ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the current health status of Australians. It shows achievements and enduring challenges. The chapter considers the: key features of the health system, including its historical development, which have been important in ensuring the health of the public. It considers the place that public health services occupy within the Australian health system. The picture of health in Australia has changed a great deal since the start of the twentieth century. Australian National Health Survey periodically collects information about Australians' self-reported health. By 2007-08, nearly every Australian aged 15 years and over had at least one risk factor for chronic disease, such as obesity, high blood pressure or physical inactivity. Western Australia had the highest proportion of adults who consumed on average more than two standard drinks of alcohol per day and Victoria had the lowest. The health gap between Indigenous and other Australians is of particular concern to public health professionals.
