Health checks and follow-ups for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Explore the data in the visualisation below.

Latest data

In 2021–‍22:

• 209,000 people had a First Nations health check.
• 24% of the First Nations population projection had a health check.

By sex

In 2021–‍22:

• 25% of females had a health check (113,000 patients).
• 22% of males had a health check (95,500 patients).

By age

In 2021–‍22:

• Uptake of health checks generally increased with age, after an initial decline.
• People aged 75 years and over had the highest uptake of health checks, at 36% (5,000 patients).
• People aged 15–‍24 years had the lowest uptake of health checks, at 19% (31,700 patients).

By age and sex

In 2021–‍22:

• Males aged 15–‍24 had the lowest uptake of health checks of any male or female age group, at 15%.
• Females had higher uptake of health checks than males in nearly every age group. Males had slightly higher uptake in age groups, 0–‍4 and 5–‍14.
• People aged 25–‍34 had the highest difference in health check uptake between males and females, at 16% for males and 25% for females.
• Age groups, 0–‍4 and 75 and over, had the smallest differences in health check uptake between males and females.

Trends over time

Between 2011–‍12 and 2021–‍22:

• The proportion of people who had a health check increased from 13% in 2011–‍12 to 29% in 2018–‍19 (94,800 and 241,000 patients in respective years).
• Since 2018–‍19, the proportion who had a health check dropped each year – from 29% in 2018–‍19 to 24% in 2021–‍22 (or 241,000 patients to 209,000 patients).
  • The drop was particularly sharp in 2021–‍22, changing from 27% in 2020–‍21 (237,000 patients).
• A higher proportion of females had a health check in each year, compared with males.
• Younger age groups had relatively large falls in health check uptake since 2018–‍19, compared with older age groups.

Figure 1: Use of First Nations health checks, by age group, by sex, 2011–‍12 to 2021–‍22