Australia has 3.6 million people living with chronic pain — more than the combined populations of Perth and Brisbane. It is the country’s third-largest cause of disease burden, costs the nation $144 billion a year, and drives suicide rates two to three times higher than the general population. Yet it remains, as advocates describe it, Australia’s missing national health priority. These five charts tell the story.

1. The condition we ignore more than cancer

Back pain and chronic musculoskeletal pain rank third in Australia’s total disease burden — ahead of anxiety, COPD, lung cancer, and type 2 diabetes. The chart below shows total years of healthy life lost (DALYs) for the top ten conditions in 2024. Hover over any bar for the full numbers.

Back pain ranks 3rd — yet receives a fraction of the policy attention

Total disability-adjusted life years (DALYs, thousands) lost, Australia 2024

Source: AIHW Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 (Cat. no. BOD-40), Table S1. DALYs combine years lost to premature death and years lived with disability.

2. Who hurts most — and poverty makes it worse

Chronic pain rises sharply with age and consistently affects women more than men at every age group. But the picture becomes starker when overlaid with socioeconomic disadvantage: Australians in the most deprived areas are hospitalised for chronic pain at 67% higher rates than those in the wealthiest areas.

Women experience significantly higher rates of chronic pain at every age

% with moderate/severe chronic pain (>6 months), Australians aged 45+, 2016

Source: AIHW Chronic Pain in Australia 2020 (PHE-267), Table 1. ABS Survey of Health Care 2016.

The more disadvantaged you are, the more likely you end up in hospital

Chronic pain hospitalisation rate per 100,000 population, by socioeconomic area, 2017–18

Source: AIHW Chronic Pain in Australia 2020 (PHE-267), Table 8. AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database 2017–18.

3. Years stolen before a diagnosis

Nearly half of all Australians with chronic pain wait more than three years to receive a diagnosis — and that figure has been climbing every year. Women and non-binary people face the longest delays. The charts below show both the worsening trend and how delay varies by gender identity.

Diagnosis delays are getting worse every year

% of chronic pain respondents who waited more than 3 years for a diagnosis

Source: CPA National Pain Reports 2023, 2024, 2025.

Non-binary people wait longest — more than half go over 3 years

Distribution of time to diagnosis by gender identity

Sources: CPA 2024 National Pain Report (p. 10); CPA 2025 National Pain Report: Pain Takes A Nation (p. 13).

“For years, doctors called me a hypochondriac, leaving my pain unnamed and untreated.” — CPA 2025 survey respondent

4. Where you live decides your care

There are only two pathways once chronic pain sets in: medication at the GP — the default for roughly 70% of patients — or the long road to multidisciplinary care that only 1 in 100 Australians ever reaches. For rural patients, the barriers at every step are significantly higher.

Rural Australians face greater care barriers at every step

% rating each barrier as moderate or high, by residential location (2025)

Source: CPA 2025 National Pain Report: Pain Takes A Nation (pp. 29–33).

From 3.6 million patients to just 36,000 receiving best-practice care

Estimated Australians reaching each stage of the chronic pain care pathway

Sources: Painaustralia, Painful Facts (painaustralia.org.au); CPA 2024 & 2025 National Pain Reports. MDT = multidisciplinary team. Figures are estimates.

5. The human toll — and a crisis hiding in plain sight

Chronic pain does not stay in the body. It bleeds into every relationship, every shift at work, every night’s sleep. For young Australians, it has become a mental health emergency: 49% of those aged 18–24 with chronic pain have considered ending their life — more than four times the general population rate.

Pain takes everything — from sleep to work to family

% of chronic pain respondents reporting each life impact, by location (2025)

Source: CPA 2025 National Pain Report: Pain Takes A Nation (pp. 15, 61–62).

49% of young Australians with chronic pain have considered suicide

% reporting suicidal ideation, plans or attempts, and self-harm thoughts, by group

“Pain is not just taking lives. It is taking our nation’s potential.” — Nicolette Ellis, Chairperson, Chronic Pain Australia, 2025

Sources: CPA 2025 National Pain Report (pp. 21, 57). *General population: ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2022 (approximate benchmark).

If this story has raised concerns for you or someone you know:
Lifeline 13 11 14  |  Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636  |  PainLink 1300 340 357

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). National study of mental health and wellbeing, 2020–2022. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/mental-health/national-study-mental-health-and-wellbeing/latest-release

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2020). Chronic pain in Australia (Cat. no. PHE 267). AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-disease/chronic-pain-in-australia

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 (Cat. no. BOD 40). AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/australian-burden-of-disease-study-2024

Chronic Pain Australia. (2024). 2024 National Pain Survey: The social and economic cost of chronic pain. Chronic Pain Australia. https://chronicpainaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/NPW_2024/CPA_2024_NATIONAL_PAIN_REPORT.pdf

Chronic Pain Australia. (2025). 2025 National Pain Report: Pain takes a nation. Chronic Pain Australia. https://chronicpainaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_07_21_NPW2025_National-Pain-Report_digital.pdf

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Acknowledgements

Generative AI (ChatGPT by OpenAI, GPT-5.5) was used in a supporting capacity during this assignment, specifically to assist with checking R syntax errors and providing feedback on narrative clarity during drafting.

OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (GPT-5.5) [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/