Australia’s health 2008: the eleventh biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2008)
Australia’s health 2008: the eleventh biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (AIHW Catalogue no. AUS 99)
Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
View report (HTML)
View report (PDF – 3.3MB – large file warning!)
View section 3.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (PDF – 431KB)
View website: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australia’s health 2008 was released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare as the eleventh edition of its biennial national health report. The report shows that Australia is one of the healthiest nations in the world, with most Australians generally have good health and access to a range of good health care services, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to have much poorer health than the general population.

Section 3.2 of the report compiles health information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Information about the demographic profile, health status, disability rates, and service use is provided. The section highlights that despite improvements in Indigenous death rates, the overall gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates appears to be widening with Indigenous Australians continuing to die at much younger ages. Indigenous Australians also continue to have a greater disease burden, higher rates of disability and a lower quality of life than other Australians. The section concludes with information on behaviours and health risk factors that shape the health status of Indigenous peoples such as tobacco use, alcohol misuse, illicit drug use, and housing conditions.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

• Further information:
  • Leaps and bounds in health, but some groups lag behind
    View media release: AIHW (HTML) (24 June 2008)
• To obtain the report:
  • Available online: ISSN 1032-6138; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 762 7; AIHW cat. no. AUS 99; 624pp.; $60.00
    View information: AIHW 
  • Phone, fax or email orders: CanPrint, ph: 1300 889 873, fax: 02 6293 8333, email: sales@infoservices.com.au
• Contact details:
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 26 Thynne Street, Fern Hill Park, Bruce ACT, GPO Box 570, Canberra ACT 2601, ph: (02) 6244 1000, fax: (02) 6244 1299, email: info@aihw.gov.au