Glossary
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: In most data collections, a person who identified themselves, or was identified by another household member, as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. For a few data collections, information on acceptance of a person as being Indigenous by an Indigenous community may also be required. See also First Nations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner: An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has gained a Certificate IV in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Practice and is registered with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia. For more information, see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia website.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker: An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person with a minimum qualification in the field of primary health-care work or clinical practice. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners are one speciality stream of health worker. Health workers liaise with patients, clients and visitors to hospitals and health clinics, and work as a team member to arrange, coordinate and provide health-care delivery in community health clinics.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs): Primary health care services initiated and operated by local Indigenous communities to deliver comprehensive, holistic and culturally-appropriate health care to the community that controls it through a locally elected board of management. These services range from large multi-functional services employing several medical practitioners to small services that rely on nurses and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers. For more information, see the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) website.
allied health: Health care provided by a medical professional who is not a doctor, dentist, nurse, or midwife. For more information, see Healthdirect website.
average: Sum of all the values in a set of values, divided by the number of values in that set. Often used as a representative value of that set.
First Nations: Used interchangeably with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. See also Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
First Nations follow-up: A Medicare-rebated service following a health check, available specifically to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Patients can receive up to 10 follow-up services from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner or practice nurse on behalf of a general practitioner (GP) per calendar year, and up to 5 follow-up services from eligible allied health professionals with referral from a GP per calendar year. See also First Nations health check.
First Nations health check: A health assessment available specifically to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a limited list of Medicare item numbers, provided by a general practitioner (GP). The minimum time allowed between services is 9 months. The aim of health checks is to assess patients’ physical, psychological and social wellbeing, and to support patients in accessing subsequent health care services. For more information, read about Annual health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the Department of Health and Aged Care website. See also First Nations follow-up.
follow-up percentage: The proportion of health check patients who received a First Nations follow-up service in the 12 months following their health check. Derived from the number of health check patients with a follow-up divided by the number of total health check patients in a given year.
general practitioner (GP): Medical practitioners who have completed a specialist training program in general practice and have obtained a fellowship from an Australasian specialist college. They are registered as specialists in general practice with the Medical Board of Australia. See also medical practitioners other than GPs.
Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA): Geographical areas designed to represent the functional areas of Australian capital cities through population who regularly interact with, but not necessarily live within, the capital cities. The remainder of the State or Territory which is not included in the capital city is represented by a Rest of State region. Part of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard.
health check uptake: The proportion of First Nations people who received a health check in a given year. Derived from the number of health check patients divided by the estimated resident population or projected population at the midpoint of the year.
Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage (IHAD): An experimental analytical index developed by the ABS. It provides a summary measure of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage for households, based on the characteristics of dwellings and the people living within them. For more information, read about the IHAD on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.
Indigenous Region (IREG): Indigenous Regions are large geographical areas used to report data about First Nations people. Part of the Indigenous Structure in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard. Compared with other structures in the Australian Standard Geography Standard, the Indigenous Structure better reflects the distribution of the Indigenous population.
mean: Average of a group of numbers. See also average.
median: Midpoint of a list of observations ranked from smallest to largest.
medical practitioners other than GPs: Medical practitioners who have not completed a specialist training program in general practice or have not obtained a fellowship from an Australasian specialist college. They may be working towards becoming general practitioners or pursuing other career paths. See also general practitioners.
Medicare: A national, government-funded scheme that subsidises the cost of personal medical services for all Australians and aims to help them afford medical care.
Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS): The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) is the listing of the Medicare services subsidised by the Australian Government. The schedule is part of the wider Medicare Benefits Scheme (Medicare).
national Key Performance Indicators (nKPI): The national Key Performance Indicator collection is a set of primary health indicators for First Nations people which focuses on maternal and child health, preventative disease management. The collection commenced in June 2012 and is ongoing with data collection occurring every 6 months from more than 200 First Nations-specific primary health organisations across Australia.
Primary Health Network (PHN): Independent organisation funded by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care to coordinate primary health care. Each PHN cares for a corresponding geographical region. Together, the PHNs geographically cover the whole of Australia.
Remoteness Area: Classification that divides each state and territory into several regions based on their relative accessibility to goods and services (such as general practitioners, hospitals and specialist care) as measured by road distance. These regions are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia and defined as Remoteness Areas by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard.
residential aged care facility: Australian Government-approved aged care home, including accommodation (bedding and other furnishings, meals, laundry, social activities), personal care (bathing, showering, toileting, dressing, eating, moving about), and nursing and allied health services if required.
socioeconomic cluster: For the purposes of this report, Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s) were grouped into 5 clusters, based on the proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people counted in each decile from the ABS’ 2016 Census-based Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage (IHAD) analysis. All clusters contain some people from each of the 10 IHAD deciles, but the proportions vary considerably. Clusters were designed to capture targeted population proportions. Population apportionment was based on the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander estimated resident population in 2016 by SA3. The first cluster contains approximately 10% of the First Nations population; the second, 20%; the third, 40%; the fourth, 20%; and the fifth, 10%. See also Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage.
socioeconomic ranking: The order of geographic areas when sorted by socioeconomic score. See also socioeconomic score.
socioeconomic score: The average Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage (IHAD) decile number for those persons who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, had a valid IHAD score in 2016, and were at home on Census night 2016. For a given area, the lowest possible score would be 1, if all people lived in households in the first (most disadvantaged) decile; the highest possible score would be 10, if all people lived in households in the tenth (most advantaged) decile. The average for the total First Nations Census count was 3.88, while the average for the total Australian Census count was 6.14. See also Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage.
socioeconomic status: The social and economic position of an individual or group within the larger society. In exploratory analysis as part of this report, socioeconomic status was factored in using the Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage (IHAD) based on the 2016 Census, to determine which areas were the most disadvantaged (lowest socioeconomic status areas) and which were the most advantaged (highest socioeconomic status areas). See also Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage.
statistical areas: Geographical classifications forming part of the main Australian Statistical Geography Standard structure. They encompass four levels, with increasing size and population: Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s); Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s); Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s); and Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4s).
telehealth status: Whether a health service was performed face-to-face or via telehealth, through telephone or videoconference.