Key messages
- Injury is a major burden of disease that can be prevented.
- Effective injury prevention measures identify injury causes and hazards, remove them or reduce people’s exposure to them.
- Injury prevention is a community-wide responsibility.
Injury affects Victorians of all ages. It is the greatest cause of death between the ages of 1 and 44 years and leaves many with serious disabilities or long-term conditions. The leading causes of injury are falls, suicide, transport, drowning and poisoning. Each year in Victoria injury results in over 3,200 deaths [1] and over 450,000 hospitalisations [2], costing the state over $1.22 billion in direct hospital admission costs [3]. The number of injuries treated each year by GPs, rehabilitation professionals and other allied health practitioners is unknown, but would also be substantial.
For these reasons, injury prevention is a priority of the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing plan 2023-27. Supporting strategies across Victoria include:
- Victorian Road Safety Strategy
- Victorian Water Safety Strategy
- Victorian Suicide Prevention and Response Strategy 2024-34
- Victorian Ageing Well Action Plan .
Victorian Injury Prevention Program
The Victorian Injury Prevention Program leads a diverse range of activities, including the provision of policy advice and the development of strategies, research support, stakeholder liaison, and monitoring and evaluation.
The program has links with an extensive range of stakeholders and adopts a collaborative approach in the development and implementation of injury prevention initiatives.
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
The Victorian Injury Surveillance at Monash University analyses, interprets and disseminates Victorian data on injury deaths, hospital admissions (Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset - VAED ) and emergency department presentations (Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset - VEMD), as well as VISU-held Cause of Death (COD) dataset based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Injurydata are used to underpin government injury prevention policies, stimulate research and to develop and evaluate injury prevention strategies and measures.
Local government organisations and municipalities are particularly encouraged to use VISU data for their planning of local injury prevention activities, for example, for municipal public health and wellbeing plans and community safety plans.
VISU information request service
The VISU data and information request service is available to government and non-government organisations and agencies, health and safety organisations, the higher education and research sectors, industry and business, and community members. Interested organisations should submit an online data request form via the VISU website.
VISU Injury Atlas of Victoria
The VISU Injury Atlas of is an interactive online tool and dashboard that enables stakeholders to explore and learn more about the public health burden associated with hospital-treated injuries in Victoria. The Atlas is hosted by Monash University for the purpose of disseminating de-identified aggregated information on injury for the benefit of the public.
Child injury prevention
(Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia) is an independent, non-profit, non-government, charitable foundation dedicated to the prevention of unintentional death, injury and associated disability to children. Kidsafe advocates for awareness of child safety issues and injury prevention by working in cooperation with a variety of stakeholders, including government, industry, schools, hospitals, the media, community groups, voluntary organisations and individuals.
Kidsafe Victoria provides information and resources for various child injury issues, including falls prevention, drowning prevention, poisoning prevention and road safety for children.
Child restraint best practice
The National Guidelines for the Safe Restraint of Children Travelling in have been developed under the auspices of Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and Kidsafe. They provide best practice recommendations that have been approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The guidelines provide straightforward, consistent advice from various sources on how to keep children safe in cars.
Child poisoning prevention
Poisoning is the second highest cause of zero to four-year-old child hospitalisations in Victoria. Remove the risk is a child poisoning prevention resource that includes the brochure Is your home poison proof? The brochure provides information to help parents poison-proof their homes. This resource is distributed to parents by local Maternal and Child Health services, and is auspiced by the Department of Education and Training.
You can call the Victorian Poisons on 131 126 if someone has been poisoned or has overdosed, made a mistake with medicines, or been bitten or stung (24 hours a day, seven days a week).
Falls prevention among older people
Falls are the leading cause of injury among older Australians. As well as physical injury, falls can cause loss of confidence and fear of falling, so over time, older people may become less active, which may increase their risk of falling. Evidence suggests falls can be prevented by strength and balance exercise, modifying the environment for falls and trip hazards (particularly at home) and reducing some medications. Vitamin D and calcium supplements can also reduce fall-related fractures.
Victorian healthcare providers and community services can use a range of to assess the risks associated with falls, and then identify ways of addressing those risks.
The recently updated National Best Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Management of are now available via the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, for Older People in key settings of community, hospitals and residential aged care.
Transport injury / Road safety
The Department of Health partners with other agencies in the Victorian Road Safety to reduce road trauma and serious injury aligned to the Victorian Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. The partners work closely with stakeholders including WorkSafe Victoria, local councils and community organisations, and others who can help achieve road safety goals.
Safe Transport Victoria manages the safety, compliance, accreditation and registration for commercial passenger vehicles (taxi and rideshare), buses, marine sector water and boating safety and assists with the travel needs of people with accessibility and mobility needs.
Farm-related injury / Farm safety
Agriculture is a high-productivity sector that faces extreme safety risks. Farmers and farm workers often experience injury and fatality rates significantly higher than the average workers across all industries.
The vast majority of farm injuries and fatalities are linked with working with powered machinery, tractors, quad bikes, side-by-side vehicles or livestock. Farmers can also suffer serious injuries related to manual handling, slips, trips and falls. Farmers are also prone to suicide and psychological ill health. The National Centre for Farmer based in Victoria aims to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of farmers, farm workers, their families and agriculture-dependent communities.
Organisations involved in injury prevention
- Injury data
- Monash University Accident
- Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
- Victorian State Trauma Registry
- Transport Accident Commission – Statistics
- Victorian Road Crash Data
- Coroners Court of Victoria – Coroners
- National Coronial Information
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Injury in
- Burns-related injury
- Child injury
- Commission for Children and
- Kidsafe Victoria (Child Accident Prevention Foundation
- The Royal Children’s Hospital
- Drowning-related injury
- Life
- Play It Safe By
- Safe Transport Victoria – On the
- Occupational injury
- National Centre for
- Agriculture Victoria
- Poisoning-related injury
- Victorian Poisons
- Product-related injury
- Australian Competition &
- Consumer
- Transport-related injury
- Monash University Accident
- Transport Accident Commission
- VicRoads
- Victorian Parliamentary Road
- Safe Transport Victoria
- Sports injury
- Sport and Recreation
- Sports Medicine Australia - Concussion
References
[1]
VISU: Hayman, J & Berecki-Gisolf, J. Injury deaths Victoria, 2020–2023. E-Bulletin Edition 30. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
(2) VISU: Hayman J., and Berecki-Gisolf J., (2025). Unintentional hospital-treated injury Victoria, 2023/24. E-Bulletin Edition 31. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
(3) VISU: Berecki-Gisolf J. (2024) Cost of hospital-admitted injury in Victoria 2016/17-2020/21. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
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[1 ]VISU: Hayman, J & Berecki-Gisolf, J. Injury deaths Victoria, 2020–2023. E-Bulletin Edition 30. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
[2] VISU: Hayman J., and Berecki-Gisolf J., (2025). Unintentional hospital-treated injury Victoria, 2023/24. E-Bulletin Edition 31. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
[3] VISU: Berecki-Gisolf J. (2024) Cost of hospital-admitted injury in Victoria 2016/17-2020/21. Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria.
Reviewed 30 March 2026