Wellbeing: Health and subjective wellbeing

Context statement: Derived measure combining life expectancy with disability prevalence: better reflects aggregate human capacity than life expectancy.

Overall, the disability-free life expectancy of people in Australia – the estimated years a person can expect to live without disability – has increased in recent years. A boy born in 2018 can expect to live, on average, 80.7 years and a girl 84.9 years. This is 2.9 and 2.1 extra years for males and females, respectively, compared with 2003. On average, boys born in 2018 can expect to live about 63.7 years without disability, while girls can expect to live 66.2 years without disability (AIHW 2020).

Disability does not necessarily equate to poor health or illness and expected years living with disability should not be considered as being of less value than years without disability.

For further information see Specialised supports for people with disability and People with disability in Australia.

Reference: AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2020. People with disability in Australia. Cat. no. DIS 72. Canberra: AIHW.

Context statement: Indicator of the extent to which people can function or participate in everyday life. Such capacity is a core contributor to wellbeing. If functioning is limited, such as with disability or with increasing frailty due to old age, the need for informal or formal supports increases.

The likelihood of having a severe or profound core activity limitation generally increases with age (AIHW 2018). Knowing how many people are affected by disability, and their characteristics, can inform planning for providing services and building inclusive communities through practices and policies enabling people with disability to participate fully in society.

The prevalence of severe or profound core activity limitation decreased from 6.3% in 2003 to 5.7% in 2018 (ABS 2019). Overall, females were more likely to have a profound or severe disability (6.0%) than males (5.5%) in 2018 (ABS 2019).

For further information see Specialised supports for people with disability and People with disability in Australia.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Disability, ageing and carers, Australia: summary of findings; Reference period: 2018. Canberra: ABS.

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2018. Australia’s health 2018. Cat. no. AUS 221. Canberra: AIHW.

Context statement: Indicator and risk factor for ill-health in Australia.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Australians aged 18 and over increased from 56% in 1995 to 67% in 2017–18 (AIHW 2020).

For further information see Australia’s Health: Overweight and obesity.

For international comparisons, see Overweight and obesity: an interactive insight.

Reference: AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2020. Overweight and obesity: an interactive insight. Canberra: AIHW.

Context statement: A person’s mental functioning, restrictions and resilience are determinants of wellbeing. Mental health is fundamental to the wellbeing of individuals, their families and the community as a whole.

In 2017–18, around 1 in 8 (13.0%) adults experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress, an increase from 2014–15 (11.7%) (ABS 2018). In 2017–18, females (14.5%) were more likely than males (11.3%) to have high or very high levels of psychological distress, with females aged 18–24 years having the highest rate (18.4%) (ABS 2018). 

These data precede the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has been associated with rises in the level of psychological distress in Australia, especially for younger people. Results from the ANUpoll show that the proportion of the adult population experiencing severe psychological distress was higher in August 2021 (10.1%) than it was prior to the pandemic (8.4% in February 2017) (Biddle & Gray 2021).

For further information about psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, see The use of mental health services, psychological distress, loneliness, suicide, ambulance attendances and COVID-19.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2018. National Health Survey: First results, 2017–18. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS.

Biddle, N and Gray, M 2021. Tracking wellbeing outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2021): Lockdown blues. Australian National University: ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods.

Context statement: Deaths by suicide are a major public health and social concern across Australia with many complex causes. All Australian governments are committed to working together to achieve a decrease in the rate of suicide.

Although the number of deaths by suicide varies each year, suicide rates were fairly steady from 2007 to 2010 but rose from 2010 to 2015 and have shown no clear trend since 2015 (Biddle, Ellen and Reddy 2020). 

For further information see AIHW Suicide and self-harm monitoring.

For international estimates of suicide, see International estimates of death by intentional self-harm.

Reference: Biddle N, Ellen L, Reddy K 2020. Suicide mortality in Australia: Estimating and projecting monthly variation and trends from 2007 to 2018 and beyond. Centre for Social Research and Methods: Australian National University.

Context statement: Subjective indicator of wellbeing, reflecting the notion that people are their own best judge of their wellbeing.

In 2020, on average, Australians rated their overall life satisfaction as 7.2 (out of 10), compared with 7.5 in 2019 and 7.6 in 2014 (ABS 2021). Males and females reported similar levels of life satisfaction each year.

With the exception of people aged 70 years or over, most people reported a lower overall life satisfaction in 2020 compared with 2019. Older people aged 70 years and over reported an overall life satisfaction of 7.9 while young people aged 15–24 reported an overall life satisfaction of 6.9 in 2020 (ABS 2021).

Results of the ANUpoll show that since the onset of COVID-19 life satisfaction has had quite rapid changes over a short period of time. Average life satisfaction (rated on a scale of 0 to 10) fell substantially during the early stages of the pandemic (from 6.9 in January 2020 to 6.5 in April 2020), rising again as infection rates and lockdown conditions started to be eased (6.8 in May 2020), but declining again to 6.5 in August 2021 (Biddle & Gray 2021).

For further information, including the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on life satisfaction, see The use of mental health services, psychological distress, loneliness, suicide, ambulance attendances and COVID-19.

For international comparisons, see International comparisons of welfare data.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2021. General Social Survey; Reference period 2020. Canberra: ABS.

Biddle, N and Gray, M 2021. Tracking wellbeing outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2021): Lockdown blues. Australian National University: ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods.