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For more than 20 years, our researchers have collected, analysed and interpreted real-world injury information.

A record of success

Since our foundation in 1987 we have made a significant impact on the safety of Australians.

In Australia, injuries account for almost 10 per cent of both deaths and hospital admissions and impact disproportionately on the young. In terms of years of potential life lost (up to age 75), injury outweighs cancer and heart disease combined by a factor of more than two.

The World Bank considers injury the fastest growing cause of morbidity and mortality in the world and describes it as "... the [least] researched epidemic of the 20th Century".

We are unique in our dedication to providing robus scientific evidence to underpin the prevention, management and rehabilitation of injury across the full range of injury types, causes and settings, and across the full range of age groups.

And our work has gained the respect of the research community. In 2010 alone our researchers authored more than 60 published peer review journal articles, and we received more than $3.3 million in funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Australian federal and state governments.

Our research covers the breadth of injury prevention:

  • Violence and suicide prevention
  • Transport safety
  • Workplace safety
  • Home, sport and leisure safety
  • Patient safety
  • Injury outcomes
  • Acute care
  • Disaster resilience

WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence, Injuries and Disabilities

The significance of the injury problem worldwide, and specifically in developing countries, is staggering. There are an estimated 5.2 million injury deaths worldwide every year - in other words, over 14,000 people die of injury every day. The Western Pacific and South East Asian regions have the highest number of injury deaths worldwide, accounting for more than half of all injury deaths (almost 2.7 million) annually.

Since 2005, we have been designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence, Injuries and Disabilities. The designation is for the Western Pacific Region, encompassing 27 countries. We also work closely with the South-East Asia Region of WHO and WHO globally.

Our experts have assisted the development and monitoring of regional injury prevention, including data systems, research, training, information exchange and policy and planning developments.

We have also helped the WHO regional Office for the Western Pacific to develop, implement and evaluate a regional injury prevention strategy.