The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has a role in information sharing with a number of international organisations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We also have informal collaborative arrangements with other international agencies and bodies, such as the International Group for Indigenous Health Measurement and the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI).
The Australian Collaborating Centre
The WHO is supported by a network of Collaborating Centres around the world, with one in Australia at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Since 1991, the AIHW has been designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Family of International Classifications Australia (ACC). The ACC is one of more than 20 international Collaborating Centres that assists WHO in its work to develop, implement and maintain the Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC). The WHO-FIC is the framework which allows the capture of health, functioning and intervention (procedures) data from countries around the world.
Australia has an obligation to supply health and health-related data to WHO and the AIHW is often involved in data supply. These data serve many purposes, including health monitoring, service planning and research. Australia benefits from this in that it allows for international comparisons of health, which helps to identify opportunities for preventative action and health system improvement.
More information on the ACC and its role
More information on the classifications from WHO-FIC
ICD-11 implementation in Australia
The ACC is contributing to the development of the International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision (ICD-11). ICD-11 was endorsed by member states at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2019. ICD-11 came into effect from 1 January 2022, however each member state will make its own decisions about adoption and timing of implementation in their country. Australia has not yet made a decision to implement ICD-11. The AIHW is working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority and the Commonwealth, state and territory health departments to inform decisions on implementing ICD-11 in Australia.
More information on ICD-11 in Australia
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The OECD’s online database, OECD Health Statistics, is the most comprehensive source of comparable statistics on health and health systems across OECD and partner countries. The database contains information on health status, health care services and health care spending for member countries.
Information from OECD Health Statistics facilitates international comparative reporting, supports policy planning and decision making, and enables health-related research and analysis.
The AIHW participates in ongoing OECD work to refine the measures used in OECD Health Statistics and supplies data for Australia annually. Most Australian data supplied come from databases maintained by the AIHW, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and the Department of Human Services. For further information, see the OECD Health Statistics online database.
The Pacific Health Information Support Hub
The AIHW has been funded to establish the Pacific Health Information Support Hub (PHISH) by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as part of the Partnerships for a Healthy Region (PHR) initiative. PHISH aims to support Pacific Island countries and territories to strengthen their health information systems and improve their ability to collect, validate, analyse, and disseminate health data to inform health policy.
More information on PHISH
