The DALY is a measure of the disease burden in a population combining the loss of years of life due to premature mortality and the loss of healthy years of life due to disease or injury. One DALY can be thought of as one lost year of healthy life. The DALY is a so-called health gap measure. This means that the burden of disease is measured as the gap between the current health status of the population and an ideal where everyone lives into old age, free of disease or injury. The term disability is used quite broadly, in this sense, to include all departures from complete health due to disease or injury.

The DALY estimates provide insight into the potential for further health gain at the population level. The total burden estimates portray the relative ranking of the importance of the major diseases confronting the populations in LGAs. However, the burden of disease is an estimate of health status, which cannot be divorced from past and present efforts to address the health needs of the population. The burden attributable to many diseases is small, due to the continuing successful health programs to contain and address these conditions. This is particularly true of maternal and early childhood conditions, along with certain infectious diseases. Other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental disorders, continue to be major contributors to the overall burden of disease despite efforts to prevent and treat them. A detailed breakdown by age and sex is provided.

To calculate the DALYs for a given disease or injury in the population for a particular year, the years of life lost (YLL) through premature death due to that condition are estimated and added to the estimated years of life lived with disability (YLD) due to non-fatal new cases of the condition. 2001 is the year these estimates relate to. Greater detail is provided under the Methodology explanation for YLL and YLD.