Overview

There are many aspects of the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians where significant improvements are continuing or emerging. But significant gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians remain. This disadvantage, or the 'gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, starts from birth and continues throughout life.

More reports and statistics on Indigenous Australians can be found under The health & welfare of Australia's Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous health & welfare services.

Latest findings

Mortality rate from cardiac conditions for Indigenous Australians is 1.5 times that for non-Indigenous Australians The level of access for cardiac-related health services is improving among Indigenous Australians Incidence of acute rheumatic fever is much higher among Indigenous Australians than non-Indigenous Australians In 2018, almost 3,200 Indigenous children received clinical services (for example, tooth extraction, fillings) Between 1998 and 2017, the mortality rate from cardiac conditions for Indigenous Australians fell by 49% In 2018, almost 5,700 Indigenous children received full-mouth fluoride varnish applications to help prevent tooth decay In 2018, more than 8 in 10 Indigenous children aged 5–10 had tooth decay experience In 2018, Indigenous children aged 5 had the highest number of decayed, missing and filled baby teeth (5.6) In 2018, Indigenous children aged 15 had the highest number of decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth (3.4)

Latest reports

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Highlights

13 to 15%increase in the number of Indigenous Australians who had an eye examination in the preceding 12 months between 2005-06 and 2016-17
64%of the disease burden among Indigenous Australians in 2011 was caused by chronic disease
Active trachomain at-risk communities has fallen from 14% in 2009 to 4.6% in 2015
3 times higherrate of vision impairment and blindness is experienced by Indigenous Australians compared with non-Indigenous Australians
Burden of diseaseexperienced by Indigenous Australians is 2.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians
19%of the Indigenous disease burden was caused by mental health and substance use disorders
37%of the Indigenous disease burden could be prevented by reducing exposure to risk factors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity & poor diet