Mental Health of Australians

Information Sources

One of the information activities initiated under the National Mental Health Strategy [External link] was the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults. The Survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics [External link] from May to August 1997 using a nationally representative sample of 10,600 people aged 18 and over. 

In the survey, mental health and wellbeing was measured using a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). The CIDI is a comprehensive interview instrument developed by the World Health Organization [External link] and designed to translate self-reported symptoms to a diagnostic category based on the ICD-10 classification. The low-prevalence levels of some disorders, meant that much of the data were reported for three broad mental disorder categories: anxiety disorders, affective disorders and substance use disorders.

18% of survey respondents reported that they had experienced the symptoms of a mental disorder at some time during the twelve-month period before interview.  Women were more likely than men to have reported the symptoms of anxiety disorders (12% of women compared to 7% of men). Women were more likely to have reported affective disorders, such as depression (7% of women compared with 4% of men), and young women reported the highest rates (11% for those women aged 18-24). Men were more than twice as likely to have reported the symptoms of substance use disorders (11% of men compared with 4% of women). Young people are much more likely to report a mental disorder, and there is a substantial and steady decline across age groups. Young men reported the highest rate of substance use disorder, at 22% for those men aged 18-24.

Further summaries of results from this survey are presented in the Institutional Mental Health Services in Australia 1997-98 and the 1998 National Health Priority Areas Report on Mental Health publications.

Last reviewed by on 20 July 2007