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

In 2020–‍21, of Indigenous‑specific follow‑up services, there were:

• 291,000 services provided by a practice nurse or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner to 139,000 Indigenous Australians
• 67,500 allied health services provided to 32,400 Indigenous Australians.

Of the allied health services follow‑‍up services, the most common were those provided by:

• physiotherapists (about 17,500 services)
• podiatrists (12,400 services)
• Aboriginal health workers or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners (about 11,600 services) (Table 1).

Telehealth items were claimed for 7% of allied health follow‑ups in 2020–‍21 (4,800 of 67,500 services), compared with only 3% of follow‑ups (9,200 of 291,000 services) with a practice nurse or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner (Table 1).

Table 1: Number of Indigenous‑‍specific follow‑‍up services and patients, by type of follow‑‍up, 2020–‍21