Health and wellbeing in Australia
What you must be able to define and use
Know the current health status of Australians: high life expectancy, but a large share of the burden of disease from non-communicable diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal conditions, mental and substance use disorders, respiratory conditions, diabetes). Understand burden of disease in Australia and the leading risk factors (tobacco, high body mass index, dietary risks, high blood pressure, alcohol use, physical inactivity). Learn the determinants of health: biological, behavioural, social (including socioeconomic status, education, employment, social support, early life), and environmental (housing, water, air quality, geography). Understand health inequities between population groups - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people in rural and remote areas, people with lower socioeconomic status, and people born overseas - and the reasons: access to healthcare, income, education, discrimination, distance and transport. Know Australia's healthcare system: Medicare (universal access to public hospital and medical services), the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, private health insurance, and the roles of federal, state and local government. Understand health promotion in Australia, including the Ottawa Charter action areas and the National Preventive Health Strategy.
Traps that appear in questions
- Describing Australia as 'healthy' overall without acknowledging inequities between groups.
- Confusing Medicare (universal public access) with private health insurance (optional cover).
- Naming a determinant without saying how it affects health.
- Treating Indigenous health inequities as biological rather than the result of historical, social and economic factors.
- Confusing health promotion (broad, enabling) with health education (one component).
Rule of thumb
Use a determinant → behaviour → health outcome chain. For an inequity question, name the group, the gap, and at least two determinants driving it.
Worked example: 'Explain a health inequity for people in rural Australia.' Answer: people in rural and remote areas have higher rates of preventable hospitalisations and lower access to specialists; determinants include distance and transport (environmental), lower availability of services (access) and lower income (social), leading to delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes.