ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the social determinants of health; that is, the circumstances and conditions in which people live, work, and age and how these factors affect the health status of individuals and the wider population. These determinants are examined in their social and cultural contexts in Australia. It further explores the social gradient of health, within which the poorest group of people have the worst health status, with health inequities between and within countries. The origins of public health in Australia provide the background for a discussion of today’s health system and services. A major section in the chapter involves a discussion and detailed comparison of the biomedical model of health and illness and the social model of health and illness. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic runs through this chapter in terms of how it has affected health services and its effects on vulnerable sections of the community and the exacerbation of health inequality.
