Author Description

The Burden of Disease and Injury in Australia provides a comprehensive assessment of the health status of Australians. The report measures mortality, disability, impairment, illness and injury arising from 176 diseases, injuries and risk factors using a common metric, the disability-adjusted life year or DALY, and methods developed by the Global Burden of Disease Study. Burden of disease analysis gives a unique perspective on health. Fatal and non-fatal outcomes are integrated, but can be examined separately as well. This report provides detailed estimates of the burden of mortality and disability for each disease and injury category by sex and age. It also assesses the burden attributable to each of ten major risk factors and inequalities in the disease burden associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. Detailed results are supported by summaries, tables and graphs which provide an overview of the leading causes and the distribution of the burden of disease in Australia.