Injury in Australia

Injury surveillance data has changed over time. This visualisation shows the timeline of key changes in injury data sources from 1971 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Timeline of injury surveillance data, Australia, 1971–2024.

Notes:

1.Where the change description is '*' there are multiple changes on a date. Select that data group to expand and display changes.

2.Detailed technical notes about hospitals and emergency department data can be accessed via the AIHW's MyHospitals about the data page.

3.Detailed notes about deaths data can be accessed via the National Mortality Database information page.

Data sources

Hospitalisations

Hospitalisations data are sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD). The NHMD is a compilation of episode-level records from admitted patient morbidity data collection systems (APC NMDS) in Australian public and private hospitals. It includes episodes of care for admitted patients in all public and private acute and psychiatric hospitals, free standing day hospital facilities and alcohol and drug treatment centres in Australia. Hospitals operated by the Australian Defence Force, corrections authorities and in Australia's offshore territories may also be included. Hospitals specialising in dental, ophthalmic aids and other specialised acute medical or surgical care are included. Data quality statements for the NHMD are available on the AIHW MyHospitals website. For more information about data contained in the NHMD refer to the AIHW MyHospitals technical notes.

Emergency Department presentations

Emergency department data are sourced from the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NNAPEDCD). Data quality statements for this dataset are available on the AIHW MyHospitals website. For the 2022-23 NAPEDC National Minimum Data Set (NMDS)/ National Best Endeavours Data Set (NBEDS), diagnosis information was reported using the ED ICD-10-AM version 11 shortlist that can be found on the website of the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority.

For more information about data contained in the NNAPEDCD refer to the MyHospitals technical notes for recent years.

Deaths

Deaths data are sourced from the AIHW National Mortality Database (NMD). When a person is declared dead, information about their death is recorded on a death certificate by either a medical practitioner or coroner. Registration of all deaths is compulsory in Australia and is the responsibility of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the relevant state or territory, under jurisdiction-specific legislation.

Deaths data are assembled, coded, and published on behalf of the Registrars by statistical agencies. These agencies have varied since 1900 and have included state-based offices and what is now the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Information is also provided to the ABS via the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) for those deaths certified by a coroner.

The ABS codes causes of death according to the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) (WHO 2019) and, after checks and de-identification, creates the Cause of Death Unit Record File (CODURF).

The CODURF contains characteristics of the person who died (for example, age, sex, and Indigenous status), and characteristics of their death (for example, causes of death, date, and place where the person usually lived). The AIHW maintains these data in the NMD.

The data quality statements underpinning the AIHW NMD can be found on the following ABS internet pages:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Deaths, Australia methodology
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Causes of Death, Australia methodology

For more information on mortality coding refer to Causes of Death, Australia Methodology, 2022.

Population data

Population data are used for demographic analyses and as the denominator in calculating rates. All population level calculations are based on the estimated resident population (ERP) calculated as at the midpoint of each financial year. For example, for the reporting period 2022–23, the denominator population is the June 2022 ERP + the June 2023 ERP, divided by 2. This is used as the denominator for age‑specific/crude and age‑standardised rates.

The ERP as at 30 June 2001 is used as the standardising population throughout the report (ABS 2003).

All population data are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as follows:

• General populations are from National, state and territory population (ABS 2023)
• First Nations populations are from Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (ABS 2019)
• Remoteness populations
• Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintile populations are from AIHW analysis of Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia (ABS 2021)

First Nations people & non-Indigenous Australians

Since estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) populations are only provided for 30 June, estimates for 31 December are calculated by adding 2 consecutive 30 June estimates and dividing by 2 (for example, the estimate for 31 December 2022 is calculated by adding estimates for 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023 then dividing by 2).

For non-Indigenous Australians, population denominators were derived by subtracting the estimated First Nations population from the Australian national estimated resident population, as at 31 December of the relevant year.