This report presents a summary of the main findings from the First Nations Burden of Disease Study 2022 study, with estimates for previous years (2011, 2018) for comparison. It includes estimates for 220 diseases and injuries for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. 

Burden of disease measures the impact of diseases and injuries on a population. It combines the years of healthy life lost due to living with ill health (non-fatal burden) with the years of life lost due to dying prematurely (fatal burden). A significant proportion of this burden is preventable, being due to modifiable risk factors. 

Key findings

• First Nations people lost 317,083 years of healthy life due to illness and injury in 2022.
• The rate of total burden in First Nations people decreased by 6.3% between 2011 and 2022.
• Injuries, cancer and cardiovascular disease caused 62% of the fatal burden.
• The coronary heart disease (CHD) burden rate has fallen by 30% since 2011, however CHD remained the leading cause of burden in 2022.