Assault-related hospitalisations among Australian health care workers have more than doubled over the past decade, with new data highlighting growing concerns about safety in hospitals and emergency departments.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report found that more than 7,400 health care workers have been hospitalised due to work-related injuries in the past 10 years. Of those, 819 cases were recorded in 2024-25 alone, with assault now the second leading cause of injury hospitalisation among workers in the sector.
The figures have renewed calls from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) for stronger measures to protect doctors, nurses and other hospital staff while they provide care.
ACEM President Dr Peter Allely said the data reflected concerns raised by emergency department workers about increasing incidents of violence in their workplaces.
“These figures put a number on something ED staff are witnessing constantly,” Dr Allely said.
“Emergency doctors and nurses go to work to care for people, not to be hospitalised themselves. When assaults on health care workers that require hospitalisation double in a decade, that is a sign the systems meant to protect staff and patients are falling short.”
The AIHW findings follow ACEM’s own report, Breaking Point: An Urgent Call to Action on Emergency Department Safety, released last year. The report surveyed Directors of Emergency Medicine at ACEM-accredited emergency departments and found that nine in 10 respondents had witnessed violent incidents in their emergency department in the previous week.
ACEM has called for improved reporting of violent incidents, dedicated and properly resourced emergency department security officers, and broader changes across health services to address pressures contributing to overcrowding and long wait times.
Dr Allely said reducing violence in emergency departments required cooperation between governments, hospitals and the wider health system.
“We have taken these recommendations to state, territory and federal governments, and we have been invited to present our findings directly to hospitals,” he said.
“Just last week we had a constructive meeting with the ACT Health Minister on this issue, and engagement like that matters.”
The College said the latest data showed the issue required action beyond discussions, with investment and practical measures needed to improve safety for health care workers.
ACEM represents emergency medicine professionals across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, supporting the training of emergency physicians and the development of professional standards in the field.
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