News release

From: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

The injuries sending health care workers to hospital

The number of health care workers being admitted to hospital due to assault has increased between 2015–16 and 2024–25, according to a new report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Injury hospitalisations among health care workers, explores work-related injuries among health care workers that were serious enough to require hospitalisation between 2015–16 and 2024–25. It explores the most common types and causes of injury and highlights the groups most likely to be injured.

‘Health care workers play a vital role in caring for others but they can face serious hazards and risks in their line of work,’ said AIHW spokesperson Jacqueline Rek.

‘The rate of hospitalisation for healthcare workers injured at work has remained steady in recent years but the reasons health care workers are hospitalised has varied.'

Overall, there were 7,416 injury hospitalisations among health care workers in the 10 years between 2015–16 and 2024–25. In 2024–25, there were 819 injury hospitalisations, a rate of 53 per 100,000 health care workers.

The most common injuries in 2024–25 resulting in hospitalisation among health care workers were falls (36%), assaults (15%) and contact with objects such as knives, tools or machines (13%).

The types of injury that health care workers were most likely to experience were fractures (28%), followed by soft-tissue injuries (15%) and open wounds (10%).

In 2024–25, there were 126 assault-related hospitalisations at a rate of 8.1 per 100,000 health care workers, an increase from 49 and a rate of 4.3 in 2015–16.

Assault has moved up from the fourth to the second leading cause of injury hospitalisation among health care workers. In comparison, assault is the seventh highest cause of injury hospitalisation for the general Australian population.

Injuries occurring among admitted patients

Also published today, Injuries occurring among admitted patients provides new insights into injuries that occurred during a hospital stay, known as hospital-onset injuries. The report examines the types and causes of these injuries, and how outcomes differ for patients who experienced an injury compared with those who did not.

One in every 182 (0.55%) hospital separations involved a hospital-onset injury between 2015–16 and 2024–25. Hospital-onset injuries were more frequent in older age groups and among men.

Half of these hospital-onset injuries were caused by falls and most often resulted in open wounds or superficial injuries.

Hospital‑onset injuries were more common during longer stays. Patients who experienced an injury while in hospital stayed an average of 11 days longer than those who did not.

‘Together, these reports provide important evidence to better understand injury risks and support safer care for both patients and health care workers,’ said Ms Rek.