Health services use

Description

• Number of total hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) among First Nations people, 2019–20, 2020 –21 and 2021–22

Data source

The National Hospital Morbidity Database, 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22

Data period

2019–20, 2020 –21 and 2021–22

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Main Structure regions: Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2016 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG)

Suppression rules

• Data have been suppressed if the number was less than 5 for confidentiality reasons. Consequential suppression has also been applied where required to prevent back-calculation.

Notes

• Data are based on the usual residence of the patient – not on the location of the hospital.


• Data are annual total numbers for persons of all ages.


• Hospitalisations with the care types “newborn with unqualified days only” (7.3), “organ procurement - posthumous” (9) or “hospital boarder” (10) were excluded from the analysis.

Reference material

MyHopsitals – About the data, Data quality statements – National Hospital Morbidity Database, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2021–22, AIHW website, accessed 20 November 2023.

Description

• Number of potentially preventable hospitalisations among First Nations people.


• Proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations presented as per 100 total hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) among First Nations people.


• Number of potentially preventable hospitalisations among First Nations males.


• Proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations presented as per 100 total hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) among First Nations males.


• Number of potentially preventable hospitalisations among First Nations females.


• Proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations presented as per 100 total hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) among First Nations females.

Data source

The National Hospital Morbidity Database, 2017–18 to 2021–22

Data period

• 2017–18 to 2021–22

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Main Structure regions: Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2016 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG)

Suppression rules

• Data have been suppressed if the number was less than 5 for confidentiality reasons. Consequential suppression has also been applied where required to prevent back-calculation.


• Data have been suppressed if the denominator for the percentage was less than 100, due to concerns about the reliability of percentages based on small denominators.

Notes

• Data are based on the usual residence of the patient – not on the location of the hospital.


• Data are 5-year total numbers for persons of all ages.


• Separations with the care types “newborn with unqualified days only” (7.3), “organ procurement - posthumous” (9) or “hospital boarder” (10) were excluded from the analysis.


• ICD-10-AM 10th edition codes for potentially preventable hospitalisations are based on the National Healthcare Agreement definition, available at https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/716530. However, cases of chronic viral hepatitis B (ICD-10-AM codes B18.0 and B18.1) have been excluded from the list of vaccine-preventable diagnoses, since these codes are generally recorded whenever a patient has a history of viral hepatitis B. This differs from the standard list of codes used for identifying vaccine-preventable potentially preventable hospitalisations.

Reference material

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2019) Data quality statement: Admitted Patient Care 2017–18, AIHW website, accessed 20 November 2023.

MyHopsitals – About the data, Data quality statements – National Hospital Morbidity Database, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2021–22, AIHW website, accessed 20 November 2023.

Description

• Number of First Nations people (aged 15–64) with a health-related occupation, by sex.


• Proportion of First Nations people (aged 15–64) with a health-related occupation, by sex.

Sex: males, females, persons.

Data source

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing 2021

Data period

Census night (10 August) 2021

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2021 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG)

Suppression rules

• Data have been suppressed if the denominator for the percentage was less than 100, due to concerns about the reliability of percentages based on small denominators.


• Data have been suppressed if language spoken at home was not stated for >50% of the relevant population, due to relatively high exposure to potential bias.


• Data have been flagged as interpret with caution if language spoken at home was not stated for 25%–50% of the relevant population, due to relatively high exposure to potential bias.

Notes

• Denominator for the percentages excludes people whose occupation was not stated.


• Data have been randomly adjusted by the ABS to protect confidentiality. No reliance should be placed on small numbers.


• Health related occupations includes; nurses and midwives, nursing support and personal care workers, First Nations health worked, social workers, counsellors, dental and allied workforce, medical practitioners, occupational and environmental health professionals, ambulance officers and paramedics, psychologists, medical imaging professionals, pharmacists.

Reference material

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2016) Census of Population and Housing: Census Dictionary. Canberra: ABS.

ABS (2022) Census of Population and Housing [TableBuilder], ABS website, accessed 12 May 2023.

Description

• Number of First Nations people (aged 15–64) with a health-related occupation.


• Proportion of First Nations people (aged 15–64) with a health-related occupation.

Age groups: 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64.

Data source

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing 2021

Data period

Census night (10 August) 2021

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2021 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG)

Suppression rules

• Data have been suppressed if the denominator for the percentage was less than 100, due to concerns about the reliability of percentages based on small denominators.


• Data have been suppressed if language spoken at home was not stated for >50% of the relevant population, due to relatively high exposure to potential bias.


• Data have been flagged as interpret with caution if language spoken at home was not stated for 25%–50% of the relevant population, due to relatively high exposure to potential bias.

Notes

• Denominator for the percentages excludes people whose occupation was not stated.


• Data have been randomly adjusted by the ABS to protect confidentiality. No reliance should be placed on small numbers.


• Health related occupations includes; nurses and midwives, nursing support and personal care workers, First Nations health worked, social workers, counsellors, dental and allied workforce, medical practitioners, occupational and environmental health professionals, ambulance officers and paramedics, psychologists, medical imaging professionals, pharmacists.

Reference material

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2016) Census of Population and Housing: Census Dictionary. Canberra: ABS.

ABS (2022) Census of Population and Housing [TableBuilder], ABS website, accessed 12 May 2023.

Description

• Number of First Nations people employed in Australia working in registered health professions.

Data source

National Health Workforce Data

Data period

• 2021


• 2013

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: States and Territories, Australia

Suppression rules

• NIL

Notes

• Indigenous status based on those who identify as Indigenous and were Australian born. This excludes people who identified as Indigenous but were born overseas.


• Cells with less than 4 practitioners were rounded to 0 or 3 for confidentiality.

Reference material

Australian Department of Health and Aged Care (DoH) (2021) Health Workforce Data website, DoH website, accessed 22 November 2023.

Description

• Number of First Nations people employed in Australia working in registered health professions.

Selected profession(s): Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners, nurses and midwives, medical practitioners.

Data source

National Health Workforce Data

Data period

2021

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: States and Territories, Australia

Suppression rules

• NIL

Notes

• Indigenous status based on those who identify as Indigenous and were Australian born. This excludes people who identified as Indigenous but were born overseas.


• Cells with less than 4 practitioners were rounded to 0 or 3 for confidentiality.

Reference material

Australian Department of Health and Aged Care (DoH) (2021) Health Workforce Data website, DoH website, accessed 22 November 2023.

Description

The number of unique patients who received a health check for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the financial year.

Data source

Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data collection

Data period

• 2016–17


• 2017–18


• 2018–19


• 2019–20


• 2020–21


• 2021–22

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Main Structure regions: Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2016 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG)

Notes

• Health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people include Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items: 715, 228, 92004, 92011, 92016, 92023.


• The MBS items above are intended for people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, so all recipients are assumed to be First Nations people.


• The minimum time allowed between health checks is 9 months. People can therefore receive more than one health check in a year.


• MBS data are reported by date of service. Only MBS items processed on or before 30 April 2023 have been analysed.


• Population data used for calculating uptake align with the midpoint of the financial year, and correspond to projections and backcasts based on the 2016 Census.


• Geographic information is based on the postcode of the patient’s given mailing address. As a result, the data may not always reflect where the person actually lived – particularly for people who use PO boxes.


• The total for 'Australia' includes patients whose information corresponded to Other Territories and patients with invalid postcodes.


• Patients may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Reference material

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2023) Health checks and follow-ups for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 November 2023.

Description

The number of patients who received a health check for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as a proportion of the First Nations population in the financial year.

Data source

Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data collection

Data period(s)

• 2016–17


• 2017–18


• 2018–19


• 2019–20


• 2020–21


• 2021–22

Region types reported

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Main Structure regions: Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4), States and Territories, Australia


• ASGS 2016 Indigenous structure regions: Indigenous Regions (IREG).

Notes

• Health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people include Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items: 715, 228, 92004, 92011, 92016, 92023.


• The MBS items above are intended for people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, so all recipients are assumed to be First Nations people.


• The minimum time allowed between health checks is 9 months. People can therefore receive more than one health check in a year.


• MBS data are reported by date of service. Only MBS items processed on or before 30 April 2023 have been analysed.


• Population data used for calculating uptake align with the midpoint of the financial year, and correspond to projections and backcasts based on the 2016 Census.


• Geographic information is based on the postcode of the patient’s given mailing address. As a result, the data may not always reflect where the person actually lived – particularly for people who use PO boxes.


• The total for 'Australia' includes patients whose information corresponded to Other Territories and patients with invalid postcodes.


• Patients may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Reference material

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2023) Health checks and follow-ups for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 November 2023.