Injuries from falls

Grandmother hanging washing with grandkids on ride-on toys

Injuries from falls

Find statistics on injury claims relating to injuries from falls.

  • 2026 ytd injury costs and new/active claim numbers from falls
  • Fall-related injury claims and costs by year
  • New claims for fall-related injuries in 2026 ytd by injury type
  • New claims for fall-related injuries, by region and by age
  • Caveats to this data.

Falls are more likely to affect children and those aged over 65. Criteria for a fall include:

  • slipping or skidding on foot
  • tripping or stumbling
  • loss of consciousness or sleep
  • something giving way underfoot
  • misjudgement of support
  • loss of balance or personal control.

Sometimes claims can meet the criteria for being at home and a fall. This means a claim may be counted once, or it may be counted in more than one category.

2026 ytd injury cost
$1,210,133,656
The costs of all active claims from falls in 2026 ytd

New claims

435,939
in 2026 ytd

Active claims

587,001
in 2026 ytd

Fall-related injury claims and costs by year

Year New claims Active claims Cost of active claims
2017 776,009 859,819 $1,107,671,977
2018 795,268 885,300 $1,240,982,369
2019 808,264 911,118 $1,364,976,418
2020 754,668 863,264 $1,468,532,030
2021 762,577 884,318 $1,595,959,982
2022 750,139 871,036 $1,808,672,986
2023 793,832 921,810 $2,086,420,504
2024 826,086 972,789 $2,443,459,120
2025 839,565 990,485 $2,584,594,241
2026 ytd 435,939 587,001 $1,210,133,656

 

By type of injuries

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By region

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Client Age 2024 2025 2026 YTD
00-04 Years 44,260 45,015 23,621
05-09 Years 49,038 49,406 26,746
10-14 Years 70,249 71,676 39,307
15-19 Years 52,116 54,138 30,051
20-24 Years 41,137 40,044 20,592
25-29 Years 42,832 40,817 20,400
30-34 Years 46,732 45,773 22,905
35-39 Years 44,804 45,840 24,259
40-44 Years 42,223 42,690 22,181
45-49 Years 41,931 41,618 21,061
50-54 Years 48,804 47,853 23,663
55-59 Years 48,245 48,905 25,126
60-64 Years 50,008 50,482 25,780
65-69 Years 46,086 48,148 24,845
70-74 Years 42,470 43,809 22,420
75-79 Years 39,709 42,943 22,107
80-84 Years 33,045 34,762 17,643
85 Years and over 42,379 45,633 23,229

More information

Maintaining your strength and balance can be an integral part of helping you to stay safe from falls and keep living the life you love. Learn how we're working to support you.

Staying safe from trips and falls

We offer a range of strength and balance activities to help keep older people active and independent for longer, so they can keep doing the things they love.

Try out our new Nymbl app on your mobile phone or tablet and improve your balance at home or on the go.

Strength and balance activities for over 65s

  • Fall related injuries have been identified where the accident cause is equal to one of the following: 'Slipping, Skidding on Foot',  'Tripping or Stumbling',  'Loss of Consciousness/Sleep',  'Something Giving way Underfoot’, ‘Misjudgement of Support',  'Loss Balance/Personal Contrl'
  • New claims are counted where a claim is lodged with ACC within the specified period. A claim may be lodged immediately following an accident or at any later stag    
  • Active claims are counted where the claim received at least one payment within the specified period. A claim was not necessarily lodged or had the accident occur within this period.        
  • A claim may be active in more than one calendar year and will be counted once in each relevant year in which at least one payment was made.
  • Active costs are the GST exclusive cost of payments made for claims that were active in the specified period.                        
  • The cost of public hospital services during the acute stage of an injury is covered under the Public Health Acute Services (PHAS) regulations. These services are bulk-funded and not attributed to individual claims, so cannot be included in these data.        
  • The calendar year in which the service was paid may differ to the calendar year in which the service was provided.
  • Region is the location of the accident and may not be where the claimant resided or sought treatment.
  • Diagnosis is based on the primary injury of the client. A claim may include multiple injuries, but any additional injuries will not be included in this dataset.
  • Age band is based on client's age at the time of claim lodgement.
  • All included claims are accepted for cover
  • Data are displayed in calendar years. i.e. 1 January to 31 December
  • Claims managed by an accredited employer have been excluded.
  • Results are based on data available at the time of extraction and may vary if rerun later.