Dementia data sources in Australia
National dementia statistics in Australia come from a variety of data sources. This includes administrative data, surveys, program data, expenditure data, burden of disease studies and enduring linked data sets. Figure 5.1 shows an overview of national data sources, as of 2023, and the areas of dementia disease progression captured by each source. Data sources used for dementia monitoring often collect data relevant to multiple monitoring areas, however, there are limitations. See Benefits and limitations of main national data sources for more detail.
There is also no single data source to derive dementia prevalence for Australia. As of 2023, dementia prevalence estimates for Australia are generated using different methodologies applied to data from international studies and small-scale Australian epidemiological studies.
The following pages present information on the following data sources for national dementia monitoring:
Current data sources and other data sources that could contribute to dementia monitoring in the future (for example, emerging sources that are currently being developed) are summarised in the Appendix. Dementia data sources and issues are also discussed in the following reports: Dementia data gaps and opportunities (AIHW 2020), Australia’s health 2024: data insights (Improving Australia’s dementia data for national action) (AIHW 2024) and Dementia in Australia (AIHW 2025).
Figure 5.1: National data collection coverage across dementia disease progression: status in 2023
Note: Data sources and their limitations (as of 2023) are summarised in Table 5.1.