This Health of veterans web report draws together already published material on topical health issues among Australia’s veterans, using updated sources of administrative and survey data as well as data linkage where possible. The report aims to provide a comprehensive health profile of Australia's veterans, including comparisons to the wider Australian population where appropriate. It examines veterans' health status, with a particular focus on self-assessed health, health conditions, deaths, disability and health risk factors. It also identifies veterans' health service use, focusing on medicines, hospitalisations, health expenditure and homelessness.
The latest update of this report includes data from the 2020–21 National Health Survey and the 2020–21 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- Cat. no: PHE 304
Findings from this report:
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Male veterans generally had lower rates of age-specific all-cause mortality than Australian males
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Male veterans shared similar exposure to several health risk factors compared with males who have never served
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The majority (76%) of male veterans rated their health as good or better
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Male veterans were more likely to experience long-term health conditions than males who had never served