Summary

Diabetes is one of the leading threats to the health of Australians and it is well documented that the rate of new cases of diabetes is on the increase. This short bulletin presents 2000–2002 national data on new cases of Type 1 diabetes in Australia. The data come from the National Diabetes Register (NDR) held at the AIHW.
 

  • There were 2,515 new cases of Type 1 diabetes in children aged 0–14 years registered on the NDR during 2000–2002. There were another 2,170 cases in people aged 15–39 years.
  • In registrants aged 0–14 at their first insulin use the rate increased significantly between 2000 and 2002—19.2 new cases per 100,000 population in 2000 compared to 22.7 in 2002. The opposite pattern was seen in registrants aged 15–39 years, with the age-adjusted rate decreasing from 10.8 new cases per 100,000 population in 2000 to 9.2 in 2002.
  • No significant gender differences were found among registrants with Type 1 diabetes aged 0–14 years. However, among registrants aged 15–39 years there was a significantly higher rate among males—an average age-adjusted annual rate of 13.0 new cases per 100,000 population for males compared to 7.6 for females.