In brief

Who we are and what we do

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) was established as a Commonwealth statutory authority in 1987.

The Institute's governing legislation is the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 (AIHW Act). The AIHW Act and its Regulations are reproduced in Appendix 1.

The AIHW publishes many reports and actively promotes its work in the community.

The main functions of the AIHW are to collect, analyse and disseminate health- and welfare-related information and statistics. These functions are specified in s. 5 of the AIHW Act and require information to be developed, collected and reported in the following areas:

• health
• aged care services
• child care services (including services designed to encourage or support participation by parents in educational courses, training and the labour force)
• services for people with disabilities
• housing assistance (including programs designed to provide access to short term crisis accommodation)
• child welfare services (including, in particular, child protection and substitute care services)
• other community services.

The AIHW provides authoritative and timely information and analysis to governments and the community in these subject areas, drawn from the national data collections it manages. Additionally, the AIHW provides leadership and the necessary infrastructure for the development, maintenance and promotion of information standards to ensure that data are nationally consistent and appropriate for their purpose.

How we are governed

The AIHW Act establishes the AIHW Board as the Institute's governing body. The role and composition of the AIHW Board are specified in s. 8(1).

The AIHW Board is accountable to the Parliament of Australia through the Minister for Health and Ageing and is responsible for setting the overall policy and strategic direction of the Institute.

The AIHW's Charter of Corporate Governance adopted by the AIHW Board provides the basis for the Board's operations (see Appendix 2).

The Director of the AIHW manages the day-today affairs of the Institute.

An accountability framework for the AIHW (see Figure 4) describes the legislative and reporting relationships that ensure the Institute's operations and funding contribute to its functions and outcomes.

The Portfolio Budget Statements for the Health and Ageing portfolio are one of the reporting components of the accountability framework for the AIHW (see Chapter 1 Our performance). The AIHW's outcome—intended results, benefits or consequences on the Australian community—as stated in the Portfolio Budget Statements 20010–11 is:

A robust evidence base for the health, housing and community sectors, including through developing and disseminating comparable health and welfare information and statistics.

The AIHW has one program:

Develop, collect, analyse and report high-quality national health and welfare information and statistics for governments and the community.

The AIHW prepares a set of annual financial statements as required by the Finance Minister's Orders made pursuant to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act)— under which the Institute operates—and the Australian Accounting Standards. These financial statements are audited by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). The financial statements and the ANAO report are contained in Appendix 9.

Other components of the accountability framework include the AIHW Corporate Plan: strategic directions 2007–2010 and the AIHW's annual work plans.

Our Minister

The Hon. Nicola Roxon, MP
Minister for Health and Ageing

Our key directions

During 2010–11, the AIHW's key strategic directions (SD) were:

SD1 Strengthening our policy relevance

SD2 Capitalising on the new information environment

SD3 Enhancing data access, protecting privacy

SD4 Getting the messages out better

SD5 Our people—valued, expert and versatile

Our key relationships

The health and welfare information collected, analysed and disseminated by the AIHW is managed in accordance with the Institute's legal and ethical obligations relating to privacy, confidentiality and objectivity. This information must also meet the current and emerging needs of governments and the community. Work undertaken by the AIHW commonly crosses federal, state, territory and private sector areas of responsibility, so engagement and relationships based on mutual trust with its stakeholders are vital. These relationships are also critical to developing nationally consistent and comparable information across jurisdictions.

Within this context, the AIHW has traditionally adopted a strongly collaborative approach to its work, developing relationship networks with the Australian, state and territory governments, and educational and broader private sectors. This collaborative and consultative approach is reflected in the AIHW's formal arrangements with other organisations, the terms of the various national information agreements, and in the AIHW's active participation in numerous national committees.

The AIHW's key relationships at the federal level include the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), of which the AIHW is a portfolio agency; the Australian Bureau of Statistics; the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs; the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Additionally, the AIHW funds work plans, supported by data-sharing agreements with a number of Australian universities, to facilitate collaboration and thereby enable the Institute to draw on their expertise in specialist areas of data and information.

Further information on the AIHW's governance arrangements and external relationships can be found in Chapter 2 Governance and the organisation.

Our achievements

As outlined in 'Highlights', the AIHW completed a range of significant activities during 2010–11, including:

Information for policy and related purposes

• helping jurisdictions to provide meaningful performance indicator data under Council of Australian Governments (COAG) national agreements for health, housing, disability and Indigenous reform, including supply of performance indicator data and associated data quality statements and development of new and improved performance indicators (see the 'snapshot')
• launch of the MyHospitals website, developed in six months under contract to the DoHA. The site follows from the April 2010 COAG National Health and Hospitals Network Agreement (see the 'snapshot') and provides the community with online nationally consistent performance information on individual public and private hospitals
• launching the AIHW Indigenous Observatory, a web-based repository for the publication The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and a variety of statistically-based papers and fact sheets on high-interest Indigenous health and welfare issues (see the 'snapshot')
• release of the first Closing the Gap Clearinghouse evaluative report, What works to overcome Indigenous disadvantage: key learnings and gaps in the evidence, 2009–10, which is designed for policy makers and summarises the evidence on effective strategies to overcome Indigenous disadvantage (see the 'snapshot')
• publishing a new report on The health of Australia's males including a companion report summary and accompanying online dashboard, showing that many Australian men could be doing more to look after their health (see the 'snapshot')

New developments and renewal

• developing the new Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) collection which sets a new direction for the collection of homelessness data following from the National Affordable Housing Agreement and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. This will provide more information on outcomes than previous arrangements, tracing access to services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (see the 'snapshot')
• completing a scoping study on the collection of mental health services delivered by non-government organisations, and pilot testing the draft Mental Health Interventions Classification using a range of data collection methodologies, including iPads (see the 'snapshot')
• developing national Key Performance Indicators for the collection of data from Indigenous primary health care services
• completing a review of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set, providing the opportunity for critical assessment of the collection and identification of key development opportunities to ensure it remains policy relevant
• developing more sophisticated data linkage methodologies and infrastructure and undertaking increasingly large and complex data linkage projects (see the 'snapshot')
• developing an Enhanced Mortality database, which will be used for preparing improved estimates of mortality and Indigenous life expectancy
• conducting an independent stakeholder review of Australian Hospital Statistics to further enhance the suite of AIHW hospitals products (see the 'snapshot')

Quality and standards

• ensuring that the information contained in the standards and specifications for the developing e-health information environment conform to or can be mapped to the standards contained in the National Health Data Dictionary
• developing an on-line data validation tool, Validata^®, first used to improve timeliness and quality of the national hospital statistics products (see the 'snapshot') and then, with appropriate modification, to support the SHS data collection
• producing substantial updates to the National Health Data Dictionary and National Community Services Data Dictionary (see the 'snapshot')
• release of the National Indicator Catalogue, containing all COAG performance indicators and their specifications (see the 'snapshot')

Communicating our information

• amalgamating several publications on various housing assistance programs into one compendium publication, Housing assistance in Australia, making it a 'one-stop-shop' for information about the range of such programs available
• revising the presentation of data in the Cancer in Australia: an overview 2010 publication and its companion Cancer in brief 2010 publication (see the 'snapshot')
• producing a user-friendly, accessible online data snapshot on asthma (see the 'snapshot')

Some of the work undertaken in 2010–11 was developmental in nature or, as with the work on the COAG performance indicators, was published by other agencies. Notably, the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision published work undertaken by the AIHW in its Report on Government Services 2010.

During the year, the AIHW continued to provide authoritative information—in the form of reports and bulletins or, more recently and increasingly, as interactive data available online, in areas such as health, aged care services, child care services, disability services, housing assistance and child welfare services, in collaboration with the state and territory jurisdictions and service providers.

Further information about the AIHW's achievements can be found in Chapter 1 Our performance—with reference to four of the AIHW's strategic directions—and in Chapter 2 Our operating units—on a work group basis. The 'snapshots' (see the List of snapshots) also provide some more specific information about a number of the AIHW's products and achievements.

Our communications

The AIHW communicates its information to the public, its stakeholders and clients in a variety of ways, including:

• hard copy reports and accompanying report profiles and fact sheets
• web publications and web-optimised 'snapshots'
• an education corner comprising classroom worksheets and interactive online quizzes
• stand-alone and 'satellite' websites for specific purposes
• online datasets.

All AIHW publications are available in full text free of charge on our website in a variety of formats to suit individual user needs, including Rich Text Format versions suitable for many people with impaired vision.

There were several 'big picture' AIHW achievements in communication during the year. On the strategic side, an AIHW Communication Strategy for 2010–13 was produced, in addition to a revised media engagement policy and procedures, a new branding guide, a new customer care charter and an external review of the AIHW's media embargo policy. Also, new publications processes incorporating stronger internal peer review arrangements were implemented.

On the output side, as mentioned in 'Our achievements' above, the AIHW produced a new stand-alone website, MyHospitals, launched in December 2010, and a new satellite website, the AIHW Indigenous observatory, launched in May 2011. The latter site joins the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse as one of two satellite websites on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics currently operated by AIHW.

The new look and feel <www.aihw.gov.au> website was launched in March 2011 with a new Content Management System. Web visitor feedback on the updated site has been very positive, and work continues to expand the site's content, functionality and usability.

In 2010–11, the AIHW released 135 publications in traditional report format and produced 71 media releases (Figure 1). This was more than the 119 publications and 56 media releases published in 2009–10. While, measured in these terms, production volume has fluctuated from year to year, there has been an overall rising trend over the past decade. This trend has continued, even as output types other than traditional publication products have risen.

Figure 1: Publications released and media releases, 2001–02 to 2010–11

The AIHW's strategic directions during 2010–11 include 'Getting the messages out better' (SD4). The AIHW adopted a number of measures towards this objective in 2010–11.

For example, the Institute produced a 60-page attractive consumer-friendly version of its biennial report, Australia's health 2010, entitled Australia's health 2010: in brief. This publication presents key information from the main report in graph format. Each graph 'tells a story' about health, health spending or health services. During the year, this summary report was distributed in class sets free of charge to secondary schools that bought copies of the main 600-page report. The AIHW followed up this initiative with education worksheets available on the AIHW website, together with an online slide presentation and interactive downloadable online quizzes based on the booklet.

The feedback received from teachers, academics and government departments has been highly positive. Demand for the booklet has been so strong that it was reprinted late in the year, only half way through its expected shelf life.

The AIHW produced a Cancer in Australia: in brief 2010 booklet to accompany the AIHW's biennial report on cancer. This report was totally redesigned and presented in a new graphical- and context-rich format as Cancer in Australia 2010: an overview.

Similarly, all-new consumer-friendly web and print versions of the Australian hospital statistics 2009–10 report, entitled Australian hospitals 2009–10 at a glance, were produced. The 'at a glance' report helped attract a record level of media coverage on the main report.

Another notable innovation during the year was the production of the first two in a planned series of consumer-friendly website 'snapshots' on important topics. The asthma snapshot was launched in March 2011, followed by a male health snapshot in June 2011.

Further information about AIHW publications and online information and data can be found in Chapter 5 Our communications.

Our people

The AIHW has a well-qualified and highly expert workforce. Strategies to support, attract and retain the AIHW's valued staff are central to one of the strategic directions in the AIHW Corporate Plan: strategic directions 2007–2010: SD5 Our people—valued, expert and versatile.

The AIHW relies on highly skilled and competent staff to support its strategic directions. It strives to provide a workplace that offers fulfilling and challenging work, as well as promoting the professional and personal development of its employees.

At the end of the reporting period, the AIHW employed 393 staff, equating to a full-time equivalent of 360.5 staff. Figure 2 shows changes in staff numbers since 2002. There has been a marginal increase in the number of staff (4.3% on a full-time equivalent basis) since 30 June 2010.

Further information about the AIHW's staff, human resource services, facilities services, and occupational health and safety can be found in Chapter 4 Our people.

Figure 2: Staff numbers, 2002–2011

Our financial performance

The AIHW's financial results for the last four years are summarised in Table 1. Revenue in 2010–11 was $54.0 million, an increase of 16.2% compared to 2009–10. Expenses in 2010–11 were 21.6% greater than in 2009–10.

In 2010–11, the AIHW achieved a surplus of $134,000. This compares with a surplus of $2,177,000 in 2009–10. Total equity increased marginally between 2009–10 and 2010–11.

The AIHW's revenue comprises income received as appropriation from the Australian Parliament and income received from external sources. The latter is received mainly for specific project work undertaken for other government departments and ministerial councils.

The balance between these two income types, including budgeted revenue for the next four years, is shown in Figure 3. The proportion of the AIHW's revenue from appropriation decreased from historically high levels to 29% in 2008–09. For 2009–10, the proportion increased to 45% because in the May 2009 Federal Budget the AIHW received a significant increase in its appropriation for the following four years. Most of this revenue is associated with the AIHW's role in implementing COAG's federal financial framework. In 2010–11, the proportion of the AIHW's revenue from appropriation was 40%.

Further information about AIHW's financial performance can be found in 'Our financial performance'.

Figure 3: Major revenue sources, 2001–02 to 2010–11, with projections, 2011–12 to 2014–15

Our future

Some of the key objectives towards which the AIHW will work in future years are listed below. They support the AIHW's focus on its Strategic Directions 2011–14, which were approved by the Institute's Board at its June 2011 meeting.

To further strengthen our policy relevance, the AIHW will:

• provide relevant, timely and high quality information useful for policy purposes and informed service delivery approaches
• respond to the continuing COAG focus to improve performance reporting across health and welfare services
• take a broad multi-dimensional view of the policy issues being studied, integrating data from multiple sources in order to provide a more complete picture
• build our analytical capability to provide some value-add to the reporting of statistics.

To further improve the availability of information for the community and our stakeholders, the AIHW will:

• meet priority data gaps around community-based services and primary health care
• further build upon the MyHospitals platform and use innovative online communications methods to deliver health and welfare information to the community
• continue to ensure information is conveyed in formats to meet the requirements of different audiences, and for different purposes
• assist the media to understand and report AIHW information in an accurate and timely manner.

To further improve information quality while protecting privacy, the AIHW will:

• play a leadership role in data integration work in health, housing and community services
• work closely with our stakeholders to identify areas where national consistency of data needs to be improved
• continue to promote national consistency of data, and improve the quality and timeliness of information through the collection, analysis and reporting stages, working closely with data suppliers and data users
• promote national standards in information provision and reporting, through the AIHW's metadata and information standards repository (METeOR)
• ensure that we comply with relevant privacy legislation and frameworks while continuing to make data as accessible as possible.

To further capitalise on the contemporary information environment, the AIHW will:

• develop information and communications technology infrastructure which enables innovation in the collection, analysis and reporting of health and welfare data
• develop and refine end-to-end data management, with streamlined and efficient processes
• strive for continuous improvement and efficiency through automation of business processes, consistency of business practices and adoption of appropriate technologies
• work closely with partners engaged in development of the e-health infrastructure, to ensure optimal usage of e-health records for health information and statistical purposes.

Recognising that skilled, engaged and versatile people are critical to the achievement of our strategic directions, the AIHW will:

• support and develop the capabilities of our staff to meet our work requirements
• attract and retain skilled, adaptable and responsive people
• promote a culture where people work within and across teams to maximise expertise and produce results that benefit the AIHW as a whole
• refine our organisational approaches to reflect the requirements of a dynamic mid-sized organisation which has the capacity to respond quickly and flexibly to meet emerging requirements.