By Rachel Meade, General Manager – Injury Prevention
Imagine the MCG on AFL grand final day – now multiply that by five. That’s how many people are hospitalised due to serious injury in Australia each year.
But injury is often perceived as a part of life, from scraped knees in children to bumps and bruises on the football field.
What people fail to realise, is that injuries are a leading cause of death, disability and economic burden across Australia but they can be prevented.
Injuries represent 8 per cent of the total burden of disease and more than 7 per cent of health spending. And injury-related deaths are continuing to rise.
Surely, serious injury resulting in hospitalisation and death is not something we should accept, when we know that they are preventable.
There is growing evidence in a range of injury areas about what is effective in preventing injury; however, over the past decade, we have seen no improvement in rates of injury fatalities.
This means too many people are still dying from preventable injury.
In fact, over the summer, we saw national drowning fatalities increase by 5 per cent from last summer and 14 per cent on the five-year average. Sadly, this past Easter’s drowning toll was the worst in recent history, with six people drowning over the holiday period.
It’s not just drownings – rates of serious injury and deaths from falls have continued to increase over the past decade, as has deaths from accidental poisonings.
And across all forms of injury, from road crashes, falls, drowning, poisoning and burns and scalds there are groups who are more likely to be impacted by serious injury. Children, older adults, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those living in regional and remote areas are all at higher risk of death and hospitalisation from injury.
Yet, despite the growing evidence for preventative measures, advances in technology, and glaring impact of injury on our communities, Australia has not had a national strategy for injury prevention since 2014.
In 2018, the then-Morrison Government commenced significant consultation and drafting of a National Strategy for Injury Prevention.
Through this process, a life stages approach to injury prevention was identified, with priorities and cross-cutting risk factors identified, including alcohol, extreme weather events, the built environment, and product safety, all of which increase the severity and risk of all injury types.
The National Injury Prevention Strategy was meant to be from 2020-2030. However, under both Liberal and Labor leadership, this work has never seen the light of day.
The effort and cost that went into drafting and consulting with experts in the sector has been wasted, with valuable work appearing to have been repeatedly deprioritised and put on the shelf.
The current political conversation surrounding the federal election is dominated by the current cost of living crisis and how the elected Prime Minister will deal with Trump – but why are our politicians ignoring the health and wellbeing of Australians paying the expansive cost of injury?
Spending on treating and managing injury in 2020-21 was over $10.9 billion.
Beyond the direct cost of healthcare, there are the additional costs associated with a loss of productivity, alongside the police, and fire services responding to countless preventable injuries.
Then there is the emotional cost to Australian families and communities who are impacted by the death or serious injury of their loved ones.
It’s too common to hear of a friend’s otherwise healthy parent or grandparent having a fall, being hospitalised, and never being able to live independently again – or worse, losing their lives as a result.
In fact, 26 per cent of Australians who fracture their hip pass away within a year of that injury.
We know that in areas where dedicated effort and resourcing have been made, such as road safety, we have seen improvements in road traffic injuries. And for every dollar invested in preventative health, $14.30 in health and other costs are saved.
So, where is a true plan for investment in injury prevention?
We want to see the next Federal Government commit to reducing the burden of injury in Australia, particularly where significant inequalities exist.
Children, older adults, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and rural populations are all at higher risk of injury.
A national strategy is the first step alongside increased and sustained investment in effective interventions to support these communities as well as supporting coordination between government, industry and community organisations.
It is time for our government to take injury seriously and prioritise prevention.
By implementing and resourcing a national strategy for injury prevention, we can save lives, improve public health, and reduce economic strain while creating a safer environment for all.