Measure 4.4. Increased number of people with signs and symptoms of dementia who are seen by a specialist within 3 months of receiving a referral
Timely diagnosis is an important step in improving the outcomes of people with dementia.
There are no national data on wait times for assessment following a referral. Some data are available from the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) Registry that provide insights on people newly diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by specialist diagnostic services that have volunteered to participate in the Registry.
Data development is underway, with ongoing work to improve the availability of national data to report on diagnostic and post-diagnostic care. Data from the recently conducted Living With Dementia Survey may be added to reporting when they become available.
Initial appointment with a specialist diagnostic service within 3 months of referral
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Indicator
Proportion of participants in the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) Registry who had their initial appointment with a specialist diagnostic service within 3 months of referral.
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Baseline value
56% of participants in 2024
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
The desired outcome is that more people can have timely access to specialist diagnostic services, and so this indicator should increase over time.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
Among those participating in the ADNeT Registry in 2024, there were no notable differences in the proportion of people who had their initial appointment with a specialist diagnostic service within 3 months of referral by sex, age group or region of birth (English-speaking or non-English speaking). However, wait times from referral to initial appointment with a specialist diagnostic service differed by remoteness, with a lower proportion of people in regional areas (46%) who had their initial appointment within 3 months of referral compared with people living in Major cities (63%) (Figure 4.4). This likely reflects more limited specialist diagnostic services outside of Major cities. It is also important to note that no services participating in the ADNeT Registry are in Remote or Very remote locations.
Figure 4.4: Proportion of people participating in the ADNeT Registry who had their initial appointment with a specialist diagnostic service within 3 months of referral, by diagnosis type and remoteness area, 2024
The column chart shows that a higher proportion of ADNeT Registry participants with dementia or MCI living in Major cities had their initial specialist appointment within 3 months of referral, compared to those in regional and remote areas.
The ADNeT Registry is a clinical quality registry for people newly diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The ADNeT Registry has expanded in July 2025 to collect post-market surveillance data on disease-modifying therapies that are approved in Australia for people living with dementia or MCI.
The indicator only includes data from people who were diagnosed with dementia or MCI at an ADNeT-registered service. As such, ADNeT Registry data may not be representative of all people being diagnosed with dementia or MCI in specialist diagnostic services across Australia.
Data for population groups are reported for this most recent year of data only and where data quality allows. The published population group data describe only ADNeT Registry participants diagnosed with dementia or MCI with known sex, age, remoteness or region of birth.
National data on specialist diagnostic services are needed to complement ADNeT Registry data and fully understand the national impact of the Action Plan.
For more detailed data, including the counts used to calculate proportions, see the Supplementary data tables.
For more information, see the Technical notes.