” A new snapshot of Australia’s health has found we are living longer than ever before, but the rise of chronic disease still presents challenges in achieving equal health outcomes for Indigenous Australians and people living outside metropolitan areas.
Minister for Health Sussan Ley pictured above with Dr Mukesh Haikerwal
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As well as looking at factors influencing individuals’ health, today’s report also examines the health of particular population groups, and shows considerable disparities.
‘For example, while there have been some improvements overall in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—including falls in smoking rates and infant mortality—Indigenous Australians continue to have a lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous.
Indigenous Australians, at 69.1 years for males and 73.7 for females, more than 10 years shorter than for non-Indigenous Australians,’
Indigenous Australians also continue to have higher rates of many diseases, such as diabetes, end-stage kidney disease and coronary heart disease.”
AIHW Director and CEO Barry Sandison
AIHW website Australia’s Health 2016
The Minister today launched the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) publication Australia’s health 2016, which provides an update on the health of Australians and the performance of Australia’s health system.
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“Australia’s health 2016 shows us that about 85 per cent of Australians rate their health as good, very good or excellent, which is a testament to the significant investment of the Turnbull Government into the health of our nation, with about one-quarter of total government revenue attributed to health spending,” Minister Ley said.
“Our Government’s priority is to ensure the high performance and sustainability of our health system over the long term. This is why the Turnbull Government is working closely with stakeholders to progress a range of health system reforms.”
Total Commonwealth investment in health will grow to more than $71 billion in 2015-16 and this will increase to $79 billion within four years. The Turnbull Government’s investment in Medicare is at $23 billion per year and this will increase by $4 billion over the next four years.
“The report indicates that health outcomes for Australians have improved over time with life expectancy at an all-time high of 80.3 years for males, while a baby girl could expect to live for 84.4 years. Survival rates for cancer are also improving,” Minister Ley said
Minister Ley said that despite plenty of good news on health in the report, managing chronic conditions and their impact on Australia’s health system remained one of our greatest health challenges.
“The report shows that half of Australians have a chronic disease – such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes or a mental health disorder – and one-in four have two or more of these conditions,” Minister Ley said.
“This is why our initial investment of almost $120 million in the Health Care Homes initiative is so important. It will help to keep those with chronic conditions healthier and out of hospital. It will give GPs the flexibility and tools they need to design individual care plans for patients with chronic conditions and coordinate care services to support them.
“We recently announced the 10 geographic regions that will deliver Stage One of this important initiative from 1 July next year, and we hope the results will lead more broadly to a better, consumer-focused approach to health care.”
Australia’s health 2016 is available on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s website.
85 out of 100 Australians say they’re healthy—but are we really? AIHW Press Release
Most Australians consider themselves to be in good health, according to the latest two-yearly report card from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Australia’s health 2016 is a key information resource, and was launched today byfederal Health Minister, the Hon. Sussan Ley.
AIHW Director and CEO Barry Sandison said the report provided new insights and new ways of understanding the health of Australians.
‘The report shows that Australia has much to be proud of in terms of health,’ he said.
‘We are living longer than ever before, death rates continue to fall, and most of us consider ourselves to be in good health.’
If Australia had a population of just 100 people, 56 would rate their health as ‘excellent’, or ‘very good’ and 29 as ‘good’.
‘However, 19 of us would have a disability, 20 a mental health disorder in the last 12 months, and 50 at least one chronic disease.’
Mr Sandison said the influence of lifestyle factors on a person’s health was a recurring theme of the report. ‘13 out of 100 of us smoke daily, 18 drink alcohol at risky levels, and 95 do not eat the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables.
‘And while 55 do enough physical activity, 63 of us are overweight or obese.’
Mr Sandison said that while lifestyle choices were a major contributor to the development of many chronic diseases, other factors such as our income, education and whether we had a job—known as ‘social determinants’—all affected our health, for better or worse.
‘As a general rule, every step up the socioeconomic ladder is accompanied by an increase in health.
‘Compared with people living in the highest socioeconomic areas, people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas generally live about 3 years less, are 1.6 times as likely to have more than one chronic health condition, and are 3 times as likely to smoke daily.’
As well as looking at factors influencing individuals’ health, today’s report also examines the health of particular population groups, and shows considerable disparities.
‘For example, while there have been some improvements overall in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—including falls in smoking rates and infant mortality—Indigenous Australians continue to have a lower life expectancy than non-
Indigenous Australians, at 69.1 years for males and 73.7 for females, more than 10 years shorter than for non-Indigenous Australians,’ Mr Sandison said.
Indigenous Australians also continue to have higher rates of many diseases, such as diabetes, end-stage kidney disease and coronary heart disease.
For people living in rural and remote areas, where accessing services can be more difficult, lower life expectancy and higher rates of disease and injury—particularly road accidents— are of concern.
In Australia, health services are delivered by a mix of public and private providers that includes more than 1,300 hospitals and about 385,000 nurses, midwives and medical practitioners.
Of the $155 billion spent on health in 2013–14, $145 billion was recurrent expenditure. Hospitals accounted for 40% of recurrent expenditure ($59 billion), primary health care 38% ($55 billion), with the remaining 22% spent on other health goods and services.
For the first time, the report examines how spending by age for people admitted to hospital has changed over time.
Mr Sandison said the analysis showed that the largest increase in spending between 2004–05 and 2012–13 was for Australians aged 50 and over.
‘This was due to more being spent per person in the population as well as the increased number of people in these age groups.’
Mr Sandison also said that while Australia’s health 2016 provides an excellent overview of Australia’s health at a point in time, there is still scope to expand on the analysis.
‘New to this edition is information on the changing nature of services provided by publicand private hospitals over the last 10 years; information about how geography affects
Indigenous women’s access to maternal health services; and about the increasing role ofinstitutions such as hospitals and residential aged care in end-of-life care.
‘Good data is essential to inform debate and policy and service delivery decision-making— and improving its quality and availability is at the core of the AIHW’s work.
‘We’re committed to providing meaningful, comprehensive information about Australia’s health and wellbeing—to help create a healthier Australia.’
- Preliminary material
- Title and verso pages
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Terminology
- Body section
- Chapter 1 An overview of Australia’s health
- Introduction
- What is health?
- Australians: who we are
- How healthy are Australians?
- Chapter 2 Australia’s health system
- Introduction
- How does Australia’s health system work?
- How much does Australia spend on health care?
- Who is in the health workforce?
- Chapter 3 Leading causes of ill health
- Introduction
- Burden of disease and injury in Australia
- Premature mortality
- Chronic disease and comorbidities
- Cancer
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions
- Chronic respiratory conditions
- Mental health
- Dementia
- Injury
- Oral health
- Vision and hearing disorders
- Incontinence
- Vaccine preventable disease
- Chapter 4 Determinants of health
- Introduction
- Social determinants of health
- Social determinants of Indigenous health
- Biomedical risk factors
- Overweight and obesity
- Illicit drug use
- Alcohol risk and harm
- Tobacco smoking
- Health behaviours and biomedical risks of Indigenous Australians
- Chapter 5 Health of population groups
- Introduction
- Health across socioeconomic groups
- Trends and patterns in maternal and perinatal
- health
- How healthy are Australia’s children?
- Health of young Australians
- Mental health of Australia’s young people and adolescents
- Health of the very old
- How healthy are Indigenous Australians?
- Main contributors to the Indigenous life expectancy gap
- Health of Australians with disability
- Health of prisoners in Australia
- Rural and remote health
- Chapter 6 Preventing and treating ill health
- Introduction
- Prevention and health promotion
- Cancer screening
- Primary health care
- Medicines in the health system
- Using data to improve the quality of Indigenous health care
- Indigenous Australians’ access to health services
- Spatial variation in Indigenous women’s access to maternal health services
- Overview of hospitals
- Changes in the provision of hospital care
- Elective surgery
- Emergency department care
- Radiotherapy
- Organ and tissue donation
- Safety and quality in Australian hospitals
- Specialised alcohol and other drug treatment services
- Mental health services
- Health care use by older Australians
- End-of-life care
- Chapter 7 Indicators of Australia’s health
- Introduction
- Indicators of Australia’s health
- Chapter 1 An overview of Australia’s health
- End matter
- Methods and conventions
- Symbols
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- Glossary
- Index