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Influenza Statistics

Get the latest Australian influenza figures, sourced from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)

Influenza Guide
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Influenza Activity Surveillance & Graph 2026

Click on the icon for a graph of statistics.

This report provides a summary of influenza surveillance data collected from around Australia and New Zealand. Regional reporting in some areas ceases when influenza activity is low (out of season). Please note that many people do not get tested for influenza and that there may also be some delays in reporting confirmed influenza cases.

Therefore data presented here may be underestimating influenza activity.

National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)

Update for 19 January 2026

It is important to note that data reported from the various influenza surveillance systems may not represent an accurate reflection of influenza activity. There may be some delays in the reporting systems. Also, many who become unwell with influenza-like symptoms do not present to their doctor and are not tested for influenza.

Results should be interpreted with caution.

National notification data (NNDSS):

There have been 8,431 notifications of laboratory confirmed influenza reported to the NNDSS in the year to 19 January 2026.

Total notifications from each state and territory are as follows:

ACT138
NSW2,709
NT193
QLD2,192
SA732
TAS149
VIC1,870
WA448
Total8,431

For more national data: National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)

Australian Influenza Surveillance Report

https://nindss.health.gov.au/pbi-dashboard

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National Vaccination Coverage Rates

Influenza vaccination is recommended for all Australians aged 6 months and older. Flu vaccination reporting to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is mandatory allowing coverage rates to be monitored.

For more information visit NCIRS here

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Australian Capital Territory

Please note: ACT weekly reporting for 2025 has ended. The weekly report will start again in the autumn and winter months in 2026, when the ACT is likely to see an increase in respiratory illnesses again. An annual summary report for 2025 will be published in early 2026.

Reporting period Friday 24 October 2025 to Thursday 30 October 2025 inclusive.

Total influenza cases:

  • Current reporting period: 68
  • 2025 total: 7,826
  • Rate per 100,000 for reporting period: 14.3

For more information:

https://www.act.gov.au/directorates-and-agencies/act-health/strategies-programs-and-reports/reports/repiratory-illness-reporting-in-the-act

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New South Wales

Weekly influenza information is available in the COVID-19 weekly surveillance report.

 Week ending 10 January 2026

Influenza activity has continued decreasing and remains at a moderate level. The decrease in activity is likely due to the summer holiday period impacting transmission.

Summary:

  • Influenza is at a moderate level of activity.
  • In the past week there was an decrease of 14.4% in influenza notifications.

For more information: NSW Health – Respiratory Surveillance Reports

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Queensland

12 January 2025

  • 63 people were in hospital with Influenza, 39 (62%) were aged 65 years and above.
  • 1,014 people diagnosed in the last week, 212 (21%) were aged 65 years or more.

For more information: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/surveillance/reports/flu

QLD Health – Notifiable Diseases

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South Australia

Update for the week ending at 10 January 2026:

Count of influenza notifications in the week ending 10 January 2026: 414

For more information: Communicable Diseases Control Branch

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Tasmania

Week ending 4 January 2026

Summary

  • Influenza activity remains moderate but has declined in recent weeks, though activity remains unusually high for this time of year. This follows an atypical period of epidemic activity through summer driven by Influenza A (H3N2), which continues to account for the highest proportion of recent detections.

Influenza notifications for week ending 4 Janaury: 149

2026 YTD influenza notifications: 149

For more information: https://www.health.tas.gov.au/publications/respiratory-surveillance-report

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Victoria

19 January 2026

Victoria, local public health areas and local government areas surveillance summary report

Total influenza cases (YTD): 2024

For more information: Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory  or Victorian State Health Department

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Western Australia

Week ending 11 January 2026

Influenza and Influenza-like Illnesses (ILI) Summary:

  • In the past week, the number of influenza cases notified to the Department of Health remained stable at 257 cases
  • The influenza PCR test positivity at PathWest decreased to 2.6% (29 detections) in the past week
  • PathWest reported 29 influenza detections in the past week, which included 5 A/H1, 17 A/H3, 6 influenza A not yet subtyped and 1 influenza B

For more information: WA Virus WAtch

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FluTracking and New Zealand

FluTracking

FluTracking is an online health surveillance system which aims to detect epidemics of influenza. It is a joint initiative of The University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Area Health Service (NSW Health) and Hunter Medical Research Institute. Participation is voluntary and involves the completion of a weekly online survey during the influenza season. Data are collected on basic demographics, symptoms of ILI and absenteeism.

Reporting week Monday 05 January 2026 – Sunday 11 January 2026
(Data used in this report received up to 09:00 AM, Thursday 15 January 2026)

Summary:

  • Respiratory illness levels have decreased this week
  • 29340 participants this week

Respiratory illness activity* (age standardised):

*Respiratory illness activity is defined as fever & cough for this report

0.6% this week and 1.1% last week

Respiratory illness activity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants:

1.3% this week and 1.2% last week

Respiratory illness severity:

Sought medical advice for fever and cough symptoms: 327.7% (64/231) this report* compared to 27.6% last report.

*Includes those who sought medical advice from a general practitioner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health clinic, COVID-19 clinic, emergency department, or were admitted to hospital for fever and cough.

Flu Tracking: For more information, or to enroll: Flu Tracking

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New Zealand

18 December 2025

Summary

The dashboard is being updated monthly with the next update on Thursday 29 January 2026.

The national rate for ILI-related Healthline calls has been decreasing over the past seven weeks to 14 December and is similar to this time in previous years. Te Waipounamu has had the highest weekly rates of ILI-related Healthline calls. Virus detections are low across most laboratories but influenza and RSV are still being detected.
Five respiratory illness outbreaks were reported from 24 November to 14 December 2025. Three were in aged residential care facilities: two had influenza detected (Lakes, Bay of Plenty), two had RSV (MidCentral, Southern), and one had unknown pathogens (MidCentral).

Since the last update on 27 November, the weekly all cause hospitalisation rate for SARI in the Auckland region has remained low with fluctuations below and above the baseline seasonal threshold. Influenza (A predominant) and rhinovirus have been the most frequently detected viruses among SARI patients. The influenza-positive SARI hospitalisation rate remains in the low activity level in the week ending 14 December where it has remained for the last 11 weeks. PHF Science’s WHO National Influenza Centre reports that although the 2025 seasonal influenza vaccine provided good protection against the main circulating influenza strains this year, the A(H3N2) vaccine strain may have been less effective against the influenza A(H3N2) viruses circulating later in the season. However, the WHO has recently reported that early data suggests this component of the Northern Hemisphere vaccine continues to provide protection against hospitalisation in children and adults.

The SARS-CoV-2-positive SARI hospitalisation rate remains low and is lower than this time in 2024. This does not necessarily reflect the trend in all COVID-19 related hospital admissions monitored by Health New Zealand, as different definitions for admission are used: https://tewhatuora.shinyapps.io/covid19/. PHF Science’s wastewater dashboard indicates overall decreasing community SARS-CoV-2 infection from the end of August, with a late year increase plateauing since mid-November (https://www.phfscience.nz/digital-library/wastewater-dashboard/).

Note that the results presented are based on data available as at 18 December 2025. These may be updated as more data become available and should be regarded as provisional.

Respiratory Illness Dashboard