Overview

Primary care is the first contact a person has with the health system. It is often synonymous with general practice, however the sector covers a range of public, private and non-government health services and health service providers. These include services such as nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, dentistry, Aboriginal health services and allied health. Primary care may be delivered in a range of settings, including aged care, disability care and the community.

Primary care is a subset of primary health care that describes the first point of contact an individual has with the health system, and relates to the treatment of non-admitted patients in the community.

Featured reports

Latest findings

Around 9 in 10 Australians saw a GP in 2021–22

The percentage of people who received a Medicare-subsidised GP service ranged from 77% to 98% across PHNs

As of July 2022, over 5,600 general practices around Australia contributed to the aggregate PIPQI data on 10 measures

Regular clients who had type 2 diabetes and a HbA1c result recorded in the previous 12 months decreased 2.3% from 2021

For the first time over 5,700 general practices around Australia contributed to this new data collection on 10 measures

49% of 45-74 years old regular clients with no CVD had 4 risk factors recorded in GP record to allow CVD risk assessment