Australia's health 2016: in brief

Publication

Release Date: 13 Sep 2016

Topic: Australia's health 2022

Media release

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2016) Australia's health 2016: in brief, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 26 April 2024.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2016). Australia's health 2016: in brief. Canberra: AIHW.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2016: in brief. AIHW, 2016.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2016: in brief. Canberra: AIHW; 2016.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016, Australia's health 2016: in brief, AIHW, Canberra.

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Australia’s health 2016: in brief presents highlights from the AIHW’s 15th biennial report on the nation’s health, Australia’s health 2016.

Findings from this report:

85% of Australians aged 15 and over describe their health as ‘good’ or better
13% of all deaths in 2013 were due to coronary heart disease
63% of adults are overweight or obese
381,000 visits are made to a GP on an average day in Australia—and 79,000 visits to a specialist

Australia’s health—then and now


Category	1950	1970	1990	Now
Population (million)	8.2	12.5	17.1	24.4
Life expectancy—all males (years)	67.1	68.3	73.9	80.3
Life expectancy—all females (years)	72.8	74.8	80.1	84.4
Life expectancy—Indigenous males (years)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	69.1
Life expectancy—Indigenous females (years)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	73.7
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	24.5	17.9	8.2	3.4
Indigenous infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	6.0
Fertility rate (children per woman)	3.1	2.9	1.9	1.8
Ratio of health expenditure to GDP (%)	n.a.	4.1	6.9	9.8
Daily tobacco smoking (%)	49	37	28.6	12.8
Alcohol consumption (litres per capita)	5.9	11.6	10.6	9.9
Overweight or obese (%)	n.a.	n.a.	43.8	63.4

Full details of data sources can be found in the supplementary tables.