Overview

Monitoring the performance of our health system helps to ensure that services delivered in Australia are effective, efficient, appropriate and are achieving good outcomes for patients and the wider community. Reporting of safety and quality aspects also ensure that health care is being delivered in line with current professional knowledge and standards. Together, this kind of information can help policy makers and consumers make informed choices about available services. 

More reports and statistics on health care quality & performance can be found under AHPF Health indicators, MyHospitals and International comparisons. 

Latest findings

The number of private dental practices accredited to the NSQHS standards nearly tripled between 2016 and 2018 In 2020 MBS bulk billing incentives increased from $55.6m in March to an average of $130.4m monthly from April to August Between March and August 2020, MBS phone consults made up over one quarter (26%) of all telehealth items Around three times as many children aged 10–14 years experienced toothache in 2017–18 than in 2013 All medicine groups saw an increase in PBS script volume in March 2020, most significantly for respiratory medicines In 2017–18, around 1 in 8 teenagers aged 14–17 consumed selected sugar sweetened beverages on a daily basis The proportion of adults with untreated tooth decay increased between 2004–06 and 2017–18 Fewer adults aged 15 years and over received an oral health check-up in 2017–18 than in 2013 There was a spike in PBS scripts dispensed in March 2020 with the volume of scripts 23% higher than in March 2019 COVID-19 had little impact on overall PBS script volumes for 2020 versus 2019 In 2017, the rate of FTE dental practitioners per 100,000 in Major cities was nearly triple that in Very remote areas In April 2020 total MBS services (10.2%) & benefits paid (7.8%) fell compared to April 2019, both recovered by July 2020 9 in 10 Australians can access fluoridated drinking water

Latest reports

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Australia's health performance

The latest on Australia's health and health system performance

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Highlights

MyHospitals logoSearch and compare performance information for more than 1,000 Australian public and private hospitals
About 2.0%of hospitalisations experienced a potentially preventable complication
18% of ‘golden staph’ bloodstream infections in 2017–18 were resistant to commonly used antimicrobials
More than 9%of all hospital bed days in 2016–17 were for potentially preventable hospitalisations
94%of all Australian children aged 5 were fully immunised in 2017