Across Australia, nearly 900,000 children — one in five — are growing up inside chronic pain, most of them since around the age of nine. A new national report released during Kids in Pain Week 2026 reveals not a single condition but a cascade of losses: sleep, sport, school, friendship, and the quiet confidence that childhood is meant to build. Chronic Pain Australia is asking not for sympathy but for systemic recognition — from health services, schools, and workplaces — before these disrupted childhoods become constrained adult lives.
1 in 5 Australian children live with chronic pain, disrupting school, sport and mental health
Approximately 877,000 Australian children experience chronic pain from age 9, disrupting education, social relationships, mental health and family wellbeing.