Objective To compare trends, causes, and outcomes of fall‐related traumatic brain injury (TBI) between community‐dwelling (CD) individuals and residential aged care facility (RACF) residents. Methods Hospitalisation and RACF administrative data for 6635 individuals aged ≥65 years admitted to all NSW hospitals for fall‐related TBI from 2008–2009 to 2012–2013 were linked. Results Of the 6944 hospitalisations, 20.8% were for RACF residents. Age‐standardised hospitalisation rates were almost fourfold higher for RACF residents than CD individuals (standardised rate ratio 3.7; 95% CI 3.4–4.1); but increased at a similar annual rate of 9.2% (95% CI 0.3–19.0) and 7.2% (95% CI 5.6–8.9), respectively. Compared to CD individuals: a higher proportion of falls in RACF residents were furniture‐related (21.4% vs 9.9%); resulted in haemorrhage (82.5% vs 73.7%); and death (23.1% vs 14.9%). Overall, 7.7% of hospitalisations for CD individuals resulted in new permanent RACF placement. Conclusion Residential aged care facility residents have higher hospitalisation rates and poorer health outcomes than their CD counterparts.