These data tables relate to the entire sector. Data specific to individual service areas can be found in the data table under the relevant service area.
Note: Data tables are referenced by tables xA.1, xA.2, etc. x refers to section or summary. For example, table EA.1 references data table 1 in this sector overview.
Main purpose of services within the sector
The health sector's primary purpose is to ensure Australians are born healthy and stay healthy. To achieve this objective, services in the medical field promote and restore a healthy society through the provision of services such as disease prevention, health promotion, detection and treatment of illness and injury, rehabilitation, and provision of palliative care. , we aim to maintain.
Services included in the sector
- Primary and community care
Includes general practice, pharmaceutical services, dentistry, allied health services, maternal and child health, alcohol and drug treatment, and other services. - ambulance service
Includes response and treatment of medical emergencies outside the hospital. - public hospital
Includes care provided to hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, including acute and non-acute care and mental health services. - Services for mental health
Includes MBS-funded mental health services provided by primary and community health providers, specialist mental health services from state and territory governments, and non-government services providing community-based support.
Other major areas of government involvement in health care delivery that are not addressed in the health section or elsewhere in the report include public health programs (other than mental health) and funding for medical specialists (but not data on patients). (self-pay) is included. The costs of specialist services are provided as context information to the Primary and Community Health Section).
Further information on achieving equity, effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery and outcomes for primary and community care, ambulances, public hospitals and mental health services is contained in service-specific sections.
Government spending in this area
Total government recurrent spending on health services in recent years covered in this report was $150.9 billion. Public hospitals were the largest contributor ($90 billion in 2021-22, Table 12A.1), followed by primary and community care ($55.4 billion in 2021-22, Table 10A.1), and ambulance services ($55.4 billion in 2021-22, Table 10A.1). 5.5 billion in 2022-23 (Table 10A.1). Table 11A.11). Spending on mental health services was $11.6 billion in 2021-22 (Table 13A.1). However, much of this spending is already included in public hospital, primary and community health spending and is therefore not included in the total health sector spending to avoid double counting. For the 2021-22 fiscal year (the latest fiscal year for which data is available across all sections), this represents 43.1% of the total government spending covered in this report.
Adding spending by local governments and health services outside the scope of this report, government spending in 2021-22 is estimated at $176 billion (AIHW 2023).
Industry trends
Health services in Australia are provided by a variety of government and non-government agencies in a variety of service settings without clearly defined pathways (Figure E.1). The most common entry points into the Australian health system are primary and community health services. Emergency services and public hospital emergency departments should also be your first point of contact. Some patients may then move through the system to become non-hospitalized or inpatient (including mental health professionals) or specialist patients. Patients may cycle through various points within the healthcare system to treat specific symptoms. Finally, some patients require rehabilitation through hospitals or primary and community health services.
Figure E.1 Customer flow within the Australian health system
Nationally in 2022, nurses and midwives will make up the largest group of FTE health care workers (339,883), followed by allied health workers (169,526) and health care workers (110,000). 4,815 people). This trend was also evident among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, with nurses and midwives the largest workforce group (5,183 people). Physicians have the highest percentage of employees aged 60 and over (15.2%), while healthcare workers have the highest percentage of employees under 30 (26.6%) (EA.36-40).
Sector-wide indicators
This overview reports on four sector-wide indicators that demonstrate the Government's aim for Australians to be born healthy and stay healthy.
- Babies born with low birth weight
- Selected preventable diseases
- Average life
- mortality rate.
Data on the main risk factors that influence the results of these indicators (e.g. overweight/obesity, smoking, hazardous alcohol consumption) are available in Tables EA.3, EA.7 and EA.9.
Babies born with low birth weight
4.9% of babies born in Australia in 2021 were low birth weight (Table EA.1). The proportion of infants born with low birth weight to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers was more than double the proportion of infants born to non-Indigenous mothers (Table EA.2, Figure E.2). Data on the baby's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status is available in Table EA.1.
Selected potentially preventable diseases
Selected potentially preventable diseases are those that could potentially be prevented through the provision of health interventions and early disease management. Diseases covered in this report include certain cancers, heart attacks, and type 2 diabetes.
The age-standardized rate of new cases of certain cancers nationally in 2020 was highest for female breast cancer (119.5 per 100,000 women), followed by melanoma, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer (49.1 per 100,000 women each). , 47.4 people, 41.7 people) were the lowest. Cervical cancer (7.5 per 100,000 women) (Table EA.11). More recent data for 2021 is available for his two jurisdictions (Victoria and Queensland) in Table EA.11.
The national age-standardized rate of heart attacks (acute coronary events) in 2021 was 274.0 per 100,000 people (Table EA.14). Over the 10-year period included in this report, the national rate has declined each year. The proportion of women is less than half that of men.
Nationally, in 2011-2012 (the only year for which data are available), an estimated 4.3% of adults had type 2 diabetes, and the proportion was higher among men compared to women (Table EA.16).
Average life
Life expectancy at birth for the period 1901–1910 was 55.2 years for men and 58.8 years for women (ABS 2010). Historically, life expectancy has increased steadily every decade since then, but both men (81.2 years) and women (85.3 years) reported a slight decrease from 2020 to 2022 (Table EA.22). Life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is significantly lower than for other peoples, with life expectancy at birth for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men born between 2020 and 2022 being 71.9 years; The average age for island women is 75.6 years. . In the same reference period, life expectancy at birth for non-Indigenous men was 80.6 years, and life expectancy at birth for non-Indigenous women was 83.8 years (Table EA.23). Increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2022 marks the first time information from a secondary source has been used to derive the Aboriginal status of deaths registered in New South Wales (For details, see Technical Note (ABS, 2023)).
mortality rate
The national age-standardized mortality rate, measured as deaths per 100,000 people, was 547.6 in 2022, an increase from 2021 (Table EA.24, Figure E.3). Consistent with life expectancy data, mortality rates are higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared to non-Indigenous peoples (Table EA.25).
Perinatal period and children
Mortality data are reported separately for child perinatal deaths (fetal deaths). [still births] and neonatal death [death of an infant within 28 days of birth]), infant deaths (children under 0 years), and infant and child deaths (children under 0 years).
In 2022, there were 8.1 perinatal deaths per 1,000 live births (Table EA.34), of which approximately 72% were fetal deaths and the remainder neonatal deaths (Table EA.32).
The average infant mortality rate in 2022 was 3.2 per 1,000 live births (Table EA.28). Average infant mortality rates over the past decade ranged from 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births (2016 and 2018) to 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births (2013). Australia's combined infant and child mortality rate (3-year average) has increased over time from 91.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010-12 to 74.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019-21. decreased over time (Table EA.30).
Causes and prevention
The most common causes of death overall for Australians in 2022 were neoplasms (cancer) and cardiovascular disease (including heart disease, heart attack and stroke) (Table EA.26). Data by indigenous status is available in Table EA.27.
It may be possible to prevent some deaths through personalized care and treat health conditions through existing primary and hospital care. Nationally, the number of potentially avoidable deaths in 2022 was 100.1 per 100,000 people, an increase from 2021 (96.9 per 100,000 people) (Table EA.19). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander potentially avoidable death rate (324.1 deaths per 100,000 population) from 2018 to 2022 is the highest rate since 2011 to 2015 and higher than the death rate for other Australians. (95.2 people) (Table EA.20).
References
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2023, Australian health spending 2021-22, https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/b464ddb8-ccb4-4093-acd4-3655176599dc/health-expenditure-australia-2021-22.pdf?v=20231025081735&inline=true.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2010, 2009 Australian Death Case; https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/16B1031FC87A6A8CCA2577D600109F8A.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2023, Causes of Death, Australia 2022, Methodology https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/causes-death-australia-methodology/2022#.
