How to tell the story: a strategy for monitoring sexual and reproductive health data in Australia

This strategy includes collating service-level data sources, including information from state and territory health services, to improve understanding of access to care, service availability and variation across Australia. Sources may include data from specialised services and jurisdictional systems, such as abortion notification collections, where available. This could provide more detailed and timely insights into service delivery, and support more geographically specific reporting, particularly where national data are limited. 

However, service‑level data are often not standardised across jurisdictions and may vary in coverage, definitions and data quality. Access may also be constrained by governance arrangements, as not all data are available or approved for national reporting. As a result, collation of service‑level data is proposed where feasible and alongside other data sources to support consistent national reporting. 

State and territory health services data

State and territory organisations that provide specialised sexual and reproductive health services are important sources of data and often also contribute to workforce training and research. 

Administrative data from these services could provide insight into access to care for priority populations, including people without access to Medicare. Other aspects of access, such as acceptability of care, could be explored through patient experience surveys or workforce surveys. 

Five states and territories currently operate notification systems for terminations of pregnancy completed by health care practitioners. These systems are not standardised, and not all notifications data are accessible or approved for reporting. However, they include some patient and geographical information and provide important insights into termination of pregnancy prevalence, type, gestation and patient characteristics. 

Standardising and consolidating these data sets could provide more detailed insights and disaggregation not available from PBS, MBS and hospital data. 

Other service-level data sources

Data from service providers and other sources could be standardised and collated, particularly in relation to reasons for service delivery and services provided. The AIHW has identified some types of service provider data that could be considered (for example, workforce training data from programs such as Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) Centres of Excellence), detailed in Potential data sources.