Deaths from external causes

• There were 1,295 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2024 (981 males and 314 females). This compares to 1,301 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2023 (970 males and 331 females).
• The age-standardised death rate decreased by 2.8% from 2023 to 2024. The rate decreased by 1.7% for males and 6.3% for females.
• Males aged 65-84 years had the largest numerical increase by age group with 9 more deaths due to motor vehicle accidents than 2023.
• For females, the age group with the largest numerical increase was 10-24 years with 12 more deaths due to motor vehicle accidents than 2023.
• In 2024, 75.0% of motor vehicle accident deaths occurred in those aged under 65 years.
• Deaths involving cars as the mode of transport decreased by 50 from 2023 to 2024.
• Deaths of motorcycle riders increased by 45 from 2023 to 2024.
• The largest increase in 2024 was reported in the Northern Territory with 25 more deaths than 2023.
• Motor vehicle accidents will continue to be revised as additional coronial information is received. 

• There were 5,179 deaths from accidental falls in 2024 (2,613 males and 2,566 females) compared with 4,949 deaths in 2023.
• When adjusted for age-structure and population size, the age-standardised death rate for accidental falls was 13.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024, a slight increase from 13.0 in 2023.
• Accidental fall deaths were the leading cause of external death, and the 8th leading cause overall.
• The median age for accidental fall deaths in 2024 was 87.8 years (compared with the median age of 82.0 years for all causes of death). Most falls occur in those aged over 75 years. The largest proportion of accidental fall deaths was reported for people aged 85-94 years (45.6%).
• In 2024, the largest increase in accidental falls in males was for those aged 75-84 years (an increase of 88 deaths from 2023) and for females was 95 years and older (an increase of 120 deaths).
• By state of usual residence, Queensland reported the largest increase in accidental fall deaths with 152 more deaths in 2024 compared with 2023. For further information by jurisdiction see data cube 15. External causes of death (Australia), 2024.
• The most common injury types reported with accidental fall deaths in 2024 were hip fractures and brain injuries.
• This category includes deaths due to exposure to unspecified factors causing fracture (X59.0) which is an indicator of an accidental fall. See the Methods for cause of death analysis in the Data Processing section of the methodology.

• There were 288 deaths caused by injury from accidental drowning and submersion in 2024 (223 males and 65 females) compared with 273 deaths in 2023.
• The crude death rate increased from 1.0 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023 to 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024.
• In 2024, the largest proportion of male drowning and submersion deaths were for men aged 25-44 years old (27.4% of male deaths). For females, the largest proportion was in women aged 45-64 years old (32.3% of female deaths).
• By state of usual residence, the largest increase in drowning deaths in 2024 was in Western Australia (an increase of 10 deaths from 2023) and Queensland (an increase of 7 deaths). New South Wales reported the largest decrease (5 less deaths compared with 2023).
• Most accidental drowning and submersion deaths occur in natural water (153 deaths in 2024). The median age of drowning deaths in natural water ways was 44.5 years in 2024, compared to a median age of 35.0 years for drowning deaths involving bathtubs.

There is a growing body of research into the relationship between work and external causes of death, such as suicide. A review conducted for the NSW Ministry of Health¹, encompassing over 60 international studies, identified elevated suicide risk in occupations characterised by high job demand, low autonomy, shift work, exposure to physical danger, and access to lethal means. While occupation coding cannot tell us if the workplace was a risk factor for the deceased, it provides an additional lens through which to examine psychosocial influences on mortality. 

Psychosocial risk factors, including those relating to work, are captured in the mortality dataset through supplementary coding (see risk factor article). The inclusion of coded occupation data builds on this work. No single indicator provides a complete picture of work-related mortality. The use of OSCA-coded occupation data enhances the potential of future data linkage and supports an improved understanding of the relationship between work and mortality outcomes.

The Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) is a framework developed by the ABS designed to classify and report occupation data in a standardised way. In Australia, it replaces the previous Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) system for classifying and organising occupation data. 

The OSCA structure has five levels - major group, sub-major group, minor group, unit group and occupation. A one, two, three, four and six-digit identifier is assigned to each major, sub-major, minor group, unit group and occupation, respectively. Major groups are the broadest groups of jobs in OSCA, designed for producing summary data. Major groups are identified by a one-digit identifier. There are eight major groups in OSCA (see table below) which are progressively subdivided further into sub-major groups (two-digit identifier) followed by minor groups (three-digit identifier), unit groups (four-digit identifier) and occupations (six-digit identifier). The following table illustrates the distribution between the major groups.

Each identifier is unique and shows hierarchical relationships within the classification. For example, occupation 371132 Stonemason is part of:

• Major Group 3 – Technicians and Trades Workers
• Sub-major Group 37 – Building Structural Trades Workers
• Minor Group 371 – Bricklayers, Stonemasons and Concreters
• Unit Group 3711 – Bricklayers and Stonemasons

Deaths that are unable to be coded at any specified level are assigned a supplementary code beginning with ‘0’ (for example, 099888 ‘Inadequately described’). Supplementary codes may be assigned to certain descriptions or when the occupation field is blank, with broad categories including:

• The deceased was recorded on the death registration as being unemployed.
• The death registration indicated the person was not in the labour force (e.g. retired, child/baby, student, pensioner, home maker, volunteer etc.).
• The description was inadequately described to support coding (e.g. Public servant).
• The occupation was unknown or not stated.

In 2023 and 2024, all coroner referred deaths of those aged 15 years and under had no occupation provided and were assigned a supplementary code. Further information on the OSCA classification can be found on the ABS website. 

Data was coded to OSCA using the Whole of Australian Government (WoAG) Occupation Coding Service ('the Coding Service'). This is a new capability designed to code job title and tasks text to official statistical classifications. The Coding Service is trained by supervised machine learning to make fast and accurate predictions of the best code matches for input data. Further information on the WoAG Occupation Coding Service can be found on the ABS website. 

Mortality data compiled by the ABS is sourced from death registrations provided by the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each state and territory. Information relating to the deceased’s occupation is collected on the Death Registration Statement (DRS), also referred to as the Death Registration Form (DRF). This form is completed by the informant, typically the funeral director in consultation with the deceased’s family. Occupation data are recorded on the DRS across all jurisdictions.

For deaths referred to a coroner, information on occupation is also available via the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). Each data source presents distinct strengths and limitations. 

For the purposes of this work, the ABS made the decision to use the DRS as the primary source of occupation data. The majority of demographic information in the national mortality dataset is sourced from the DRS. Additionally if the work were expanded to include doctor certified deaths in future, a consistent data source for occupation would be available for coding. 

Information on occupation recorded on the Death Registration Statement (DRS) is subject to a number of limitations that may affect the accuracy, specificity and reliability of coding. Accordingly, this data should be considered as experimental and interpretation should account for these limitations. 

Key considerations include:

• Variation in question wording across jurisdictions: The phrasing of the occupation question differs by state and territory. Most commonly, ‘usual occupation in working life’ or ‘main occupation during working life’ is recorded, though in some instances the question may be limited to ‘occupation’ or ‘usual occupation’. In New South Wales and Western Australia, an additional field allows for the reporting of ‘main tasks’ associated with the occupation, however, the level of detail provided in these fields is generally limited.
• Industry of employment is not collected on Australian death registrations. To support more comprehensive analysis, linkage with external sources is required. The national mortality dataset is linked to a number of data assets including the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA).
• Limited detail on occupation and tasks: In most cases, coding is based solely on the occupation title provided, with no accompanying information on the tasks performed in the role. This means that in some cases, a less specific code is able to be assigned, and in other cases, assumptions may be made on how to categorise the occupation. For example, a description of ‘farmer’ codes to the sub-major group of ‘Farmers and Farm Managers’ (15), whereas ‘sheep farmer’ can be coded to the specific occupation of ‘Sheep Farmer’ (152431). Conversely, the term ‘clerk’ will code to the specific occupation of ‘General Clerk’ (561131) in the absence of more specific information about tasks performed.
• Reliance on informant knowledge: The quality of occupation data is dependent on the informant’s understanding of the deceased’s work history and, where applicable, the main tasks performed. Information provided by next-of-kin or other proxies may differ from self-reported data, if it were available.
• Working status at the time of death may be recorded instead of the deceased’s occupation during working life. For example, descriptions such as ‘retired’, ‘unemployed’ and ’pensioner’ are often provided in the death registration.
• Multiple occupations reported: Where more than one occupation is listed, it is not possible to determine which was the deceased’s main occupation during their working life. In these instances, occupation has generally been coded to the occupation requiring the greater skill level, as specified in the OSCA classification.
• Occupation information used for coding does not include reference to the workplace or mechanism of death as related to the occupation.

With these limitations in mind, occupation data should be interpreted with caution, and in combination with other variables, such as age and psychosocial work-related codes, to support analysis and contextual understanding. 

1. Case R, Alabakis J, Bowles K-A, Smith K. Suicide prevention in high-risk occupations: an Evidence Check rapid review brokered by the Sax Institute (www.saxinstitute.org.au) for the NSW Ministry of Health, 2020. 

The tables below show the number and proportion of all coroner referred deaths for 2023 and 2024 (47,031 deaths), that were codable to each level of the classification, by major group. It shows that:

• 73.4% of all coroner referred deaths were able to be coded to a major group (the remaining 26.6% were coded to supplementary codes)
• 55.0% were able to be coded to an occupation.
• The most commonly-coded major group was Technicians and Trades Workers, which accounted for 18.1% of all coroner referred deaths. 

In this section, occupation data is presented for total coroner referred deaths, drug-induced deaths and suicide. Data is presented as both numbers (e.g. the number of deaths where an occupation group has been listed by cause of death) and by proportions, using coroner referred deaths as the denominator. When analysing this data the following points should be considered: 

• As the OSCA classification is new, there is currently no corresponding population data (i.e. how many people work in an occupation) coded to OSCA that can be used as denominators or for comparison purposes. Data can be used for descriptive purposes only.
• The 'Key considerations' from the 'Coverage and completeness' section above should be taken into account.
• The occupation does not provide information on other variables- for example, an occupation may be unrelated to someone's cause of death.

The table below presents coroner referred deaths that were able to be coded to at least a major group, by age and sex, for selected causes. The table excludes the 26.6% of coroner referred deaths that were coded to a supplementary code. It shows that:

• A smaller proportion of coroner referred deaths of females were assigned an OSCA code (61.7%) compared to males (79.4%). This was true across all age groups and selected causes.
• The two oldest age bands (65-74 years and 75 years and over) had the highest proportion of deaths where an OSCA code was able to be assigned. This was the case for males, females and persons.
• A lower proportion of drug-induced deaths had an OSCA code assigned across all age groups for both males and females, compared to the overall coroner referred population. The exceptions were females aged 65-74 and 75 years and over, who more commonly had an occupation code assigned.
• For both sexes and across most age groups, a higher proportion of deaths due to intentional self-harm had an OSCA code assigned compared to coroner referred deaths in general. The exception was those aged 16-24 years, for which a smaller proportion had an occupation code assigned compared to coroner referred deaths overall. 

The tables below present occupation coding by sex for selected causes of death. They highlight the sex differences by major group, and indicate that across 2023 and 2024:

• For females, the most common major group recorded on a death registration was Professionals (accounting for 16.2% of all female coroner referred deaths), followed by Clerical and Administrative Workers (11.7%) and Community and Personal Service Workers (9.5%).
• Professionals made up 16.2% of the major groups recorded on the death registration for female coroner referred deaths overall. When looking at deaths due to specific causes the proportions of professionals was higher – 18.2% for drug induced deaths and 21.8% for suicides. This was also true of female Community and Personal Service Workers, for whom the occupation was listed on the death registration for 9.5% of coroner referred deaths, but a higher proportion was listed as the major group for those who died by suicide (13.4%) and drug-induced deaths (13.3%).
• Technicians and Trades Workers was the most common major group recorded on a death registration for males (accounting for 24.6% of all male coroner referred deaths), followed by Professionals (12.2%) and Labourers (11.4%).
• 27.6% of males who died by suicide had an occupation listed on their death registration that was assigned Technicians and Trades Workers. This was higher than for coroner referred deaths overall (24.6%). The proportion of males who had an occupation assigned to Labourers who died from drug-induced deaths was 13.8%. This was higher than the 11.4% of males who were Labourers for overall coroner referred deaths.
• Over one-quarter (26.6%) of coroner referred deaths were unable to have occupation coded at any level and were assigned a supplementary code. This proportion was higher for females than males (38.3% and 20.6%, respectively), and was highest for females who died from drug-induced deaths (40.9%).

The tables below show the distribution of deaths due to intentional self-harm, by age and major group:

• Technicians and Trades Workers was the most common major group listed on the death registration for deaths due to suicide across most age groups. This was influenced by the higher proportion of males who died by suicide in 2023 and 2024 (75.8%) compared to females.
• An exception to this was for those aged 65-74 years, who were more commonly recorded as Professionals.
• The other exceptions were the two youngest age bands (0-15 and 16-24 years) for which supplementary codes were most commonly recorded.
• This differs to coroner referred deaths overall, for which supplementary codes were the most commonly-recorded category across all age bands, followed by Technicians and Trades Workers. 

The below table ranks the top 10 sub-major groups for deaths due to intentional self-harm by sex across 2023 and 2024 (excluding supplementary codes):

• The most commonly recorded sub-major group was Road and Rail Drivers for males, and Health Professionals for females and persons.
• The only sub-major group to appear in the top 10 ranking for both males and females was Design, Engineering and Science Professionals, which was ranked 6th for males and 9th for females.
• For all persons, the sub-major groups ranked 2 to 9 were the same as the rankings for males. Sales Assistants and Salespersons was ranked 10th, and did not fall in the top 10 ranking for either males or females.