About 9–15% of adult-onset asthma cases can be attributed to exposures at work. Precise data are not available, but based on research from Australia and overseas, there may be as many as 1,000–3,000 new cases of occupational asthma each year in Australia.

This report identifies the demographics and health-related characteristics that define people with asthma and that distinguish them from those who have never had asthma.