Report on Government Services 2026

PART E, SECTION 10: RELEASED ON 5 FEBRUARY 2026

Performance – linked to Objectives

Outputs

Equity – Access

• Availability of primary healthcare services – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Access

• Affordability of primary healthcare services – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Timeliness of primary healthcare services – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete
• Potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Appropriateness

• Developmental health checks – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed
• Chronic disease management – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Immunisation coverage – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Cancer screening – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Safety

• General practice accreditation – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Responsiveness

• Patient satisfaction – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Continuity

• Continuity of care – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Sustainability

• Workforce sustainability – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Efficiency

• Cost to government of general practice per person – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Outcomes

• Notifications of selected childhood diseases – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Selected potentially preventable hospitalisations – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete

A description of the comparability and completeness is provided under the Indicator results tab for each measure.

‘Availability of primary healthcare services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to primary healthcare services in an equitable manner.

‘Availability of primary healthcare services’ is defined by four measures:

• Access to approved suppliers of PBS medicines, defined as the ABS Census or Estimated Resident Population divided by the number of approved suppliers of PBS medicines, by metropolitan/rural and remote location under the Modified Monash Model (MMM) classification
• GPs by region, defined as the number of FTE GPs per 100,000 people, by region
• GPs by sex, defined as the number of FTE GPs per 100,000 people, by sex
• Public dentists by region, defined as the number of FTE public dentists per 100,000 people (based on clinical hours worked in the public sector), by region.

A similar rate across regions is desirable as it indicates equity of access by location. A similar rate by sex is desirable as it means patients who prefer to visit GPs of their own sex are more likely to have their preference met. A low rate of GPs of either sex could be associated with increased waiting times to see a GP for patients who prefer to visit GPs of their own sex.

Measures on GPs by region and sex, and public dentists by region do not provide information on whether people are accessing services or whether the services are appropriate for the needs of the people receiving them.

Measure 1: Nationally at 30 June 2025, there were 4,528 people per approved PBS provider in metropolitan areas and 3,439 people per approved PBS supplier in rural and remote areas (figure 10.2a). The number of people per approved PBS provider in metropolitan and rural and remote areas is the highest over the available time series (table 10A.18). In 2025 the MMM was updated to align with the latest available census data (2021). Data is also available for pharmacy suppliers only (table 10A.18) and by MMM area (table 10A.17).

Measures 2–3: Nationally in 2024, the number of FTE GPs per 100,000 people was greater in major cities (111.3 GPs per 100,000 people) compared to outer regional, remote and very remote areas (89.2 GPs per 100,000 people) (figure 10.2b). Nationally in 2024, there were 94.1 FTE female GPs per 100,000 females and 126.5 FTE male GPs per 100,000 males (tables 10A.20–21).

Measure 4: Nationally in 2024, the rate of FTE public dentists per 100,000 people was higher in remote and very remote areas (6.0 per 100,000 people) compared to other areas (between 4.8–⁠5.6 per 100,000 people) (figure 10.2c). Data on FTE public dentists and allied dental practitioners are presented in table 10A.22. 

‘Health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to primary and community healthcare in an equitable manner.

‘Health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’ is defined as the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific Medicare health check, by assessment location divided by the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The measure is presented as a rate per 1,000 people.

An increase over time in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who received a health check is desirable as it indicates improved access to these services.

This indicator provides no information about health checks provided outside Medicare (predominantly used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote and very remote areas). Accordingly, this indicator understates the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who received health check services.

Nationally in 2024-25, 254.6 per 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had an Indigenous-specific health check, an increase from 252.4 in 2023-24 and close to the peak of 255.8 per 1,000 people in 2018-19 (figure 10.3). Nationally in 2024-25, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people mainly received Indigenous-specific health checks at health facilities or residential aged care (251.8 per 1,000 people), with 3.0 per 1,000 people obtaining checks via telehealth (table 10A.23).

Data on health checks or assessments, by location of assessment is reported in table 10A.24. Data by age group is reported in table 10A.25.

‘Affordability of primary healthcare services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide primary healthcare services that are affordable.

‘Affordability of primary healthcare’ is defined by two measures:

• People delaying or not seeing a GP due to cost, defined as the proportion of people who delayed seeing or did not see a GP when needed at any time in the previous 12 months due to cost.
• People delaying or not filling prescription medication due to cost, defined as the proportion of people who delayed filling or did not fill a prescription when needed at any time in the previous 12 months due to cost.

A low or decreasing proportion of people deferring visits to GPs or filling prescription medication due to cost indicates more widely affordable access to GPs and medicines and is considered desirable.

Data is sourced from the ABS Patient Experience Survey (PEx) of people aged 15 years or over. The PEx does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of the Northern Territory results. Approximately 20% of the resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities as of 2020-21.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024-25, 7.7% of respondents who needed to see a GP reported that they delayed or did not see a GP in the last 12 months due to cost, a decrease from 2023-24 (8.8%) and a departure from year-on-year increases since 2020-21 when the proportion was 2.4% (figure 10.4a). 

Contextual information on bulk-billing and out-of-pocket costs are provided to assist interpretation of this indicator. Bulk billing information is available for both patients and services (one patient may have more than one service in a given year).

Nationally in 2024-25, 77.9% of non-referred GP services and 28.2% of specialist services were bulk billed. Information on bulk billing rates for non-referred GP services and specialist services by jurisdiction, region and age are available in tables 10A.27–30. Nationally in 2024-25, 49.1% of patients were fully bulk billed, reversing a downward trend since a peak of 67.6% in 2020-21 (table 10A.31). Nationally in 2024-25, out-of-pocket costs were highest for specialists ($126), followed by allied health services ($71) and non-referred GPs ($49) (table 10A.32).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2024-25, 7.5% of respondents who needed a prescription for medication reported that they delayed filling or did not fill a prescription in the last 12 months due to cost, a decrease from 2023-24 (8.0%) and a departure from year-on-year increases since 2020-21 when the proportion was 4.4% (figure 10.4b). 

‘Timeliness of primary healthcare services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure primary healthcare services are provided in a timely manner.

‘Timeliness of primary healthcare services’ is defined by two measures:

• Public dentistry waiting times, defined as the number of days waited at the 50th (median) and 90th percentiles between being placed on a selected public dentistry waiting list and either being offered dental care or receiving dental care.
• GP waiting times for urgent medical care, defined as the proportion of people who, in the previous 12 months, saw a GP for urgent medical care within specified times from making the appointment. Specified waiting times are less than four hours, four to less than 24 hours, 24 hours or more.

A shorter time waited to see a dental professional indicates more timely access to public dental services. A high or increasing proportion of people who saw a GP within four hours for urgent medical care indicates more timely access to GPs.

Public dental waiting times only include records on persons eligible for public dental services who were aged 18 years or over. It excludes those on jurisdictional priority client schemes and those who access the service but pay full price. Data is reported by Indigenous status, remoteness area of residence, and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) of residence.

Data is sourced from the ABS PEx of people aged 15 years or over. The PEx does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of the Northern Territory results. Approximately 20% of the estimated resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities as of 2020-21.

Measure 1: Data for the time waited at the 50th and 90th percentiles by people on selected public dental waiting lists are presented for states and territories (figure 10.5a). 

‘Potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments’ (also known as ‘GP-type presentations’) is an indicator of governments’ objective for primary and community healthcare to be accessible.

Potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments (interim measure) are defined as the number of selected ‘GP‑type presentations’ to emergency departments, where selected GP‑type presentations are emergency presentations:

• allocated to triage category 4 (semi‑urgent) or 5 (non‑urgent)
• not arriving by ambulance, with police or corrections
• not admitted or referred to another hospital and
• who did not die.

Potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments are presentations for conditions that could be appropriately managed in the primary and community health sector. In some cases, this can be determined only retrospectively and presentation to an emergency department is appropriate. Factors contributing to GP‑type presentations at emergency departments include perceived or actual lack of access to GP services, the proximity of emergency departments and trust in emergency department staff.

Once a suitable denominator for this measure is agreed, a low or decreasing rate or proportion of potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments can indicate better access to primary and community health care. Currently, the number of potentially avoidable presentations to emergency departments are reported for this indicator. In future, this indicator will be reported as a proportion (for example, the number of potentially avoidable GP-type presentations to emergency departments, as a proportion of all presentations to emergency departments), subject to the identification of a suitable denominator.

Nationally in 2024-25, there were around 2.7 million GP-type presentations to public hospital emergency departments, the lowest in the available time series (table 10.1). Results varied across jurisdictions. 

‘Developmental health checks’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that services are appropriate and responsive to the needs of children.

‘Developmental health checks’ are defined as the proportion of preschool-aged children who received a developmental health assessment.

A high or increasing proportion of preschool-aged children receiving developmental health checks is desirable.

This indicator is currently under development for reporting in the future.

‘Chronic disease management’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that primary and community health services are appropriate and responsive to meet the needs of individuals throughout their lifespan.

‘Chronic disease management’ is defined by two measures:

• Rate of chronic disease care services (under Team Care Arrangements (TCAs) and GP Management Plans (GPMPs)).
• Management of asthma, defined as the proportion of people with asthma who have a written asthma action plan.

Measure 1 focuses on patients who had a GPMP prepared or a TCA co-ordination service. These are the two most commonly used Medicare items for people with a chronic or terminal medical condition. Claiming patterns of chronic disease management services vary by demographic characteristics, jurisdiction, remoteness and socio-economic areas. Medicare data does not give a comprehensive picture of actual service delivery and data does not include chronic disease care services provided under other arrangements that do not attract a Medicare subsidy.

For measure 2, data is sourced from the ABS National Health Survey. The survey does not include people living in very remote areas and discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of the Northern Territory results for the asthma measure. Approximately 20% of the estimated resident population of the Northern Territory live in very remote areas and discrete Indigenous communities as of 2020-21.

A high or increasing proportion for each measure is desirable.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024-25, the rate of patients claiming for GPMP services was 133.6 per 1,000 people, the highest rate over the time series. The rate of patients claiming for TCAs was 116.1 per 1,000 people, also the highest rate for the same period (Figure 10.6a).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2022, the age-standardised proportion of people with asthma reporting that they have a written asthma action plan was 35.4% compared to 32.3% in 2017-18 (figure 10.6b). In all jurisdictions, the proportion was higher for children aged 0–14 years than for other age groups (nationally, 71.5%) (table 10A.46).

Biomedical data on the management of diabetes is available in earlier reports.

‘Immunisation coverage’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure primary and community health services are appropriate and responsive to meet the needs of individuals throughout their life span and communities.

‘Immunisation coverage’ is defined by four measures:

• Proportion of children aged 12 months to less than 15 months who are fully immunised (at this age, against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal).
• Proportion of children aged 24 months to less than 27 months who are fully immunised (at this age, against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella, meningococcal C, varicella and pneumococcal).
• Proportion of children aged 60 months to less than 63 months who are fully immunised (at this age, against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and polio).
• Proportion of people aged 65 years or over who have been vaccinated against seasonal influenza.

High or increasing proportions of immunisation coverage are desirable.

Measures 1–3: Nationally in 2024-25, the proportion of children fully immunised was: 91.6% for children aged 12 to less than 15 months; 89.8% for children aged 24 to less than 27 months; and 93.3% for children aged 60 to less than 63 months (figure 10.7a). For all age cohorts, the proportions of children fully immunised in 2024-25 were amongst the lowest over the reported time series. 

Contextual data on vaccinations supplied to children aged under 7 years, by type of provider is reported in table 10A.47.

Measure 4: Nationally in 2025, 58.4% of people aged 65 years or over were vaccinated against seasonal influenza, with the proportion slightly higher for non-Indigenous people (58.4%) compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (56.6%) (figure 10.7b).

‘Cancer screening’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure primary and community health services are appropriate and responsive to meet the needs of individuals throughout their life span and communities.

‘Cancer screening’ is defined by three measures:

• Participation in breast cancer screening, defined as the proportion of women aged 50–74 years who were screened in the BreastScreen Australia Program over a 24‑month period.
• Participation in cervical screening, defined as the number of participants aged 25–74 years screened in a five-and-a-half-year period as a percentage of eligible females in the population.
• Participation in bowel cancer screening, defined as people aged 50–74 years who were invited to participate in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program over a 24‑month period and returned a completed test kit within six months of the end of that period, divided by the number of invitations issued minus those people who opted out or suspended without completing their screening test.

In November 2025, the Australian, state and territory governments agreed to a new definition of cervical screening participation. More details can be found at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer-screening/ncsp-monitoring-report-2025. 

High or increasing screening participation rates are desirable.

Measure 1: The national age-standardised BreastScreen participation rate for women aged 50–74 years for 2023–2024 was 51.9% (figure 10.8a), an increase from 2022–2023 (51.2%). While screening rates have increased, they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels (54.2% in 2018-2019). For 2023–2024, the participation rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women aged 50–74 years was 38.2%, also an increase from 2022–2023 (37.1%). However, this was lower than the screening rates for all women; a trend consistent across the available time series (table 10A.51).

Measure 2: For the five-and-a-half-year period between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2025, the national age-standardised participation rate in cervical cancer screening for participants aged 25–74 years was 78.1% (table 10.3).

Measure 3: For 2023–2024, the national participation rate for people aged 50–74 years in bowel cancer screening was 42.0%, an increase from 41.7% in 2022–2023 (figure 10.8b).

‘General practice accreditation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide general practice services that meet the expected standards for safety and quality.

‘Accreditation’ is defined as general practices that have become accredited against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards under the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme and is measured as:

• the number of general practices accredited, as a proportion of all general practices with completed accreditation assessments in the same calendar year
• the number of general practices accredited during the calendar year that required remedial actions to achieve accreditation, as a proportion of all general practices accredited during the same calendar year.

Accreditation is a voluntary process conducted by trained independent reviewers. It assesses general practices against a set of 17 standards developed by the RACGP (RACGP 2023). Accreditation is valid for three years after which reaccreditation is required. The core standards are:

• communication and patient participation
• rights and needs of patients
• practice governance and management
• health promotion and preventative activities
• clinical management of health issues
• information management
• content of patient health records
• education and training of non-clinical staff.

A high or increasing rate of accreditation is desirable. Accreditation against the RACGP Standards can indicate an improvement in the capability of a general practice to deliver high quality services (RACGP 2023). However, general practices without accreditation may deliver services of equally high quality. For a particular general practice, the decision to seek accreditation might be influenced by perceived costs and benefits unrelated to its quality standards.

Measure 1–2: Nationally in 2024, 99% of all general practices assessed for accreditation were accredited (table 10A.54). The proportion of general practices requiring remedial actions to achieve accreditation was lower in 2024 (78%) than in 2023 (82%) (table 10.4).

‘Patient satisfaction’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that primary and community health services are high quality.

‘Patient satisfaction’ is defined as the quality of care as perceived by the patient. It is measured as patient experience of aspects of care that are key factors in patient outcomes and can be readily modified.

Two measures of patient experience of communication with health professionals – a key aspect of care – are reported:

• the proportion of people who needed to and saw a GP in the previous 12 months who reported the GP always or often:
  • listened carefully to them
  • showed respect
  • spent enough time with them
• the proportion of people who needed to and saw a dental professional in the previous 12 months who reported the dental professional always or often:
  • listened carefully to them
  • showed respect
  • spent enough time with them.

High or increasing proportions can indicate improved satisfaction with the quality of care from the patient’s perspective.

Data is sourced from the ABS PEx of people aged 15 years or over. The PEx does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of the Northern Territory results. Approximately 20% of the resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities as of 2020-21.

Data by remoteness for measures 1 and 2 are presented in tables 10A.55–58.

‘Continuity of care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that services are well coordinated when more than one service type and/or ongoing service provision is required.

‘Continuity of care’ is defined by three measures:

• the proportion of GP management plans and team care assessment plans that have been reviewed in the last 12 months
• the proportion of people who saw three or more health professionals in the last 12 months for the same condition and who reported that a health professional helped coordinate their care and that this coordination of care helped to a large extent
• the proportion of people who saw three or more health professionals in the last 12 months for the same condition and who reported that issues were caused by a lack of communication between the health professionals.

For the first measure, proportions are calculated by dividing the number of Medicare subsidised GP management plans and team care assessment plans reviewed (Medicare item no. 732), by the total number of Medicare subsidised GP management plans (Medicare item no. 721) and team care assessment plans (Medicare item no. 723), multiplied by 100.

A high or increasing proportion of GP management and team care assessment plans reviewed is desirable.

Data for the second and third measures is sourced from the ABS PEx of people aged 15 years or over. The PEx does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of the Northern Territory results for both measures. Approximately 20% of the resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities as of 2020-21.

For the second measure, a high or increasing proportion of patients who saw three or more different health professionals in the past 12 months for the same condition and who reported that a health professional helped coordinate their care and that this coordination of care helped to a large extent is desirable.

For the third measure, a low or decreasing proportion of patients who saw three or more different health professionals in the past 12 months for the same condition and who reported that issues were caused by a lack of communication between health professionals is desirable.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024-25, 68.8% of Medicare subsidised GP management plans and team care assessment plans were reviewed. This is the lowest proportion over the nine-year time series and reflects a continuing decrease since the peak in 2018-19 (74.1%) (figure 10.10a). 

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable primary and community healthcare services.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is defined by two measures:

• the proportion of FTE GPs in 10-year age brackets
• the attrition rate of FTE GPs who exit the workforce as a proportion of the number of FTE GPs by age bracket.

A high or increasing percentage of the workforce that are new entrants and/or low or decreasing proportions of the workforce that are close to retirement is desirable. A low or decreasing rate of workforce attrition is desirable.

Health workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the health workforce to meet current and projected future service demand. These measures are not a substitute for comprehensive workforce analysis that considers training, migration, emerging work patterns and future demand. However, they can indicate the need for further workforce planning for primary and community health services.

The attrition rate is measured as the proportion of GPs who were in scope in one calendar year, but not in scope in the following calendar year. In scope is defined as Primary Care GPs, being GPs working in the treatment of non‑admitted patients in the community. GPs who ‘exited’ (i.e. were no longer in scope) in 2022 might still be in the medical workforce and practicing as a GP but are classified as an exit as they are no longer Primary Care GPs.

Data by sex for each measure is reported in tables 10A.62–64.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024, 26.4% of FTE GPs were aged 60 years or over, compared to 1.5% who were less than 30 years of age (figure 10.11). For all GPs, the proportion of FTE female and male GPs aged under 50 years is nearly equal, at 23.6% and 23.7% respectively. This represents the smallest difference recorded in the available time series. Although the gap is larger among GPs aged 50 years or over, with 19.4% female and 33.3% male, this also marks the smallest difference observed for this age group over the same period.

Measure 2: Nationally in 2024, the proportion of GPs who exited the GP workforce was 1.2%, with the proportion highest for people aged 60 years or over (2.5%) (table 10.5). The proportion of female GPs aged under 30 years who exited the workforce remains steady at 1.6%, while the proportion of male GPs aged under 30 years who exited the workforce (0.9%) is the lowest in the time series (table 10A.63).

‘Cost to government of general practice per person’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide primary and community health services in an efficient manner.

‘Cost to government of general practice per person’ is defined as the cost to government of general practice per person in the population.

This indicator should be interpreted with care. A low or decreasing cost per person can indicate higher efficiency, provided services are equally or more effective. It can also reflect service substitution between primary healthcare and hospital or specialist services – potentially at greater expense.

Cost to government of general practice does not capture the costs of salaried GP service delivery models, used particularly in rural or remote areas. Salaried GP service models involve the delivery of primary healthcare services by salaried GPs in community health settings, emergency departments, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare services. Therefore, costs are understated for jurisdictions where a larger proportion of the population live in rural and remote areas.

Nationally in 2024-25, total expenditure per person on general practice was $489 per person, an increase in real terms from $469 in 2023-24 (figure 10.12).

‘Notifications of selected childhood diseases’ is an indicator of governments’ objective for primary and community health services to promote health and prevent illness.

‘Notifications of selected childhood diseases’ is defined as the number of notifications of measles, pertussis and invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System by state and territory health authorities for children aged 0–14 years, per 100,000 children in that age group.

A low or reducing notification rate for the selected diseases indicates that the immunisation program is more effective.

Measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b are nationally notifiable vaccine preventable diseases, and notification to the relevant state or territory authority is required on diagnosis.

In 2024-25, Australia experienced a surge in whooping cough cases, the highest since monitoring started in 1991 (DHDA 2025c).

‘Selected potentially preventable hospitalisations’ is an indicator of governments’ objective for primary and community health services to promote health, prevent illness and to support people to manage their health issues in the community.

‘Selected potentially preventable hospitalisations’ is defined as hospital admissions that may be avoided by effective management of illness and injury in the primary and community healthcare sector or, in some cases, by preventing illness and injury altogether.

Two measures of selected potentially preventable hospitalisations are reported by state or territory of residence:

• Potentially preventable hospitalisations for selected vaccine preventable, acute and chronic conditions.
• Potentially preventable hospitalisations for diabetes (Type 2 diabetes mellitus as principal diagnosis).

Low or decreasing separation rates for selected potentially preventable hospitalisations can indicate more effective management of selected conditions in the primary and community healthcare sector and/or more effective preventative programs. However, hospitalisation rates are also influenced by factors outside the control of the primary and community healthcare sector. For example, the underlying prevalence of conditions, patient compliance with management and older people’s access to aged care services and other support.

Data on potentially preventable hospitalisations for selected vaccine preventable, acute and chronic conditions as a rate per 1,000 people is reported in tables 10A.67–71.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2023-24, the age-standardised hospital separation rate for selected vaccine preventable, acute and chronic conditions was 26.2 per 1,000 people, an increase on 2022-23 (table 10.6). The rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 68.9 per 1,000 people (table 10A.66). The rate for people living in very remote areas (67.7 per 1,000 people) was almost 3 times greater than people living in major cities (24.3%) (tables 10A.67).

The age-standardised separation rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (excluding separations for diabetes complications as an additional diagnosis) was 2.5 times the rate for all Australians (table 10A.72).

The most serious complication of Type 2 diabetes most commonly leading to hospitalisation in 2023-24 was circulatory complications, with an age-standardised rate of 17.4 per 100,000 people (table 10A.73). The proportion of Type 2 diabetes complications leading to hospitalisation by complication type is reported in table 10A.74.

Serious circulatory complications of diabetes can necessitate lower limb amputation. In 2023-24, there were 21.2 age-standardised hospital separations per 100,000 people for lower limb amputations where Type 2 diabetes mellitus was a principal or additional diagnosis (table 10A.75).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2023-24, the age-standardised hospital separation rate for diabetes was 138.8 separations per 100,000 people (table 10.7).

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2024a, Medicines in the health system, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/medicines/medicines-in-the-health-system (accessed 25 September 2025).

—— 2024b, Oral health and dental care in Australia, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/dental-oral-health/oral-health-and-dental-care-in-australia/contents/dental-care (accessed 10 October 2025).

DHDA (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) 2018, Questions about vaccination, https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/questions-about-vaccination (accessed 10 October 2025).

—— 2022, Australian national notifiable diseases list and case definitions, https://www.health.gov.au/diseases (accessed 10 October 2025).

—— 2025a, PBS expenditure and prescriptions 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/statistics/expenditure-prescriptions/expenditure-prescriptions-report-1-july-2023-30-june-2024 (accessed 10 October 2025).

—— 2025b, Developing the National Oral Health Plan 2025-2034, https://www.health.gov.au/news/developing-the-national-oral-health-plan-2025-2034?language=en (accessed 10 October 2025)

—— 2025c, Whooping cough still lingers, https://www.cdc.gov.au/newsroom/news-and-articles/whooping-cough-still-lingers (accessed 2 October 2025)

—— (unpublished), MBS Statistics.

National Asthma Council Australia, 2022, Australian Asthma Handbook, Version 2.2. National Asthma Council Australia, Melbourne, accessed 15 December 2023: https://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/management/action-plans

RACGP (Royal Australian College of General Practitioners) 2023, Standards for General Practices 5th edition, https://www.racgp.org.au/running-a-practice/practice-standards/standards-5th-edition/standards-for-general-practices-5th-ed/table-of-contents (accessed 10 October 2025)

Services Australia 2025, Practice Incentives (PIP), https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/practice-incentives?context=20 (accessed 10 October 2025).