Fatal burden is a measure of years lost due to dying prematurely and is important information for health planning and policy development.

Preliminary estimates from the Australian Burden of Disease Study 2015 study can be explored through interactive data visualisations. Fatal burden estimates by specific diseases, conditions or injuries can be viewed at the national level, by state/territory, remoteness areas and socioeconomic group. Comparisons of changes in fatal burden over time are also presented.

Key points:

• Very remote areas experienced fatal burden 1.9 times higher than Major cities in 2015
• The rate of fatal burden from all diseases decreased by 19.6% between 2003 and 2015
• Fatal burden was 55% higher in the lowest socioeconomic group compared with the highest group in 2015
• Leading causes of fatal burden over 65 years were coronary heart disease, dementia & lung cancer