Hypertension in Australia

The National Hypertension Taskforce

To address the significant issue and impact hypertension poses to Australians’ health, the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA) and Hypertension Australia together with the National Heart Foundation and Stroke Foundation have established The National Hypertension Taskforce. It has the vision of increasing blood pressure control in Australia from 32% to 70% by 2030 (National Hypertension Taskforce n.d.). This is based on 3 pillars aimed at effectively treating raised blood pressure:

• Prevent the development of hypertension across the nation 
• Detect raised blood pressure through screening programs
• Diagnose and treat hypertension effectively to ensure it is controlled, with a priority for better implementation of single-pill combination therapies (Schutte et al. 2024).

For more information, see National Hypertension Taskforce.

National Preventive Health Strategy 2021–2030

The National Preventive Health Strategy (NPHS) 2021–2030 also highlights the detrimental effect high blood pressure has on contributing adversely to several chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, kidney disease and hypertensive diseases. Focus Areas identified in the NPHS, which aim to reduce risk factors that indirectly influence high blood pressure, include:

• Reducing tobacco use and nicotine addiction
• Improving access to and the consumption of a healthy diet, which includes targets to reduce sodium consumption and maintaining a healthy body weight.
• Increasing physical activity
• Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing 2021).

For more information, see the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021–2030. For monitoring the progress of the indicators within the strategy, see National preventive health monitoring dashboard.

National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke

The National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke provides a roadmap to achieve a healthier Australia by addressing heart disease and stroke. One of the action plan’s key priority areas is prevention and early detection which includes improved identification and management of hypertension. The action plan recognises hypertension as a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke and that improving the identification and management of hypertension is vital. The action plan outlines specific actions to address the gaps in identification and management, including:

• Improving the health literacy and awareness of hypertension in Australia, including its risks and lack of observable symptoms, particularly among young Australians. Adherence to medications should be improved.
• Encouraging and supporting clinicians to improve health literacy regarding adherence to medications, and to treat hypertension to guideline-recommended targets.
• Developing and implementing policy measures aimed at lowering salt intake in the Australian diet.
• Promoting better quality blood pressure measurement using reliable devices that have been certified for accuracy.

For more information see the National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke.

Screening programs

Various screening programs have been initiated in Australia to detect high blood pressure in the general population. Examples of these screening programs include:

• May Measurement Month blood pressure campaign (from 2017 onwards) which has found that 52% of more than 10,000 participants with high blood pressure were unaware of their hypertension status (Schutte et al. 2024).
• Australia’s Biggest Blood Pressure Check in 2018 which found that of around the half a million people screened, 82% of participants were unaware of having high blood pressure (Schutte et al. 2024).
• Hypertension public screening within kiosks in retail stores, pharmacies or sporting events to detect, manage and raise awareness of hypertension in Australian adults (Sisu Health n.d).