This indicator reports on the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with type 2 diabetes who had a regular glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) test in the previous 12 months and are regular clients attending Indigenous specific primary health care services. The goal for this indicator is 69% by 2023.
Why is it important?
Chronic conditions, including diabetes, are the leading causes of illness, disability and death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Effective management and monitoring of diabetes, including regular HbA1c tests, can delay the progression of disease, improve quality of life and increase life expectancy.
What data are available?
In the absence of national data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with type 2 diabetes who have regular glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) tests, this indicator uses data from the Indigenous primary health care national Key Performance Indicators (nKPIs) data collection. These data pertain to Indigenous regular clients. A regular client is defined as a client who has attended the primary health care organisation at least 3 times in the last 2 years.
What do the data show?
Progress towards the goal is on track, and is measured annually using data from the June reporting period of the nKPI data collection.
- The proportion of Indigenous regular clients with type 2 diabetes who had their HbA1c result recorded within the previous 12 months increased from 63% in 2017 to 67% in 2019.
- The rates in 2017 and 2018 were below the trajectory, however in 2019 the proportion was in line with the trajectory point (67%) required to meet the goal by 2023.
Nationally, in June 2019, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander regular clients with type 2 diabetes:
- 67% had their HbA1c result recorded within the previous 12 months
- the proportion who had their HbA1c result recorded was lowest in the Northern Territory (62%) and highest in Queensland and Western Australia (72%).