ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the Australian health system. It considers achievements in improving the health status of the population to date, as well as the continuing challenges for health improvement. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), another Commonwealth statutory body, is responsible for collation, analysis and publication of national statistics on health and health care. The Australian Health Ministers Conference (AHMC) aims to promote a consistent and coordinated national approach to health policy development and implementation. In Australia, as in other Western countries, interest in integrating hospital and non-hospital health care developed in the 1970s. The private sector plays a significant and growing role in the provision of health services in Australia. The positive correlation of modern lifestyle ‘risk factors’ and poor preventive health behaviours with socioeconomic status has been noted in several Australian studies. The health status inequalities experienced by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are dramatic.
