Hospitals, prisons and fire services in Australia - statistics and facts

As is the case in every country in the world, hospitals, prisons and fire services are an integral and vital part of society in Australia. They are essential to provide healthcare, maintain social order and to attend to natural emergencies, such as bushfires. Australian emergency departments have seen a slight increase in the number of patients presenting to emergency rooms nationwide in recent years, particularly across the more populous states. Most patients are seen on time upon presentation to an emergency room, whether indigenous patients or non-indigenous, and it’s the same when it comes to waiting times.

Prisons and prisoners in Australia

The Australian prison system is split between public and private prisons, and each state or territory imposes its own laws and penalties. On average, Australian prisons have, consistently, imprisoned far more men than women. However, there is very little year-on-year fluctuation in the imprisonment rate by gender. Moreover, the bulk of imprisoned individuals are non-indigenous Australians, with around two thirds of those imprisoned annually being non-indigenous. More broadly, the number of persons in full time custody in Australia has fallen steadily month to month. The leading reason for imprisonment being acts intended to cause injury. When it comes to indigenous inmates, the year-on-year rate of indigenous deaths in Australian prisons as decreased significantly in recent years with the leading cause of death for indigenous individuals being medical reasons.

Australian fire services

In the same way that prisons are run on a state or territory basis, the fire services in Australia are all also run independently, with most employees in fire services in Australia aged between 30 and 59 years. These employees are bolstered by a substantial number of volunteers; the bulk of which are based in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Due to Australia’s climate, the country experiences bushfires and landscape fires every year. The number of landscape fires attended by fire services has been in decline in recent years, with most of those attended in New South Wales and Queensland.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Apr 4, 2024

Key insights

Number of people sentenced for acts intended to cause injury
10,557
Number of indigenous deaths in custody 2022
33
Number of indigenous deaths in custody from medical issues
87
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of beds in public hospitals across Australia between 2019 and 2020, by state and territory (in 1,000s)

Health Professionals & Hospitals

Number of public hospital beds Australia 2019-2020, by state

Number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Australia in 2020, by state and territory

Hospitals

Number of ICU beds in Australia 2020, by state

Number of volunteers in fire service organizations in Australia from financial years 2010 to 2023

Employment

Firefighting volunteers in Australia FY 2010-2023

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Prisoners in the United States
Prisoners in the United States
Emergency response in the United Kingdom
Emergency response in the United Kingdom
Bushfires in Australia
Bushfires in Australia
Hospitals worldwide
Hospitals worldwide
Hospitals in Europe
Hospitals in Europe

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