including at the time of birth.
‘Unqualified’ newborn
The reporting of unqualified newborns has changed over time and varies across jurisdictions. Prior to 2017–18, newborn episodes involving unqualified care were routinely excluded from national reporting on the basis that they did not meet admission criteria for all purposes. However, due to changes in Newborn care practices (such as, care being provided to unqualified newborns on the ward rather than in a special care nursery) stakeholders have expressed interest in the reporting of all newborn episodes, regardless of qualification status.
Admitted patient safety and quality
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What is SABSI?
Staphylococcus aureus (also known as golden staph or S. aureus) is a usually harmless bacteria commonly found inside the nose and on the skin. However, if the bacteria enters the bloodstream a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABSI) can occur.
Contracting SABSI can be life-threatening and hospitals aim to minimise cases by implementing infection prevention and control policies, including good hygiene practices. Surveillance and reporting of healthcare-associated SABSI rates in hospitals helps to improve patient safety.
Types of SABSI
The two types of SABSI reported on are:
- methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) – which can be treated with commonly used antibiotics, and
- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which resists treatment by many types of antibiotics, and is associated with poorer patient outcomes.
Data on healthcare associated infections associated with hospital care are presented in the following data visualisation and summarised in the sections below. The data presented are for the latest year for which national data are available, and over time.
Healthcare-associated infections
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
This data visualisation contains 4 tabs:
1. Column graph showing number and rate of SABSI in public hospitals for 2022–23
2. Line graph showing number and rate of SABSI in public hospitals over time from 2015–16 to 2022–23.
3. Table showing SABSI number and rates by hospital between 2010–11 and 2022–23. Data is able to be filtered by type of SABSI, public/private sector, hospital peer group.
4. Data notes.
Nationally, in 2022–23:
- there were 1,668 cases of SABSI in public hospitals during 22.5 million patient days of care – an average of 32 cases per week. This is equivalent to a rate of 0.74 cases per 10,000 public hospital patient days.
- 16.4% of SABSI cases were resistant to antimicrobial treatment (MRSA) and 83.6% were MSSA cases.
Of the 700 public hospitals in Australia that contributed data, 203 (29%) hospitals reported at least one SABSI case.
Rates varied by the type of hospital (peer group) – from 0.46 per 10,000 patient days in Small hospitals to 1.04 in Children’s hospitals which, along with Major hospitals (0.91) are more likely to deliver services with a higher risk of SABSI.
Seven states and territories met the national benchmark
All states and territories achieved rates below the current nationally-agreed performance benchmark of 1.0 case per 10,000 patient days, except Tasmania. Rates ranged from 0.56 in South Australia to 1.04 in Tasmania.
Trends over time
Overall, SABSI rates have decreased at the national level from 1.09 cases per 10,000 patient days in 2010–11 to 0.74 in 2022-23. Rates by state/territory fluctuate from year to year.
On 1 July 2020, the agreed national benchmark changed from no more than 2.0 cases of healthcare-associated SABSI per 10,000 days of patient care to no more than 1.0 case.
Since 2010–11, rates of healthcare-associated MRSA have also declined – from 0.29 cases per 10,000 patient days to 0.12 cases in 2022–23. These cases accounted for 27% of all SABSI cases in 2010–11 compared with 16% of all cases in 2022–23.
In 2022–23, 150 private hospitals (23%) voluntarily submitted SABSI data to the data collection. The rate of private hospital participation in the NSABDC was calculated using the 645 private hospital listed in the Australian Government Department of Health’s list of Commonwealth Declared Hospitals as of 12 April 2024. Due to the participation rate, data may not be representative of the private hospital sector as a whole. Also, data provided by public and private hospitals should not be compared, as the procedures, types of cases and patients treated, and therefore the risk of healthcare-associated SABSI in each sector, differ.
In 2022–23:
- there were 207 cases of SABSI in private hospitals during 6.0 million private hospital patient days. This is equivalent to a rate of 0.35 cases per 10,000 private hospital patient days.
- 14% of SABSI cases were resistant to antimicrobial treatment (MRSA) and 86% were MSSA cases.
See the Hospital Safety and Quality theme page for data downloads for healthcare-associated infections in public and private hospitals.
Data are from the AIHW National Staphylococcus aureus Bacteraemia Data Collection (NSABDC). NSABDC data are supplied by all states and territories for public hospitals and participating private hospitals.
The SABSI rate is calculated as the number of healthcare-associated cases (patient-episodes) of Staphylococcus aureus divided by the total number of patient days under surveillance (x 10,000).
For more information about data quality and methods see:
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) – Antimicrobial resistance
Australian Government Department of Health – Antimicrobial resistance
Health Direct – Staph infections
Previous releases
AIHW – Bloodstream infections associated with hospital care 2019–20
Definitions of the terms used in this section are available in the Glossary.
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Why is hand hygiene important?
Hand hygiene refers to the washing of hands or use of alcohol-based rubs. Good hand hygiene is a first-line defence against viruses and infections, such as COVID-19, influenza and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. This is especially important for hospital patients whose immune systems may already be weakened due to existing health conditions, or medical treatment they are undergoing, such as surgery.
How is hand hygiene measured in hospitals?
Hand hygiene amongst healthcare workers in hospitals is continuously monitored through hand hygiene audits, and data are reported for three consecutive audit periods a year for participating hospitals as part of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) coordinated by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). In the last audit period (November 2022 to March 2023), data are reported here for 619 public hospitals, which is over 90% of the 680 public hospitals listed on the Australian Government Department of Health’s list of Commonwealth Declared Hospitals as at 31 October 2022.
There are certain times when the risk of healthcare workers transmitting disease in hospitals is greater. Known as hand hygiene ‘moments’, these are:
- before touching a patient (Moment 1)
- before a procedure (Moment 2)
- after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk (Moment 3)
- after touching a patient (Moment 4)
- after touching a patient’s surroundings (Moment 5).
Hand hygiene compliance rates are calculated by dividing the number of compliant hand hygiene moments by the number of moments observed by auditors. Since 2017 the national benchmark for hand hygiene compliance has been 80%.
Hand hygiene compliance for each audit period is reported here for public hospitals at national, and individual-hospital levels, as well as by hand-hygiene moment and healthcare-worker group.
Hand hygiene
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Hospitals and LHNs
This figure shows hand hygiene rates and observed hand hygiene moments for several audit periods. Data are presented by measure (hand hygiene rate and observed hand hygiene moments). Hospital and national data are available.
Time series
This figure shows hand hygiene compliance between 2012 and 2023. Data is presented by audit period and hospital.
Hand hygiene in public hospitals
The latest national-level data (from Audit period November 2022 to March 2023), show:
- the national hand hygiene compliance rate was 86% – above the 80% national benchmark
- hand hygiene for each of the 5 moments was also above the benchmark:
- before touching a patient: 83%
- before a procedure: 91%
- after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk: 93%
- after touching a patient: 89%
- after touching a patient’s surroundings: 81%
- the highest rates of hand hygiene were among:
- dental professionals, for example, dentists’ compliance was 94%
- nurses and midwives: 89%
- the following healthcare-worker groups did not meet the 80% benchmark:
- doctors (medical practitioners): 76%
- ambulance workers: 69%
- domestic staff (for example, food services, cleaning and maintenance workers): 76%.
The ACSQHC (2023) reports that for Audit period 1 of 2023 the highest rates of compliance were in departments for:
- dentistry: 93%
- renal care: 90%
- neonatal care, mental health care, ambulatory care, oncology/haematology, palliative care (89%).
Emergency department (78%) was the only department type that did not been the 80% benchmark.
Hand hygiene in your hospital
The interactive table in the data visualisation above presents data on hand hygiene by participating public hospitals from 2010 onwards – see 'Hospitals' tab.
Data downloads
See the Hospital Safety and Quality theme page for more data downloads for hand hygiene in public hospitals from 2010 onwards.
There are a number of factors contributing to hospital hand hygiene compliance rates, including the type of clinical care provided, hand hygiene product placement and availability; and staff awareness of and compliance with infection prevention and control strategies.
For more information about data quality and methods see:
- Hand Hygiene National Best endeavours data set, 2012– (data set specification)
- National hand hygiene data collection 2012– (quality statement).
The number of public hospitals is from the Australian Government Department of Health List of declared hospitals from 2022.
Related information
National Hand Hygiene Initiative (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare – ACSQHC)
Admitted patient access
Length of stay is the number of days between admission to hospital, and when that episode of hospital care ends. The Average Length of Stay (ALOS) is calculated as the total number of patient days reported for the hospital (or group of hospitals), divided by the number of hospitalisations.
Explore the data
In the data visualisation below, you can view the ALOS by selected medical procedures, by state and territory, and by type of hospital (peer group).
Average length of stay
All data in these visualisations are available for download in the Data & downloads section of the MyHospitals website.
Hospital sector
This bar graph shows the average length of stay for selected AR-DRGs in 2022–23. Data is presented by public/private hospital. National data is available. In 2022–23, heart failure and shock had the longest length of stay for private hospitals at 6.6 days and for public hospitals at 4.0 days.
Hospitals and LHNs
This figure shows the average length of overnight stay between 2012–13 and 2022–23. Data is presented by measure (average length of overnight stay, number of hospital stays, number of overnight bed stays, and percentage of hospital stays that were overnight), procedure category and peer group. Hospital data is available.
Highlights
In 2022–23:
- the ALOS for overnight hospitalisations in Australia was 5.7 days (6.0 days for public hospitals and 5.1 days for private hospitals)
- there were notable differences (more than 1 day) in the ALOS between public and private hospitals for 6 of the 20 selected diagnosis groups – the AR-DRGs (for example, the ALOS for Chronic obstructive airways disease, minor complexity was 2.9 days for public hospitals and 5.8 for private hospitals).
Between 2018–19 and 2022–23,
- the overall ALOS for all hospitalisations remained stable at around 2.7 days
- the ALOS for overnight hospitalisations in public hospitals increased on average by 2.7% per year (5.3 to 5.8 days), and private hospitals increased on average by 2.7% (5.4 to 6.0 days).
Significant changes in ALOS over time may be related to changes in admission practices, changes in the types of treatments provided and clinical practices.
What other information is available?
More information about ALOS can be found in Tables 2,9 to 2.11, S2.8 and S2.9 in Admitted patient care 2022–23: How much activity was there?
Definitions of the terms used in this section are available in the Glossary.
Average length of stay
The average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated as the total number of patient days reported for the hospital (or group of hospitals), divided by the number of separations. Two measures for ALOS are presented:
- ALOS for all separations
- ALOS excluding same-day separations
Performance indicator: Average length of stay for selected AR-DRGs
The ALOS for selected AR-DRGs can be considered as an indicator of hospital efficiency and sustainability. The selected AR-DRGs were chosen on the basis of:
- homogeneity, where variation is more likely to be attributable to the hospital’s performance rather than variations in the patients themselves
- representativeness across clinical groups
- differences between jurisdictions and/or sectors
- policy interest, as evidenced by (1) inclusion of similar groups in other tables in Australian hospital statistics, such as indicator procedures for elective surgery waiting time, (2) high volume and/or cost and (3) changes in volume over years.
Due to changes in the AR-DRG classification, the data presented here are not comparable with the data presented in previous years.