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A social worker is a university-qualified professional that assists people to address personal difficulties and structural barriers in their lives with a focus on their personal and social wellbeing. They work with individuals, families, groups and communities. Under the ‘Better Access to Mental Health Care’ initiative, general practitioners, paediatricians and private psychiatrists can refer to mental health social workers as suitably qualified and experienced allied health professionals. Mental health social workers must meet the relevant criteria set out by the Australian Association of Social Workers to gain accreditation.

Admitted care is the process where the hospital accepts responsibility for the patient's care and/or treatment. Admission follows a clinical decision based upon specified criteria that a patient requires same-day or overnight care or treatment. An admission may be formal or statistical.

Formal admission:
The administrative process by which a hospital records the commencement of treatment and/or care and/or accommodation of a patient.
Statistical admission:
The administrative process by which a hospital records the commencement of a new episode of care, with a new care type, for a patient within one hospital stay.
More information on admitted care can be found on METEOR,  identifier 327206.

A same-day admitted patient is a patient who is admitted and separates on the same date, and who meets one of the following minimum criteria:

• that the patient receive same-day surgical and diagnostic services as specified in bands 1A, 1B, 2, 3, and 4 but excluding uncertified type C Professional Attention Procedures within the Health Insurance Basic Table as defined in s.4 (1) of the National Health Act 1953 (Commonwealth),
• that the patient receive type C Professional Attention Procedures as specified in the Health Insurance Basic Table as defined in s.4 (1) of the National Health Act 1953 (Commonwealth) with accompanying certification from a medical practitioner that an admission was necessary on the grounds of the medical condition of the patient or other special circumstances that relate to the patient.

More information on a Same-day patient can be found on METEOR, identifier 327270.

An overnight admitted patient is someone who, following a clinical decision, receives hospital treatment for a minimum of one night, i.e. who is admitted to and separated from the hospital on different dates.
More information on Overnight-stay patient can be found on METEOR, identifier 327256.

A more detailed classification of age than age group. For consumers aged less than 18 years, age bands (less than 4 years, 4–10 years and 11–17 years) correspond to the groups specified by the NOCC protocol to be offered different versions of the consumer-rated and carer-rated measures.

The age group to which the patient or client has been assigned for the purposes of the NOCC protocol. Generally, Adult is defined as persons between the age of 18 and 64 years inclusive, an Older person is defined as persons aged 65 years and over and a Child or adolescent is defined as persons aged less than 18 years of age. In some circumstances a person may be legitimately assigned to a different age group to that in which they would be assigned on the basis of their actual age. For example, a person aged 60 years who was being cared for in an inpatient psychogeriatric unit may be assigned to the Older person age group.

A set of statistical techniques used to adjust for, as far as possible, the effects of differences in the age structure when comparing 2 or more populations.
The age structures of the different populations are converted to the same 'standard' structure, and then the rates that, hypothetically, would have occurred with that structure are calculated and compared.

Care provided to hospital patients who are not admitted to the hospital, such as patients of emergency departments and outpatient clinics. The term is also used to refer to care provided to patients of community-based (non-hospital) health-care services. More information on ambulatory care can be found on METEOR, identifier 749893. 

Answerable contacts represent the total number of contacts including phone, webchat, email and for some services outbound contacts. Answerable contact attempts exclude phone contact attempts abandoned during the privacy message, which cannot be skipped.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) approved plan is funding allocated from the NDIS to meet individual participant needs. Approved plans for participants are based on information provided in a planning meeting and by the participant’s medical and allied health professionals reports. For more information, refer to the NDIS.

The following areas of practice endorsement are available for psychologists:

• clinical neuropsychology
• clinical psychology
• community psychology
• counselling psychology
• educational and developmental psychology
• forensic psychology
• health psychology
• organisational psychology
• sport and exercise psychology.

More information on the Area of Practice Endorsement pathway can be found on the Australian Psychological Society website.

A person is at risk of homelessness if they are at risk of losing their accommodation.

A person may be at risk of homelessness if they are experiencing one or more of a range of factors or triggers that can contribute to homelessness.

Risk factors include:

• financial stress (including due to loss of income, low income, gambling, change of family circumstances).
• housing affordability stress and housing crises (pending evictions/foreclosures, rental and/or mortgage arrears).
• inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions, including accommodation which is unsafe, unsuitable or overcrowded.
• previous accommodation ended.
• relationship/family breakdown.
• child abuse, neglect or environments where children are at risk.
• sexual abuse.
• domestic/family violence.
• non-family violence.
• mental health issues and other health problems.
• problematic alcohol, drug or substance use
• employment difficulties and unemployment
• problematic gambling
• transitions from custodial and care arrangements, including out of home care, independent living arrangements for children aged under 18, health and mental health facilities/programs, juvenile/youth justice and correctional facilities.
• discrimination including racial discrimination (e.g. First Nations people in the urban rental market).
• disengagement with school or other education and training.
• involvement in or exposure to criminal activities.
• antisocial behaviour.
• lack of family and/or community support.
• staying in a boarding house for 12 weeks or more without security of tenure.

More information on risk of homelessness can be found on METEOR, identifier 401065.

The average cost of a patient day within acute psychiatric inpatient units managed by the mental health service organisation.
More information on the Average cost per patient day can be found on METEOR, identifier 742465. 

The average length of stay of in-scope overnight separations from state/territory acute admitted patient mental health care service units.
More information on the average length of stay can be found on METEOR, identifier 783643.

The number of beds available to provide overnight accommodation for patients (other than neonatal cots (non-special-care) and beds occupied by hospital-in-the-home patients), averaged over the counting period. overnight stay admitted care, average number of beds.
More information on the average number of beds can be found on METEOR, identifier 616014.

Burden of disease is measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) – years of life lost due to premature mortality (fatal burden) and years of healthy life lost due to poor health (non-fatal burden).

The care setting refers to the type of care received that can be either with specialised psychiatric care or without specialised psychiatric care. See “specialised psychiatric care” and “without specialised psychiatric care” definitions below.

More information on care settings can be found on METEOR, identifier 493335.

The care type defines the overall nature of a clinical service provided to an admitted patient during an episode of care (admitted care), or the type of service provided by the hospital for boarders or posthumous organ procurement (other care). 
Care types include:

• Acute care
• Rehabilitation care
• Palliative care
• Geriatric evaluation and management
• Psychogeriatric care
• Maintenance care
• Newborn care
• Mental health care
• Other admitted patient care

Care other than admitted care:

• Organ procurement—posthumous
• Hospital boarder

More information on care type can be found on METEOR, identifier 288883.

Specialist homelessness services clients with a current mental health issue are identified as such if they are 10 years or older and have provided any of the following information:

• they indicated that at the beginning of a support period they were receiving services or assistance for their mental health issues, or had received them in the last 12 months
• their formal referral source to the specialist homelessness agency was a mental health service
• they reported ‘mental health issues’ as a reason, or a main reason, for seeking assistance
• their dwelling type either a week before presenting to an agency, or when presenting to an agency, was a psychiatric hospital or unit
• they had been in a psychiatric hospital or unit in the last 12 months
• at some stage during their support period, a need was identified for psychological services, psychiatric services or mental health services.

A clinical FTE is calculated by the number of health professionals in a category multiplied by the average clinical hours worked by those employed in the category divided by the standard working week hours. The National Health Workforce Data Set considers a standard working week to be 38 hours for nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists and 40 hours for psychiatrists.

The average weekly clinical hours is the average of the clinical hours reported by all employed professionals, not only those who define their principal area of work as clinician. Average weekly clinical hours are calculated only for those people who reported their clinical hours (those who did not report them are excluded).

Clinician-rated measures are used to gather information about clinical mental health status and functioning in the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) national best endeavours data set (NBEDS). Data is collected on the mental health-related treatment of consumers of public specialised mental health services, and information on whether consumers improve following mental health care.

More information on the clinician-rated measure can be found on METEOR identifier 757052.

A relevant specified date relating to a collection occasion, expressed as DDMMYYYY.

More information on collection occasions can be found on METEOR, identifier 737720

Community mental health care refers to government funded and operated specialised mental health care provided by community mental health care services and hospital based ambulatory care services, such as outpatient and day clinics.

More information can be found in METEOR, identifier 775620

The following are comorbid problems that clinicians consider when rating the Other mental and behavioural problems scale of the HoNOS (for adults) and HoNOS 65+ (for older persons):
A    Phobias – including fear of leaving home, crowds, public places, travelling, social phobias and specific phobias.
B    Anxiety and panics.
C    Obsessional and compulsive problems.
D    Reactions to severely stressful events and traumas.
E    Dissociative (‘conversion’) problems.
F    Somatisation – persisting physical complaints in spite of full investigation and reassurance that no disease is present.
G    Problems with appetite, over- or under-eating.
H    Sleep problems.
I    Sexual problems.
J    Problems not specified elsewhere including expansive or elated mood.

A pathologic or disease process concomitant with but unrelated to the primary disease. For example, a person diagnosed with lung cancer may also have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
More information on comorbidities can be found on METEOR, identifier 432968. 

A statistical term describing a range (interval) of values used to describe the uncertainty around an estimate. Generally, confidence intervals describe how different the estimate could have been if the underlying conditions stayed the same but variability in sampling (i.e., selecting a different sample from the population) had led to a different set of data. Confidence intervals are typically calculated with a stated probability –usually 95% level of confidence–that, if the assumptions inherent in the calculation of the interval hold, the true value lies within the interval.

Derived by adjusting the current prices to remove the effects of inflation. This allows for expenditures in different years to be compared and for changes in expenditure to reflect changes in the volume of health goods and services. Generally, the constant price estimates have been derived using annually re-weighted chain price indexes produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In some cases, such indexes are not available, and ABS implicit price deflators have been used instead.

Specialised mental health organisations report the level of consumer committee representation arrangements. To be regarded as having a formal position on a management or advisory committee, the consumer representative needs to be a voting member. This is independent to the employment of consumer and carer consultants. 
More information on consumer committee representation arrangements can be found on METEOR, identifier 288855.
 

Consumer group refers to a classification of episode types according to the setting in which treatment occurred. Three main episode types reported are: Completed acute inpatient; Completed ambulatory; and Ongoing ambulatory.

Clinical measures are particular surveys or forms that are used to gather information about a person's clinical mental health status and functioning. Consumer-rated measures are completed by the consumer about their own mental health.
The NOCC uses the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Youth Report (SDQ-YR) for children and adolescents, and the Behaviour and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10+), or Mental Health Inventory – 38 (MHI-38) for adults, depending on the state or territory in which the consumer receives mental health care.

• Lifeline:  Contacts represent the number of callers who stayed on the line after listening to the announcements in the menu.
• Kids helpline: Contacts represent the total number of contacts including phone, webchat and email.
• Beyond blue: Contacts represent the total number of contacts from the normal line and COVID-19 line for all modalities including phone, webchat and email.
   

A term used to report on data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC). The number of consumers included in the NOCC data (with at least one valid NOCC measure) compared with the total number of people reported as receiving clinical care from public sector specialised mental health services. 

The expenditure reported for a particular year, unadjusted for inflation. Changes in current price expenditure reflect changes in both price and volume.

Brings together information derived from different sources but relating to the same individual, place or event in a single file. Data linkage has been used for studies of epidemiology, health service outcomes and use, and needs analysis.

A mood (affective) disorder with prolonged feelings of being sad, hopeless, low and inadequate, with a loss of interest or pleasure in activities and often with suicidal thoughts or self-blame.

A measure of healthy life lost, either through premature death or living with disability due to illness or injury. Often used synonymously with health loss.

Disability Employment Services (DES) help people with disability find work and keep a job. Through DES, people with disability, injury or health condition may be able to receive assistance to prepare for, find and keep a job.
Providers of Disability Employment Services are called DES providers. DES providers are a mix of large, medium and small, for-profit and not-for-profit organisations that are experienced in supporting people with disability as well as providing assistance to employers to put in place practices that support the employee in the workplace.

Within the National Non-Admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NNAPEDCD), the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) funding indicator is a data item that indicates whether an eligible person’s care is funded by DVA (DVA status). Eligible veterans and war widows/widowers can receive free treatment at any public hospital, former Repatriation Hospitals (RHs) or a Veteran Partnering (VP) contracted private hospital as a private patient in a shared ward, with the doctor of their choice. More information on DVA status can be found on METEOR, identifier 644877.

The period between when a patient presents at an emergency department and when that person is recorded as having physically departed the emergency department.

More information on Emergency department presentations can be found on METEOR, identifier 472757.

An employed health professional is defined as one who:

• worked for a total of 1 hour or more, principally in the relevant profession, for pay, commission, payment in kind or profit; mainly or only in a particular state or territory during a specified period, or
• usually worked but was away on leave (with some pay) for less than 3 months, on strike or locked out, or rostered off.

This includes those involved in clinical and non-clinical roles, for example education, research, and administration. ‘Employed’ people are referred to as the ‘workforce’. This excludes those medical practitioners practising psychiatry as a second or third speciality, those who were on extended leave for 3 months or more and those who were not employed.

An episode of care, the definition varies slightly according to settings:

• A residential care episode is a period of care between the start of residential care, either through the formal start of the residential stay or the start of a new reference period (that is, 1 July) and the end of residential care, either through the formal end of residential care, commencement of leave intended to be greater than 7 days, or the end of the reference period (that is, 30 June). An individual can have one or more episodes of care during the reference period.
• For the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection, a period of more or less continuous contact between the consumer and a mental health service organisation within a single setting. Also referred to as an ‘episode of mental health care’. Two business rules apply to episodes: 
  • one episode at a time; and 
  • change of setting implies a change of episode. 

The period of contact in an episode of mental health care. Calculated as the number of days between collection occasions that form the start and end of the episode, including the episode start date.

The status of the patient at the end of the non-admitted patient emergency department service episode, as represented by a code.
More information on episode end status can be found on METEOR, identifier 722382.
 

A classification that is used to report on consumer outcomes from mental health care using data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. Episodes of mental health care defined by the combination of collection occasion and reason for collection, at the ‘Start’ and ‘End’ of the episode, within the annual reporting period. The 3 categories are: 

• Completed episodes started and ended within the reporting period (e.g., Admission to Discharge). 
• Ongoing episodes that were still open at the conclusion of the reporting period (e.g., Admission to Review, or Review to Review). 
• Closed episodes that were already open at the commencement of the reporting period and closed within the reporting period (e.g., Review to Discharge).

Characterised by acute episodes of symptoms, which may be severe and disabling, with periods of minimal symptoms or remission.

All rates in this report, including historical rates, are crude rates that have been calculated using population estimates based on the 2021 Census. 
Crude rates are calculated using the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated resident population (ERP) at the start of the range (for example, rates for 2011–12 were calculated using the ERP at 30 June 2011). 
Rates for 2022–23 data were calculated using the preliminary ERP at 30 June 2022.

The burden from dying prematurely as measured by years of life lost. Often used synonymously with years of life lost, and also referred to as ‘life lost’.

A person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) measures the number of standard-hour workloads worked by employed health professionals. FTE is calculated by the number of health professionals in a category multiplied by the average hours worked by those employed in the category divided by the standard working week hours. In this report, a standard working week for nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists is assumed to be 38 hours and equivalent to 1 FTE. FTE measures for psychiatrists are based on a 40 hour standard working week.

Medicare-subsidised general practitioner (GP) services are services provided by medical practitioners who are vocationally registered under Section 3F of the Health Insurance Act 1973, or are Fellows of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners or Fellows of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and meet the requirements for the relevant Quality Assurance and Continuing Medical Education program or trainees for vocational registration (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023: 21). GP mental health services include services provided by medical practitioners, including general practitioners, but excluding psychiatrists (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023: 107–166, 190, 218, 276–278, 456, 782, 1219–1223).

A service that is considered by the state, territory or Australian Government funding authorities as a service that: 

• has the workforce capacity to provide specialised mental health services
• employs suitably trained mental health staff to provide rehabilitation, treatment or extended care on-site: 
  • to consumers residing on an overnight basis
  • in a domestic-like environment
• encourages the consumer to take responsibility for their daily living activities. 

These services include those that employ mental health trained staff on-site 24 hours per day and other services with less intensive staffing (but the trained staff must be on site for a minimum of 6 hours a day and at least 50 hours per week). 

• Suitably trained residential mental health care staff may include: 
• individuals with Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in community services, mental health or disability sectors
• individuals with tertiary qualifications in medicine, social work, psychology, occupational therapy, counselling, nursing or social sciences
• individuals with experience in mental health or disability relevant to providing mental health consumers with appropriate services.

Refers to the following staffing categories: salaried medical officers, nurses, diagnostic and allied health professionals, other personal care staff and mental health consumer and carer workers.

Reported in terms of who incurs the expenditure rather than who ultimately provides the funding. In the case of public hospital care, for example, all expenditures (that is, expenditure on medical and surgical supplies, drugs, salaries of doctors and nurses, and so forth) are incurred by the states and territories, but a proportion of those expenditures are funded by transfers from the Australian Government.

Reported in terms of who provides the funds that are used to pay for health expenditure. In the case of public hospital care, for example, the Australian Government and the states and territories together provide over 90% of the funding; these funds are derived ultimately from taxation and other sources of government revenue. Some other funding comes from private health insurers and from individuals who choose to be treated as private patients and pay hospital fees out of their own pockets. The national recurrent expenditure on all mental health-related services can be estimated by combining funding from 3 sources: 

• state and territory contributions to specialised mental health services
• Australian government expenditure on mental health-related services and contributions to specialised mental health services, and
• private health insurance fund component estimated by the Department of Health and Aged Care.

The client’s homeless status at the beginning and end of their support. 
Clients are considered to be homeless if they are living in any of the following circumstances: 

• No shelter or improvised dwelling: includes where dwelling type is no dwelling/street/park/in the open, motor vehicle, improvised building/dwelling, caravan, cabin, boat or tent; or tenure type is renting or living rent-free in a caravan park.
• Short-term temporary accommodation: dwelling type is boarding/rooming house, emergency accommodation, hotel/motel/bed and breakfast; or tenure type is renting or living rent-free in boarding/rooming house, renting or living rent-free in emergency accommodation or transitional housing.
• House, townhouse or flat (couch surfing or with no tenure): tenure type is no tenure; or conditions of occupancy is couch surfing. 

Non-conventional accommodation (primary homeless) is defined as:

• living on the streets
• sleeping in parks
• squatting
• staying in cars or railway carriages
• living in improvised dwellings
• living in the long grass.

This definition aligns closely with the cultural definition of primary homelessness.
Short-term or emergency accommodation (secondary homeless) includes:

• refuges
• crisis shelters
• couch surfing or no tenure
• living temporarily with friends and relatives
• insecure accommodation on a short-term basis
• emergency accommodation arranged by a specialist homelessness agency (for example, in hotels, motels and so forth).

Specialised mental health services in a hospital or psychiatric hospital, which are staffed by health professionals with specialist mental health qualifications and/or training and have as their principal function the treatment and care of patients affected by mental illness. 
There are two types of hospital mental health care:

• Acute care hospital programs involve short term treatment for individuals with acute episodes of a mental disorder, characterised by recent onset of severe clinical symptoms that have the potential for prolonged dysfunction or risk to self and/or others. 
• Other or non acute care refers to all other admitted patient programs, including rehabilitation and extended care services.

Hospitalisation can be a total hospital stay (from admission to discharge, transfer or death) or a portion of a hospital stay beginning or ending in a change of type of care (for example, from acute care to rehabilitation). A hospitalisation can be interchangeably referred to as a ‘separation’.

More information on separations can be found on METEOR, identifier 327268.

A term used to report on consumer outcomes from mental health care using data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC). Refers to the expected collection of information as specified in the NOCC protocol. 

• In-scope collection occasions — when a particular measure was expected to be completed or offered. 
• In-scope episodes — when a matched pair of ratings from repeated measures was expected to be completed. 

A survey device that is used to measure non-specific psychological distress in people. It uses 10 questions about negative emotional states that participants in the survey may have had in the 4 weeks leading up to their interview. The designers recommend using only for people aged 18 and over.

For community mental health care, the total amount of time between the first and last service contact for each registered patient during the reporting period. Treatment periods are defined as Very brief (1–14 days), Short term (15–91 days) and Medium to longer term (92+ days).

In the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, a long-term health condition is one that restricts everyday activities and has lasted or is likely to last for 6 months or more.

A term used to report on consumer outcomes from mental health care using data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. A pair of collection occasions where:

• the same measure was completed on both occasions
• they form a valid sequence within an episode of mental health care. 

A valid sequence for a matched pair is when collection occasions are logically ordered, for example an Admission followed by Discharge. Conversely, an example of an invalid sequence is a Review followed by an Admission. 

A widely used 36-item questionnaire completed by patients, covering a range of physical health, mental health and wellbeing measures.

Mental health carer workers are employed (or engaged via contract) on a part-time or full-time basis specifically for their expertise developed from their experience as a mental health carer. Mental health carer workers include the job titles of, but not limited to, carer consultants, peer support workers, carer support workers, carer representatives and carer advocates. Roles that mental health carer workers may perform include, but are not limited to, mental health policy development, advocacy roles and carer support roles.

Extent to which a specialised mental health service organisation has formal committee mechanisms in place to promote the participation of mental health consumers in the planning, delivery and evaluation of the service, as represented by a code. More information on Mental health consumer committee representation arrangements can be found on METEOR, identifier 288855.

A grouping that is used to report on consumer outcomes from mental health care using data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. A classification of episode types according to service setting and episode type. Three main consumer groups reported are: Completed acute inpatient; Completed ambulatory; and Ongoing ambulatory.

Employed (or engaged through contracts) on a part-time or full-time basis specifically due to the expertise developed from their lived experience of mental illness. Mental health consumer workers include the job titles of, but not limited to, consumer consultants, peer support workers, peer specialists, consumer companions, consumer representatives, consumer project officers and recovery support workers. Roles that mental health consumer workers may perform include, but are not limited to, participation in mental health service planning, mental health service evaluation and peer support roles.

A questionnaire used to screen for depressive and anxious symptoms. It consists of 5 questions about how people have been feeling during the past 4 weeks. Responses are recorded on a scale of 1 to 6, where 1 equates to ‘All of the time’ and 6 ‘None of the time’.

Indicates whether a person is treated on an involuntary basis under the relevant state or territory mental health legislation, at any time during an episode of admitted patient care, an episode of residential care or treatment of a patient/client by a community-based service during a reporting period.

An emergency department (ED) presentation that has a principal diagnosis that falls within the Mental and behavioural disorders chapter (Chapter 5) of ICD 10 AM (codes F00–F99). It should be noted that this definition does not encompass all mental health-related presentations to EDs. 

A hospitalisation is mental health-related if:

• it had a mental health-related principal diagnosis which, for admitted patient care, is defined as a principal diagnosis that is either a diagnosis that falls within the section on Mental and behavioural disorders (Chapter 5) in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 12th revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) classification (codes F00–F99) or a number of other selected diagnoses (refer to the Classification Codes section for the full list of applicable diagnoses codes and exclusions), or 
• it included any specialised psychiatric care.

Benefit-paid pharmaceuticals and other medications defined in 5 selected medication groups as classified in the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System (WHO 2022), namely antipsychotics (N05A), anxiolytics (N05B), hypnotics and sedatives (N05C), antidepressants (N06A), and psychostimulants, agents used for ADHD and nootropics (N06B) – prescribed by all medical practitioners (that is, general practitioners (GPs), non psychiatrist specialists and psychiatrists). Data include Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidised (above-co-payment) and under-co-payment prescriptions. 

Disturbances of mood or thought that can affect behaviour and distress the person or those around them, so that the person has trouble functioning normally. They include anxiety disorders, depression and schizophrenia.

A cluster of health conditions which together raise the risk of an individual developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.  The cluster includes: 

• high blood pressure
• obesity
• low levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL cholesterol)
• insulin resistance.

The disparity in life expectancy between the general population and a specific group of interest.

Originally signed by Australian Government and state and territory governments in January 2008 (replacing the previous Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement), the National Disability Agreement articulated the roles of the governments in delivering specialist disability services. The agreement’s overarching objective was to provide more opportunities for people with disability and their carers to participate in economic and social life. A revised NDA was endorsed by Council of Australian Governments (COAG) members in 2012. From 2013, state and territory-based disability support services provided under the NDA were progressively transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Data for services provided under the NDA were collected under the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS) until 2018–19.

The agency responsible for implementing and managing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The NDIS provides ‘reasonable and necessary supports’ to help people who have a ‘significant and permanent’ disability. The scheme is based on an insurance model, and each individual seeking access is assessed according to a common set of criteria. Individuals who are deemed eligible receive a package of funding to purchase the supports identified in their individualised plan. The NDIS is administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

Developed under the First National Mental Health Plan these are applicable to individual service units. There are 8 levels available to describe a service unit's status. The data are collated into the following 4 levels (Department of Health 2010): 

• Level 1: the service unit has been reviewed by an external accreditation agency and was judged to have met the standards. 
• Level 2: the service unit was in the process of being reviewed by an external accreditation agency and was judged to have met some but not all of the National Standards for Mental Health Services. 
• Level 3: the service unit was in the process of being reviewed by an external accreditation agency but the outcomes are not known; or the service unit is booked for review by an external accreditation agency. 
• Level 4: the service unit does not meet the criteria detailed in levels 1 to 3.

Minimum requirements for the collection of measures for the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. Together, the three concepts of collection occasion (Admission, Review, Discharge), service setting (Inpatient, Residential, Ambulatory) and the consumers’ age group (Children and adolescents, Adults, Older persons) determine what measures to collect and when to collect them. 

The extent to which consumers included in the NOCC protocol are representative of the population receiving clinical care from public sector specialised mental health services. Coverage is derived by comparing the number of persons with at least one valid NOCC measure to the overall number of persons reported as receiving clinical care from public sector specialised mental health services.

The burden from living with ill health as measured by years lived with disability (YLD). Often used synonymously with years lived with disability, and also referred to as ‘health loss’.

Specialised residential mental health care services which meet the same criteria as government-operated residential mental health care services. These services, while partially or fully funded by governments, are operated by non government agencies. Expenditure reported as non-government operated residential mental health care services includes the total operating costs for the residential service, not the total operating costs of the non-government organisation as an entity. Expenditure reported as grants to non-government organisations includes grants made by state and territory government departments to non-government organisations specifically for mental health-related programs and initiatives and are reported separately to expenditure reported for non-government-operated residential mental health care services.

To qualify as a nurse, an individual must have completed an  program of study approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. The usual minimum educational requirement for a registered nurse is a 3-year degree or equivalent. For enrolled nurses the usual minimum educational requirement is a 1-year diploma or equivalent. A mental health nurse is an enrolled or registered nurse that indicates their principal area of work is mental health. In other contexts, mental health nurse may refer to a nurse who has a specific qualification in mental health care instead of or as well as generalist care.

Provides support to people whose health or disability impacts on their day-to-day life and function. A mental health occupational therapist is an occupational therapist who has indicated they have a scope of practice of ‘mental health’.

Services provided by other allied mental health professionals such as occupational therapists, social workers and mental health nurses. These services cover focused psychological and enhanced primary care – provided by allied health. Mental health workers also include Aboriginal health workers. For Medicare payments to be made on these items the provider must be registered with Medicare Australia as meeting the credentialing requirements for provision of the service.

Refer to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Book for more information.

A change in health status that can be attributed to specific health care investments or interventions.

A grouping used to report on data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. The extent of change in a person’s clinical or mental health functioning based on repeated ratings from a consumer- or clinician-rated measure. Classification is based on statistical testing of effect size. The categories are: Significant improvement, No significant change, and Significant deterioration.

Hospitalisations when a patient undergoes a hospital’s formal admission process, completes an episode of care and ‘separates’ from the hospital on a later date than the date of admission.

Under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)/Repatriation Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (RPBS), the cost of prescription medicines is subsidised by the Australian Government. Patients are classified as either general or concessional and are required to pay a patient co-payment towards the cost of their prescription according to their patient status. At 1 January 2024 the co-payment was $31.60 (general) and $7.70 (concessional).

The number of days or part days a person received care. This is defined differently with care type:

• Admitted patients, seclusion and restraint, involuntary treatment: The occupancy of a hospital bed (or chair in the case of some same day patients) by an admitted patient for all or part of a day.
• Residential services: The number of days of care the resident received in the episode of residential care, also called residential care days.

The period bound by one collection occasion and another, and immediately preceding the current collection occasion.

Mental illness in which severity and impact of symptoms may fluctuate but remain chronic and may be disabling.

A mental disorder which may develop following exposure to one or more traumatic events. Symptoms can include intrusive memories, hypervigilance and alterations in mood such as anger or depression.

Information is sourced from the processing of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)/Repatriation Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (RPBS) and refers to medications prescribed by medical practitioners and subsequently dispensed by approved suppliers (community pharmacies or hospital pharmacies). Consequently, it is a count of prescriptions dispensed rather than a count of the prescriptions written by medical practitioners. 

Measures the proportion of a population with a particular condition during a specified period of time (period/point prevalence), usually measured over a 12-month period or over the lifetime of an individual (lifetime prevalence).

Within the NDIS, primary disability refers to the disability that has the greatest impact on a participant’s daily life. Many people have multiple disabilities or other comorbid conditions that do not impair the person to the same extent as their primary disability. These are referred to as secondary disabilities.

The Department of Social Services uses the term primary disability to categorise conditions into broad groups. Refer to Disability Employment Services Outcome Rates by Disability Type for more information.

An administrative health region established to deliver access to primary care services for patients, as well as co-ordinate with local hospitals in order to improve the overall operational efficiency of the network. Further details on PHNs are available from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

For people in receipt of Disability Support Pension, the primary medical condition is the condition for which they have been assigned the most points on the impairment tables. People may have additional medical conditions attracting fewer or no impairment points.
For people receiving care from someone in receipt of Carer Allowance, the primary medical condition refers to the first listed medical condition. For people with multiple medical conditions, this will usually, but not always, be the condition which has the greatest impact on their activities of daily living.
 

Established after the study to be chiefly responsible for occasioning the patient or client’s care during the period of care preceding the collection occasion.

In all settings it must be a valid code from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 12th Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) (12th Edition) based on the mental and behavioural disorders chapter (chapter 5).

The Data Quality Statement for the CMHC NMDS has further information on principal diagnosis data quality issues.

The Data Quality Statement for RMHC NMDS has further information on principal disagnosis data quality issues.

A hospital devoted primarily to the treatment and care of admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders. 

Refers to a clinical intervention that is surgical in nature, carries an anaesthetic risk, requires specialised training and/or requires special facilities or services available only in an acute care setting. Procedures therefore encompass surgical procedures and non-surgical investigations and therapeutic procedures, such as X-rays. Patient support interventions that are neither investigative nor therapeutic (such as anaesthesia) are also included.

Public sector specialised mental health hospital services can be categorised based on program type, which describes the principal purpose(s) of the program rather than the classification of the individual patients. Acute care admitted patient programs involve short term treatment for individuals with acute episodes of a mental disorder, characterised by recent onset of severe clinical symptoms that have the potential for prolonged dysfunction or risk to self and/or others. Non acute care refers to all other admitted patient programs, including rehabilitation and extended care services More information on Program type can be found on METEOR, identifier 288889.

A primary disability category used in administration of the Disability Employment Service which includes the following conditions:

• Alcohol Dependence
• Anorexia Nervosa
• Anxiety
• Behaviour Disorder
• Bi-Polar Affective Disorder (Manic Depression)
• Bulimia
• Depression
• Drug Dependence
• Emotional Disturbance (child or adolescent)
• Enuresis
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Paranoid
• Personality Disorder
• Phobias
• Post Traumatic Stress disorder
• Psychol/Psychiatric Disorder - Other
• Psychosocial Deprivation
• Psychotic
• Schizophrenia
• Self harming behaviours
• Tourettes Syndrome

The number of days in which specialised psychiatric care was received. This excludes the sum of leave days that the person received within the designated unit.

Specialised units or wards that are dedicated to the treatment and care of admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders.

A medical practitioner who has completed specialist training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and emotional problems. Treatment may include prescribing medication, brain stimulation therapies and psychological treatment. To practice as a psychiatrist in Australia, an individual must be admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). Psychiatrists first train as a medical doctor, then undertake a medical internship followed by a minimum of 5 years specialist training in psychiatry.

Services provided by a psychiatrist (or, for electroconvulsive therapy, by either a psychiatrist or another medical practitioner together with an anaesthetist) on a fee-for-service basis that are partially or fully funded under the Australian Government’s Medicare program. These services cover patient attendances (or consultations) provided in different settings as well as services such as group psychotherapy, case conferences and electroconvulsive therapy.
Refer to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Book for more information.

The Department of Social Services uses the term Psychological/Psychiatric to group mental illnesses as a primary medical condition category. Conditions under this grouping include, but are not limited to:

• chronic depressive/anxiety disorders
• schizophrenia
• bipolar disorder
• eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia somatic symptom disorders
• personality disorders
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifesting with predominantly behavioural problems.

The major difference between this and the Psychiatric category used for the Disability Employment Service is that Psychological/Psychiatric does not include Alcohol Dependence or Drug Dependence, which is categorised separately.

Unpleasant feelings or emotions that affect a person’s level of functioning and interfere with the activities of daily living. This distress can result in having negative views of the environment, others and oneself, and manifest as symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety and depression. See also 'Kessler Psychological Distress Scale–10 items'.

An allied health practitioner who is trained in human behaviour. They may provide diagnosis, assessment and treatment of mental illness through psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy. 
In the Medicare-subsidised mental health services section, there are two breakdowns for psychologist:

• Clinical psychologist - includes psychological therapy services provided only by clinical psychologists. See also ‘Area of practice endorsement’. 
• Psychologist (other) - includes services provided by both clinical psychologists and other psychologists.

Services provided by psychologists that are rebated by Medicare through psychological therapy services, focussed psychological strategies and enhanced primary care items. For Medicare payments to be made on these items the provider must be registered with Medicare Australia as meeting the credentialing requirements for the provision of the service.
Refer to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Book for more information.
 

Describes a disability that comes from a mental health condition. Not everyone who has a mental health condition will have a psychosocial disability. Examples of some psychosocial disabilities include schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and social phobia or mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar.
For the Prevalence and impact of mental illness section, which makes use of the National Health Survey, psychosocial disability refers to people who have at least one mental or behavioural condition that restricts everyday activities for at least 6 months.

A diverse group of illnesses characterised by fundamental distortions of thinking, perception and emotional response. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Psychotic illnesses are classified according to diagnostic criteria in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 12th revision (ICD-10) of and include: 

• Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective disorders
• Mania with psychotic symptoms
• Bipolar affective disorder with psychotic symptoms
• Depression with psychotic symptoms
• Persistent delusional disorders, Acute and transient psychotic disorders
• Other and unspecified non-organic psychotic disorder.

Managed by the state or territory government health departments and can fall into the following broad categories (focusing on available mental health care):

• Public acute hospital is an establishment that provides at least minimal medical, surgical or obstetric services for admitted patient treatment and/or care and provides round the clock comprehensive qualified nursing services as well as other necessary professional services. Most of the patients have acute conditions or temporary ailments and the average length of stay is relatively short.
• Public mental health services have a primary function to provide treatment, rehabilitation or community health support targeted towards people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability. These activities are delivered from a service or facility that is readily identifiable as both specialised and serving a mental health care function.
• Public psychiatric hospital is an establishment devoted primarily to the treatment and care of admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders. They offer free diagnostic services, treatment, care and accommodation to all eligible patients.
• Public sector specialised mental health services have a primary function to provide treatment, rehabilitation or community health support targeted towards people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability. These activities are delivered from a service or facility that is readily identifiable as both specialised and serving a mental health care function. 

A hospital controlled by a state or territory health authority. In Australia, public hospitals offer free diagnostic services, treatment, care and accommodation to all Australians who need them. Public hospitals include some denominational hospitals that are privately owned. Defence force hospitals are not included in the scope of public hospitals. See also 'Private hospital'.

Publicly funded or managed services with a primary function to provide treatment, rehabilitation or community health support targeted towards people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability. These activities are delivered from a service or facility that is readily identifiable as both specialised and serving a mental health care function.

For burden of disease, years lived with disability, years of life lost or disability adjusted years can be presented as a rate. This is one number (the numerator) divided by another number (the denominator). The numerator is commonly the number of years of healthy life lost in a specified time. The denominator is the population at risk of the event. Rates (crude, age-specific and age-standardised) are generally multiplied by a number such as 1,000 to create whole numbers.

The rationale for collection of data on a specific mental health care collection occasion (admission, review and discharge), relating to the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection.

Expenditure that does not result in the acquisition or enhancement of an asset – for example, salaries and wages expenditure and non-salary expenditure such as payments to visiting medical officers.

Remoteness area is coded in accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure to the following categories: Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote and Very remote. In this report, these categories are based on area of usual residence.

A person who receives residential care intended to be for a minimum of one night.

Begins with a formal start of residential care and ending with a formal end of care. It may involve more than one reference period (that is, more than one episode of residential care).

Residential mental health care refers to residential care provided by residential mental health services. A residential mental health service is a specialised mental health service that:

• employs mental health-trained staff on‑site
• provides rehabilitation, treatment or extended care to residents for whom the care is intended to be on an overnight basis and in a domestic‑like environment
• encourages the residents to take responsibility for their daily living activities.

These services include those that employ mental health-trained staff on-site 24 hours per day and other services with less intensive staffing. However, all these services employ on‑site mental health-trained staff for some part of the day.

Residential services provide specialised mental health care for people staying overnight in a domestic-like environment. See also 'Residential mental health care'.

The restriction of an individual's freedom of movement by physical or mechanical means. 

• Physical restraint: The application by health care staff of ‘hands-on’ immobilisation or physical restriction to stop a person moving their body freely.
• Mechanical restraint: The application of devices (including belts, harnesses, manacles, sheets and straps) on a person's body to restrict his or her movement. The use of a medical or surgical appliance for the proper treatment of physical disorder or injury is not considered mechanical restraint. 

Drinking at risky levels or ‘risky alcohol consumption’ is defined by the Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol as consuming more than 10 standard drinks per week on average or having more than 4 standard drinks in a single day at least once a month over the previous 12 months.

The definition of same day admitted care applies when the separation was a same day separation (that is, admission and separation occurred on the same day).

Seclusion is the confinement of a person at any time of the day or night alone in a room or area from which free exit is prevented. Key elements include that: 

• The person is alone 
• The seclusion applies at any time of the day or night
• Duration is not relevant in determining what is or is not seclusion
• The person cannot leave of their own accord. 

The following are not relevant in determining what is or is not seclusion:

• Intended purpose of the confinement. For example, seclusion applies even if the person agrees or requests the confinement. 
• The awareness of the person that they are confined alone and denied exit. 
• The structure and dimensions of the area to which the consumer is confined. For example, seclusion may occur in an open area such as a courtyard. 

Seclusion does not include confinement of consumers to High Dependency sections of gazetted mental health units, unless it meets the definition. 

The type of hospital (public or private) patients were admitted to, not the funding source, noting that patients can receive private care in public hospitals. Public hospitals include either public acute or public psychiatric hospitals for those hospitalisations with specialised psychiatric care.

Many people have multiple disabilities or other comorbid conditions that do not impair the person to the same extent as their primary disability. These are referred to as secondary disabilities.

An emergency department presentation is categorised as seen on time when commencement of clinical care was within the time specified in the definition of the triage category.

How each period of care ended, and for some, the place to which the patient was discharged or transferred. These modes include: to home, to an(other) acute or psychiatric hospital, to residential aged care facility, other separation modes (to other health accommodation, statistical discharge/leave, left against medical advice, statistical discharge/type change, and died).

The type of admitted patient length of stay - either same day or overnight.

In the Household, Income and Labour Dynamic in Australia (HILDA) survey, a serious illness is any illness which has lasted or is likely to last for 6 months or more.

The provision of a clinically significant service by a specialised mental health service provider for patients/clients, other than those admitted to psychiatric hospitals or designated psychiatric units in acute care hospitals and residents in 24 hour staffed specialised residential mental health services, where the nature of the service would normally warrant a dated entry in the clinical record of the patient/client in question. Any patient can have one or more service contacts over the relevant financial year period. Service contacts are not restricted to face to face communication and can include telephone, video link or other forms of direct communication. Service contacts can also be either with the patient or with a third party, such as a carer or family member, other professional or mental health worker, or other service provider.

The setting in which the episode of mental health care takes place. The categories are as follows:

• Inpatient: overnight care provided in public psychiatric hospitals and designated psychiatric units in public acute hospitals. 
• Residential: overnight care provided in residential units staffed on a 24-hour basis by health professionals with specialist mental health qualifications or training and established in a community setting which provides specialised treatment, rehabilitation or care for people affected by a mental illness or psychiatric disability. 
• Ambulatory: non-admitted, non-residential services provided by health professionals with specialist mental health qualifications or training. 

Commonly includes diagnoses of schizophrenia, major affective disorders and some personality disorders resulting in lifelong disabling conditions that severely impair personal and social functioning and require ongoing and long-term support and treatment. These terms lack consensus in definition but are commonly characterised by the combination of diagnosis, disability and duration.

Developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), SEIFA is a collection of four indexes, each summarising a different aspect of the socio-economic conditions in an area using different Census variables:

• the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) focuses on both advantage and disadvantage
• the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) focuses on relative socio-economic disadvantage
• the Index of Education and Occupation (IEO) focuses on relative Education and Occupation advantage and disadvantage
• the Index of Economic Resources (IER) focuses on Economic advantage and disadvantage.

Most sections in Mental Health Online Report use the IRSD:

• This index includes only measures of relative disadvantage.
• A low score indicates relatively greater disadvantage. For example, an area could have a low score if there are: many households with low income, or many people without qualifications, and many people in low skilled occupations.
• A high score indicates a relative lack of disadvantage. For example, an area may have a high score if there are: few households with low incomes, few people without qualifications, few people in low skilled occupations.

The section Psychosocial disability support services uses the IEO:

• A low IEO score indicates relatively lower education and occupation levels of people in the area. For example, an area could have a low score if there are: many people without qualifications, or many people in low skilled occupations, or many people unemployed, AND few people with a high level of qualifications or in highly skilled occupations.
• A high score indicates relatively higher education and occupation status of people in the area in general. For example, an area could have a high score if there are: many people with higher education qualifications or many people in highly skilled occupations, AND few people without qualifications or few people in low skilled occupations.

More information on SEIFA can be found at the ABS.

Specialised facilities that deliver and provide support for mental health care. These can include public and private psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric units or wards in public acute hospitals, Community mental health care services and government-operated and non-government-operated Residential mental health services.

A separate entity within states and territories responsible for the clinical governance, administration and financial management of services providing specialised mental health care. For most states and territories, a specialised mental health service organisation is equivalent to the area/district mental health service. These organisations may consist of one or more specialised mental health service units, sometimes based in different locations. Each separately identifiable unit provides either specialised mental health admitted patient hospital services, residential mental health care services or community mental health care services.

Have the primary function of providing treatment, rehabilitation or community support targeted towards people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability. These activities are delivered from a service or facility that is readily identifiable as both ‘specialised’ and ‘serving a mental health care function’. 

A service is not defined as a specialised mental health service solely because its clients include people affected by a mental disorder or psychiatric disability.

The definition excludes specialist drug and alcohol services and services for people with intellectual disabilities, except where they are specifically established to assist people affected by a mental disorder who also have drug and alcohol related disorders or intellectual disability. 

The services can be sub-units of hospitals that are not, themselves, specialised mental health establishments (for example designated psychiatric units and wards, outpatient clinics etc).

Hospitalisations are classed as with specialised psychiatric care if the patient spends one or more days in a specialised psychiatric unit or ward. In public acute hospitals, a specialised episode of care or hospitalisation may comprise some psychiatric care days and some days in general care. An episode of care from a public psychiatric hospital is deemed to comprise psychiatric care days only and to be specialised, unless some care was given in a unit other than a psychiatric unit, such as a drug and alcohol unit.

An organisation that receives government funding to deliver specialist homelessness services to a client. These can be either not-for-profit and for-profit agencies.

A person who receives a specialist homelessness service. A client can be of any age. Children are also clients if they receive a service from a specialist homelessness agency. To be a client the person must directly receive a service and not just be a beneficiary of a service. Children who present with an adult and receive a service are considered to be a client; children of a client or other household members who present but do not directly receive a service are not considered to be clients.

The average number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff employed.

SA3s are geographic areas which form a level within the Main Structure of the Australian Statistical Geographic Standard (ASGS) hierarchy of statistical areas. They are designed for the output of regional data and generally have populations between 30,000 and 130,000 people. SA3s are often the functional areas of regional towns and cities that have populations over 20,000 people or clusters of related suburbs around urban commercial and transport hubs within the major urban areas. More information on SA3s can be found at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

SA4s are the largest sub-state geographic areas in the Main Structure of the Australian Statistical Geographic Standard (ASGS) hierarchy of statistical areas. They are designed for the output of various regional data, and boundaries represent labour markets and the functional area of Australian capital cities respectively. They are built from whole SA3s. Most SA4s have a population above 100,000 people. In regional areas, SA4s tend to have populations of 100,000 to 300,000 people. In cities, SA4s tend to have populations of 300,000 to 500,000 people. More information on SA4s can be found at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

A Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)/Repatriation Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (RPBS) prescription is subsidised when the dispensed price of a medication exceeds the patient co-payment. The PBS/RPBS covers the difference between the full cost of the medication and the patient co-payment.

As opposed to substance use which may occur without disorder, substance use disorder is the persistent use of drugs (including alcohol and tobacco) despite serious harms and negative consequences associated with their use. Substance use disorders are classified as mental disorders. In the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 12th revision (ICD-10), substance use disorders come under the block ‘Mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use’. This block contains a wide variety of disorders that differ in severity and clinical form but that are all attributable to the use of one or more psychoactive substances, which may or may not have been medically prescribed. More information on the classification of substance use disorders in the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHW) 2020–2022, can be found in the NSMHW Methodology.

The period of time a specialist homelessness agency client receives assistance from an agency. A support period starts on the day the client first receives a service from an agency and ends when: 

• the relationship between the client and the agency ends
• the client has reached their maximum amount of support the agency can offer
• a client has not received any services from the agency for a whole calendar month and there is no ongoing relationship.
   

Reported by jurisdictions to describe the capacity of supported housing targeted to people affected by mental illness. This is reported at the number available at 30 June and is therefore not comparable to the average available beds measures for specialised mental health hospital and residential services.

Some specialised mental health services data are categorised using 5 target population groups:

• Child and adolescent services focus on those aged under 18 years.
• Youth services target children and young people generally aged 16–24 years.
•  Older person programs focus on those aged 65 years and over.
• Forensic health services provide services primarily for people whose health condition has led them to commit, or be suspected of, a criminal offence or make it likely that they will reoffend without adequate treatment or containment. 
• General programs provide services to the adult population, aged 18 to 64; however, these services may also provide assistance to children, adolescents or older people. 

Note that in some states, specialised mental health beds for aged persons are jointly funded by the Australian and state and territory governments. However, not all states or territories report such jointly funded beds through the National Mental Health Establishments Database.

Provide therapeutic services to NDIS participants (aged over 7 years). In the NDIS, therapy supports are for participants with an established disability, where maximum medical improvement has been reached, to facilitate functional improvement. For people who access the Scheme as ‘early intervention’ NDIS participants, reasonable and necessary supports are likely to be a blend of medical and disability therapies but should be predominantly disability therapy supports. Therapy in this context is be aimed at adjustment, adaption, and building capacity for community participation. For more information see NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

The total hours worked per week in the profession, including paid and unpaid work. Average total weekly hours are calculated only for those people who reported their hours (that is, those who did not report them are excluded).
Clinical hours are a similar concept to total hours worked by staff, except clinical hours are the total number of hours a practitioner spends working in the area of clinical practice. That is, the diagnosis, care and treatment and including recommended preventive action, of patients or clients. The average weekly clinical hours are the average of the clinical hours reported by all employed professionals, not only those who define their principal area of work as clinician.

Any day on which one or more service contacts (direct or indirect) are recorded for a registered patient (identified by a patient identifier number assigned to a uniquely identified person) during an ambulatory care episode.

The triage category indicates the level of urgency of the patient’s need for medical and nursing care. It is usually assigned by an experienced registered nurse or medical practitioner at, or shortly after, the time of presentation to the emergency department. The triage category assigned is in response to the question: ‘This patient should wait for medical assessment and treatment no longer than...?’ 
The Australasian Triage Scale has 5 categories that incorporate the time by which the patient should receive care: 

• Resuscitation: immediate (within seconds) 
• Emergency: within 10 minutes 
• Urgent: within 30 minutes 
• Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes 
• Non-urgent: within 120 minutes.
   

A Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)/Repatriation Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (RPBS) prescription is under co-payment when there is no government subsidy as the dispensed price of the prescription does not exceed the patient co-payment, and the patient pays the full cost of the medication.

The patient did not receive any days of care in a specialised psychiatric unit or ward. Despite this, these hospitalisations are classified as mental health-related because the reported principal diagnosis for the separation is either one that falls within the Mental and behavioural disorders chapter (Chapter 5) in the ICD-10-AM classification (codes F00–F99) or is one of a number of other selected diagnoses.
Refer to the classification codes for a full list of applicable diagnosis codes and exclusions. 

The number of years of what could have been a healthy life that were instead spent in states of less than full health. YLD represents the non-fatal burden of disease.

The number of years of life lost due to premature death, defined as dying before the ideal life span. YLL represents fatal burden of diease. 

The YES NBEDS is Data Set Specification that describes the YES survey questions and defines coding for responses. The scope of YES NBEDS is state and territory public sector specialised mental health services. Specific information for each data element can be found in the YES NBEDS entry on the METEOR website