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 2020, 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 2020 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 2020, 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:

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

Patterns over a 5-year period

Over a 5-year period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018, about 469,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received at least one Indigenous-specific health check—or over half (59%) of the Indigenous population. This included around:

201,000 people who received 1 health check during the 5 year period (25% of Indigenous population)
123,000 people who received 2 health checks (15%)
78,500 people who received 3 health checks (10%)
45,500 people who received 4 health checks (6%)
21,400 people who received 5 or more health checks (3%) (Figure 4).

Indigenous females were more likely than Indigenous males to have received at least one Indigenous-specific health check during the 5-year period—61% compared with 56%.

Figure 4 Alternative text. Download data tables.

Over the 5-year period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018, across states and territories, the proportion of the Indigenous population receiving:

at least one Indigenous-specific health check was highest in the Northern Territory (76%), followed by Queensland (72%); the rate was lowest in Tasmania (25%).
5 or more Indigenous-specific health checks was highest in Queensland (4.7%), and lowest in Tasmania (0.4%) (Figure 5).

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