Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall. In 2011, Australia ranked 2nd on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, indicating the level of development of a country. Despite the overall good status of health, the disparities occurring in the Australian healthcare system are a problem. The poor and those living in remote areas as well as indigenous people are, in general, less healthy than others in the population, and programs have been implemented to decrease this gap. These include increased outreach to the indigenous communities and government subsidies to provide services for people in remote or rural areas.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

in Australia is among the highest in the world. According to the 2013

Global Burden of Disease Study The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) is a comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors. GBD is a collaboration of over 3600 researche ...

Australia was ranked third highest in life expectancy. The life expectancy (at birth) in 2015 was estimated to be 79.7 years for males and 84.74 years for females. In 2018 the average number of years a newborn Australian child would live if current mortality patterns were to stay the same was 82.9 years, this has increased from 69.3 years since 1950. In 2015, the crude birth rate was 13.3 per 1,000 people, while the total fertility rate in 2018 was 1.83. The crude death rate in 2018 was 6.7 per 1,000 people. The

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

rate was 3 per 1,000 live births. In 2002/2004, less than 2.5% of the population was

undernourished Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...

. Life Expectancy in Australia is above the global average of 72 years as of 2016.

Under 5 mortality rate (U5MR)

Since 1950, Australia’s U5MR has dropped from 31.6 deaths per 1000 live births to 8.85 deaths in 1990 to 3.4 currently in 2018. The global U5MR was 93 deaths in 1990 and was recorded at 40.8 in 2016.

Disability adjusted life years

The top ranked causes of

disability-adjusted life year The disability-adjusted life year (DALY) is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. It was developed in the 1990s as a way of comparing the overall health and life ex ...

s (DALYs) lost for Australian citizens as of 2016 for all ages and sexes were: *

neoplasm A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

s3,751 DALYs per 100,000 population *

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s3,216 DALYs per 100,000 *

musculoskeletal disorder Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back. MSDs can arise from a sudden exertion (e.g., li ...

s2,956 DALYs per 100,000 *

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

s2,895 DALYs per 100,000 Since 2013 Australia's total DALYs has been slightly increasing each year.

Causes of death

The leading causes of death in Australia in 2011 were

ischaemic heart disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic pla ...

cerebrovascular disease Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The ...

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

and

alzheimer disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

, trachea, bronchus and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

s and

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

. More than half of all consultations with

GPs The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

in Australia are in relation to chronic condition such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes. The fastest growing

chronic illness A chronic condition is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three mo ...

in Australia is diabetes. There are approximately 100,000 new diagnoses every year. On average one Australian is diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, ...

every five minutes. There was an 80% increase in cyclist deaths on Australian roads between 2017 and 2018. 45 people died. The Top leading causes of death according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) as of 2016 in Australia were 1st Cardiovascular Disease (accounting for 219.03 deaths per 100,000 population), 2nd Neoplasms (accounting for 201.65 deaths per 100,000 population), 3rd Neurological Disorders (accounting for 76.18 deaths per 100,000 population). In the Western Pacific Region in which Australia lies within, the leading causes of death are 1st Cardiovascular Disease (Accounting for 274.55 deaths per 100,000 population), 2nd Neoplasms (accounting for 172.8 deaths per 100,000 population) and 3rd Chronic Respiratory Disease (59.25 deaths per 100,000 population).

Women's health

In 2011,

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. Most often this is on the ovaries, f ...

was estimated to affect 550,000 women and girls in Australia, with estimated direct costs of $6 billion per annum for medical and surgical treatments of adult women and $600 million per annum for medical and surgical treatments of girls. Between the ages of 15 to 49 years, approximately 1 in 10 women are affected by it, a higher incidence than conditions such as

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

combined within that age range. Working women are estimated to lose 11 hours per week due to

absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...

and

presenteeism Presenteeism or working while sick is the act or culture of employees continuing to work as a performative measure, despite having reduced productivity levels or negative consequences. Reduced productivity during presenteeism is often due to illnes ...

. In addition, there are the indirect costs and the general loss of quality of life due to the debilitating pain. Such indirect costs include

welfare payment Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

s for disability and unemployment, expenditure on complementary medication and therapies, and the medical costs of treating consequential issues of

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

and

infertility Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state ...

caused by endometriosis. Endometriosis usually first presents symptoms during adolescence but there is an average of 8 years from first symptoms to diagnosis, due to parents and general practitioners "discrediting" the pelvic pain as being a "normal" aspect of the menstrual cycle, while employed women encounter negativity by employers towards women perceived to have menstrual irregularities. In July 2018, Australian Health Minister

Greg Hunt Gregory Andrew Hunt (born 18 November 1965) is a former Australian politician who was the Minister for Health between January 2017 and May 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives between November 2001 and 2022, repre ...

launched a National Action Plan for Endometriosis, which calls for: * increased education and awareness about endometriosis among sufferers, health professionals and the public * improved access to diagnostic and treatment services using evidence-based clinical guidelines and an accreditation system for clinicians * further research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis

Health status

According to the

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is Australia's national agency for information and statistics on Australia's health and welfare. Statistics and data developed by the AIHW are used extensively to inform discussion and polic ...

, "The health status of a country incorporates a number of different measures to indicate the overall level of health. It is more than merely the presence or absence of disease; it includes measures of physical illness, levels of functioning and mental wellbeing." A 2007 study found that the 11 largest preventable contributions to the indigenous burden of disease in Australia were tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, high body mass, inadequate physical activity, low intake of fruit and vegetables, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unsafe sex, child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. The 26% of Indigenous Australians living in remote areas experience 40% of the health gap of Indigenous Australians overall.

Preventable diseases

Cigarette smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed ...

is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in Australia but the proportion of the population who smoke, 16%, is amongst the lowest in the world. It was 34% in 1983. See :Smoking in Australia. Chronic non-communicable diseases account for a higher proportion of deaths than infectious diseases in Australia. Australia has the fifth highest rate of obesity in the OECD. More than a third of the adult population are overweight and about a third

obese Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

. 57% do not take enough exercise. Australian health statistics show that chronic disease such as

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

, particularly strokes which reflects a more affluent lifestyle is a common cause of death. Australians the majority of whom are fair skinned are prone to

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

because of exposure to UV light from sunlight with 80% of all cancers diagnosed being of the skin, unlike in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

or US where skin cancer is 2-3 times less common because of less intense sunlight. Other issues include compensation for victims of

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

exposure related disease, lead exposure due to inhalation of lead based paints and the slow development of

HealthConnect HealthConnect has been Australia’s change management strategy to transition from paper-based and legacy digital health records towards electronic health records planned system of Digital data, electronic medical record, health records. The lo ...

. The provision of adequate

services and the quality of

aged care Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called re ...

, are other problems in some parts of the country. In Australia, vaccinations are available for vaccine preventable diseases. This is part of the

National Immunisation Program Schedule The Australian National Immunisation Program Schedule sets out the immunisations Australians are given at different stages in their life. The program aims to reduce the number of preventable disease cases in Australia by increasing national immu ...

Vaccination

In an effort to boost vaccination rates in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the Australian government decided that starting on 1 January 2016, certain benefits (such as the universal 'Family Allowance' welfare payments for parents of children) will no longer be available for conscientious objectors of vaccination; those with medical grounds for not vaccinating will continue to receive such benefits. The policy is supported by a majority of Australian parents as well as the

Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...

(AMA) and

Early Childhood Australia Early Childhood Australia is an early childhood advocacy organisation in Australia, acting in the interests of young children, their families and those in the early childhood education and care field. Its chief executive officer is Samantha Page. ...

. In 2014, about 97 percent of children under 7 years have been vaccinated, though the number of conscientious objectors to vaccination has increased by 24,000 to 39,000 over the past decade. The government began the Immunise Australia Program to increase national immunisation rates. They fund a number of different vaccinations for certain groups of people. The intent is to encourage the most at-risk populations to get vaccinated. The government maintains an immunization schedule.

Initiatives

DisabilityCare Australia The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a scheme of the Australian Government that funds costs associated with disability. The scheme was legislated in 2013 and went into full operation in 2020. The scheme is administered by the Na ...

National Physical Activity Guidelines {{unreferenced, date=February 2009 The National Physical Activity Guidelines are a set of guidelines set up by the Australian government due to the increase of obesity within the Australian Nation, and due to the increasing medical bills from obes ...

* National Alcohol Strategy 2006–2009 * Healthdirect Australia – a government-funded service that provides access to health information, and listings of health services *

Women's Healthy Ageing Project The Women's Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP) is the longest ongoing medical research project examining the health of Australian women. Its landmark studies concern women's heart and brain health, a long-neglected area of specialised research. It be ...

– the longest ongoing study of women’s health in Australia (est. 1990)

References

{{Oceania in topic, Health in