Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025 released
Amid Safe Work Month, Safe Work Australia (SWA) has released its Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025 report, which provides the latest national data on work-related fatalities, injuries and disease.
Work-related fatalities
The latest statistics show that the number of workers fatally injured at work in Australia was down in 2024, at 188 compared with 200 in 2023. Significantly, of these fatalities, 80% occurred in just six industries:
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing
- Public administration and safety
- Transport, postal and warehousing
- Manufacturing
- Health care and social assistance
- Construction
Vehicle incidents remain the leading cause of fatal injuries (42% or 79 fatalities), the report shows, followed by falls from height at 13% or 24 fatalities.
The figures show that workplace safety in Australia has improved significantly, with current injuries at about one-third of the global rate (3.5% compared with 12.1%) and a slight decline in the 2024 worker fatality rate compared to the five-year average from 2020 to 2024.
Work-related injury and illness
There were 146,700 serious workers compensation claims involving at least one week of working time lost in 2023–24, the figures show, which is equivalent to more than 400 serious claims every day across Australia.
Claims for mental health conditions now account for 12% of all serious claims, which is an increase of 14.7% from the previous year. In these claims, the median time lost from work is almost five times that recorded across all other injuries and diseases.
Safe Work Australia comments
“All workers have the right to safe and healthy work. Our data show there is still more to be done to ensure every worker, regardless of occupation or industry, returns home safely at the end of the day,” SWA CEO Marie Boland said.
“Behind every statistic is a person, a family, workmates, a community and a story,” Boland added. “National Safe Work Month is a great opportunity to prioritise discussions about work health and safety and use the national data compiled by Safe Work Australia to support safe and healthy work for everyone.”
You can read Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025 here, via SWA’s interactive data website.
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