Indigenous health checks and follow-ups

Web report

Last updated: 24 Jun 2019

Author: AIHW

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. Indigenous health checks and follow-ups. Cat. no. IHW 209. Canberra: AIHW. Viewed 21 October 2019, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/indigenous-health-checks-follow-ups

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2019). Indigenous health checks and follow-ups. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/indigenous-health-checks-follow-ups

MLA

Indigenous health checks and follow-ups. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 24 June 2019, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/indigenous-health-checks-follow-ups

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Indigenous health checks and follow-ups [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019 [cited 2019 Oct. 21]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/indigenous-health-checks-follow-ups

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2019, Indigenous health checks and follow-ups, viewed 21 October 2019, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/indigenous-health-checks-follow-ups

Latest edition

Through Medicare (MBS item 715), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can receive Indigenous-specific health checks from their doctor, as well as referrals for Indigenous-specific follow-up services.

In 2017–18, 230,000 Indigenous Australians had one of these health checks (29%).
The proportion of Indigenous health check patients who had an Indigenous-specific follow-up service within 12 months of their check increased from 12% to 40% between 2010–11 and 2016–17.

Cat. no: IHW 209

Findings from this report:

59% of Indigenous Australians received at least 1 Indigenous-specific health check in the 5-year period to 30 June 2018
230,000 Indigenous Australians had an Indigenous-specific health check in 2017–18—an increase from 71,000 in 2010–11
40% of Indigenous-specific health check patients in 2016–17 had an Indigenous-specific follow-up within 12 months
Between 2010–11 and 2017–18, the proportion of Indigenous Australians who had an Indigenous health check nearly tripled

National rates by sex and age

In 2017–18, 29% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had an Indigenous-specific health check.

The rate of Indigenous-specific health checks was higher for Indigenous females than males—31% compared with 27%. Across age groups, the difference between males and females in the rate of checks was largest for those aged 25–34 (31% of Indigenous females, compared with 22% of Indigenous males) (Figure 2).

In 2017–18, the rate of Indigenous-specific health checks was:

highest among those aged 65 and over, for both males and females—43% of Indigenous females and 40% of Indigenous males in this age group received a health check
lowest among those aged 15–24 for males (20%), and those aged 5–14 for females (26%).

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National rates by sex and age

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