The number of Australian health care workers admitted to hospital due to an assault has more than doubled in the past decade.
Assault has become the second most common cause of workplace injury for health care workers in Australia with 126 assault-related hospitalisations in 2024-25 — an increase from 49 in 2015-16.
The figures, from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, don’t include those who didn’t seek treatment or visited a GP, meaning the number is likely to be higher.
Health Services Union national secretary Dustin Halse said the trend was concerning.
“Violence and injury are often treated as an unavoidable part of caring for others, but they are not — they are workplace risks that can and must be prevented,” he said.
The leading cause of injuries were falls with 292 recorded in 2024-25.
WA recorded 47 health care workers who needed hospitalisation after a workplace injury — a decrease of 12 people on the year before.
Overall, there were 7416 injury hospitalisations recorded among health care workers in the 10 years between 2015-16 and 2024-2025.
In 2024–25, there were 819 injury hospitalisations, a rate of 53 per 100,000 health care workers.
Women made up the vast majority of those hospitalised, reflecting their higher representation in the workforce, of which they make up around three quarters.
“Health care workers play a vital role in caring for others but they can face serious hazards and risks in their line of work,” AIHW spokeswoman Jacqueline Rek said.
“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.”
-with AAP