Key concepts

Table 1: Key concepts used throughout the Mental Health Online Report
Term	Definitions/Technical specification
Accredited mental health social worker	AASW (the accrediting body) resources.
Admitted care	Admission (METEOR identifier 327206). Episode of admitted patient care (METEOR identifier 268956).
Admitted patient	Same-day patient (METEOR identifier 327270). Overnight-stay patient (METEOR identifier 327256
Age-standardisation	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.
Ambulatory care	Ambulatory care (METEOR identifier 749893).
Answerable contacts	For Kids helpline only, exclude phone contact attempts abandoned during the privacy message, which cannot be skipped. This message was increased from 22 to 48 seconds in April 2020.
Answered contacts	Lifeline: represent the total number of calls answered by Lifeline crisis support workers. Kids Helpline: represent the total number of contacts answered through phone, webchat and email as well as outbound contacts. Beyond blue: represent the total number of calls answered by Beyond Blue from the normal line and COVID-19 line through phone, webchat and email.
Approved plan - NDIS	Receiving your approved plan \| NDIS
Area of practice endorsement	Area of Practice Endorsement pathway \| APS (psychology.org.au)
At-risk of homelessness	Risk of homelessness (METEOR identifier 401065).
Average cost per patient day	Average cost per patient day is determined by dividing the total recurrent expenditure of the specialised mental health service by the total number of patient days as presented in the Specialised mental health care facilities section
Average length of stay	Average length of stay (METEOR identifier 783643)
Average number of Beds	Available beds (METEOR identifier 616014)
Burden of disease	The quantified impact of a disease or injury on a population using the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) measure.
Care setting	Specialised mental health service organisation—service delivery setting (METEOR identifier 493335)
Care type	Specialised mental health service—admitted patient care program type (METEOR identifier 288883)
Client with a current mental health issue	SHS 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
	Clinical FTE measures the number of standard-hour workloads worked by employed health professionals in a direct clinical role. 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 NHWDS considers a standard working week to be 38 hours for nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists and 40 hours for psychiatrists
Clinical hours	Clinical hours are the total clinical hours worked per week in the profession, including paid and unpaid work. 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 measure	Clinical-rated measure (METEOR identifier 757052)
Collection occasion	Collection occasion (METEOR identifier 737720)
Community mental health care	Community mental health care NMDS 2024-25 (METEOR identifier 775620)
Comorbidity	Comorbidity (METEOR identifier 432968)
Confidence interval	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.
Constant price	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.
Contacts	Contacts Lifeline: 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.
Consumer-rated measure	Clinical measures are instruments, including surveys or forms, that are used to gather information about a person's clinical mental health status and functioning. These are completed by the consumer about their own mental health. Clinician-rated measures are completed by the clinician (mental health provider) about the consumer’s mental health.
Coverage (consumers)	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.
Current price	The expenditure reported for a particular year, unadjusted for inflation. Changes in current price expenditure reflect changes in both price and volume.
Data linkage	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.
Depression	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.
Diagnostic group	Based on the ICD-10 principal (main) diagnosis assigned to the episode of care at discharge. There are 8 clinical groupings of the ICD-10 diagnoses relating to mental and behavioural disorders used in the Private Psychiatric Hospitals Data Reporting and Analysis Service (PPHDRAS) data set.
Disability-adjusted life years (DALY)	Burden of Disease resources
Disability employment services	Australia's disability strategy - Disability employment services
DVA status	Within the 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. For more information, refer to METEOR identifier 644877- external site opens in new window.
Emergency department (ED) presentation	Emergency department stay (METEOR identifier 472757)
Employed	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.
Episode	An episode of care, the definition varies slightly according to settings: An admitted patient care episode involves a period of care from admission to separation. Counts of episodes include only clinically substantive episodes of care (a period of care from admission to separation that has greater than 2 contacts and where contacts are of less than 6 weeks intervals). Episodes that are of brief duration (1 or 2 contacts only) and episodes during which contacts were sparse (average interval between contacts 6 weeks or greater) are excluded from the count. Consequently, the count of episodes can in some cases be less than the count of unique patients. 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.
Episode duration	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.
Episode end status	The status of the patient at the end of the non-admitted patient emergency department service presentation.
Episode types	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 three categories are: Completed episodes started and ended within in the reporting period (e.g., Admission to Discharge). Ongoing episodes were still open at the conclusion of the reporting period (e.g., Admission to Review, or Review to Review). Closed episodes were already open at the commencement of the reporting period and closed within the reporting period (e.g., Review to Discharge).
Episodic mental illness	Characterised by acute episodes of symptoms, which may be severe and disabling, with periods of minimal symptoms or remission.
Fatal burden	Burden of Disease - fatal burden
First Nations	A person of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Full-time equivalent	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.
General practitioner (GP) services (Medicare-subsidised)	General practitioners (GPs) treat all common medical conditions and refer patients to hospitals and other medical services for urgent and specialist treatment. For information about Medicare subsidised GP services please refer to the Services Australia website
Government-operated residential mental health services	Residential mental health care NMDS 2024-25(METEOR identifier 775776)
Health care providers	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.
Health expenditure	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.
Health funding	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.
Homelessness	A person is defined as experiencing homelessness if they are living in either non-conventional accommodation or ‘sleeping rough’, or short-term or emergency accommodation due to a lack of other options. 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). This definition aligns closely with the cultural definition of secondary homelessness.
Hospital mental health care	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 (or separation, or admission)	Refers to the episode of admitted patient care, it can be a total hospital stay (from admission to discharge, transfer or death) or a portion of a hospital stay starting or ending in a change of type of care (for example, from acute care to rehabilitation). This term refers to either same day or overnight public hospital stays, or overnight private hospital stays.
In-scope	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.
Kessler Psychological Distress Scale–10 items (Kessler-10; K10) >	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.
Length of treatment period	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).
Long-term health condition	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 six months or more.
Matched pair	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.
Medical Outcomes Study Short Form health survey (SF-36)	A widely used 36 item questionnaire completed by patients covering a range of physical health, mental health and wellbeing measures.
Mental health carer worker	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.
Mental health consumer committee representation arrangements	Mental health consumer committee representation arrangements (METEOR identifier 288851).
Mental health consumer group	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.
Mental health consumer worker	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.
Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5)	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’.
Mental health legal status	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.
Mental health-related emergency department presentations	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 emergency departments, as detailed above.
Mental health-related hospitalisation	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.
Mental health‑related medications	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.
Mental illness (or mental disorders)	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.
Metabolic syndrome	An accumulation of health conditions, which together raise the risk of an individual developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and diabetes mellitus, and vascular and neurological complications such as a cerebrovascular accident.
Mortality gap	The disparity in life expectancy between the general population and a specific group of interest.
National Disability Agreement (NDA)	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 (COAG 2011). 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.
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)	The agency responsible for implementing and managing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
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.
National standards for mental health services	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.
National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) protocol	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.
Non-fatal burden	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’.
Non-government-operated residential mental health services	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.
Nurse	To qualify, an individual must have completed an approved program of study (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2019). 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.
Occupational therapist	Provide 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’.
Outcome	A change in health status that can be attributed to specific health care investments or interventions
Outcome classification	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.
Other allied mental health services (Medicare-subsidised)	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.
Overnight admitted patient care	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.
Patient co-payment	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).
Patient days or Bed days	The number of days or part days a person received care. This is defined differently with care type: Psychiatric care days: count of days in which specialised psychiatric care was received. This excludes the sum of leave days that the person received within the designated unit. 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.
Period of care	A term used to report on data from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection. The period bound by one collection occasion and another, and immediately preceding the current collection occasion.
Persistent mental illness	The severity and impact of symptoms may fluctuate but remain chronic and may be disabling.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)	The development of a set of reactions in people who have experienced a traumatic event that might have threatened their life or safety, or others around them. Examples of traumatic events can include war or torture, serious accidents, physical or sexual assault, or disasters. A person who has PTSD can experience feelings of helplessness, horror or intense fear.
Prescriptions	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.
Prevalence	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).
Primary disability	A primary disability is the disability that causes the most difficulties in everyday life.
Primary Health Network (PHN)	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.
Principal diagnosis	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 (used for admitted patients, emergency departments, community and residential mental health care). 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).
Private psychiatric hospital	An establishment devoted primarily to the treatment and care of admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders. From 2017–18, all private hospital data is sourced from the Private Psychiatric Hospitals Data Reporting and Analysis Service (PPHDRAS). Data on expenditure and Staffing (FTE) are not collected in PPHADRAS. Up to 2016–17, data were sourced from the Private Health Establishments Collection (PHEC), held by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which identifies private psychiatric hospitals as those that are licensed/approved by a state or territory health authority, and which cater primarily for admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders, that is, providing 50% or more of the total patient days for psychiatric patients. The data also includes psychiatric units or wards in private hospitals.
Procedure	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.
Program type (admitted care)	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.
Psychiatric disability	Psychiatric disability within the Disability Employment Services includes clinically recognisable symptoms and behaviour patterns frequently associated with distress that may impair functioning in normal social activity. Psychiatric disability may be associated with schizophrenia, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, addictive behaviours, personality disorders, stress, psychosis, depression and adjustment disorders, but dementias, specific learning disorders (such as attention deficit disorder) and autism are excluded.
Psychiatric units or wards	Specialised units or wards that are dedicated to the treatment and care of admitted patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders.
Psychiatrist	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 (RANZCP 2021). 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 (RANZCP 2021).
Psychiatrist services (Medicare‑subsidised)	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.
Psychological distress	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).
Psychologist	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 (refer to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Book for more information): 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.
Psychologist services (Medicare-subsidised)	Services provided by psychologists that are rebatable 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.
Psychosocial disability	Describes a disability that comes from a mental health condition. Not everyone who has a mental health condition will have a psychosocial disability (NDIS 2024). 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 article, which makes use of the National Health Survey, psychosocial disability refers to people who have at least 1 mental or behavioural condition restricts everyday activities, for at least 6 months.
Psychotic illness	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.
Public health care	Managed by the state or territory health government 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.
Public hospitals	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 private hospital).
Rate	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.
Reason for collection	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.
Recurrent expenditure	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	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. For the mental health pages, these categories are based on area of usual residence.
Resident	A person who receives residential care intended to be for a minimum of one night.
Residential mental health care	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.
Residential stay	Begins with a formal start of residential care and ends with a formal end of the residential care. It may involve more than one reference period (that is, more than one episode of residential care).
Restraint	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.
Risky alcohol consumption	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.
Same day admitted mental health care	Same day admitted mental health care is slightly different between public and private data sources. A separation for public hospitals is classified as same day admitted mental health care if the following applies: the separation was a same day separation (that is, admission and separation occurred on the same day). An admission for private hospitals is classified as same day admitted mental health care based on data reported as ‘Same day episode’ including: hospital-based same day admissions single overnight for same day admissions for ECT, or hospital-in-the-home or outreach care visits to patient’s homes recorded as same day admissions.
Seclusion	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.
Secondary disability	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.
Sector	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.
Seen on time	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.
Separation mode	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).
Separation type	The type of patient length of stay can be same day or overnight.
Serious illness	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 six months or more.
Service contacts	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.
Service setting	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.
Severe mental illness (or serious mental illness or severe and persistent mental illness)	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 (Zumstein and Riese 2020).
Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)	A product developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) using the index of relative socio-economic disadvantage (ISRD). It accounts for social and economic indicators such as education, occupation, employment, income, families, and housing, these summarise the socio-economic conditions of a Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1) geographical area. The index scores, based on information from the five-yearly Census, are used to categorise geographical areas of Australia into five categories. Quintiles are based on area of usual residence, with quintile 1 categorised as most disadvantaged and quintile 5 categorised as least disadvantaged.
Specialised mental health care facilities	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.
Specialised mental health service organisation	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.
Specialised mental health services	Have primary function to provide 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).
Specialised psychiatric care	The patient was reported as having spent one or more days in a specialised psychiatric unit or ward. In public acute hospitals, a specialised episode of care or separation 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.
Specialist homelessness agency	An organisation receives government funding to deliver specialist homelessness services to a client. These can be either not-for-profit and for profit agencies.
Specialist homelessness agency client	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.
Staff	The average number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff employed.
Statistical Area 3 (SA3)	A standard framework for the analysis of ABS data at the regional level through clustering larger geographic groups that have similar regional characteristics, administrative boundaries or labour markets. SA3s generally have populations between 30,000 and 130,000 persons. In regional areas, SA3s represent the area serviced by regional cities that have a population over 20,000 people. In the major cities, SAs represent the area serviced by a major transport and commercial hub.
Statistical Area 4 (SA4)	A standard framework for the analysis of ABS data at the regional level through clustering larger geographic groups that have similar regional characteristics, administrative boundaries or labour markets. SA4s are built from Statistical Area 3, they are the largest sub-state regions of the main structure of the ASGS. The SA4 boundaries represent labour markets or groups of labour markets within each state and territory. Most SA4s have a population about 100,000 people (ABS 2021).
Subsidised prescriptions	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.
Substance use disorder	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. For more information on the classification of substance use disorders in the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHW) 2020–2022, the Methodology.
Support period	The period of time a 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.
Supported housing places	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.
Target population	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.
Therapeutic supports	Provide therapeutic services to participants (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.
Total hours worked by staff	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.
Trauma	A severe and often life-threatening injury that suddenly develops when the entire body or a part of it has been hit by a blunt object or due to sudden impact.
Treatment day	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.
Triage	Indicates the 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.
Under co-payment prescriptions	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.
Without specialised psychiatric care	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.
Years lived with disability (YLD)	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.
Years of life lost (YLL)	Measures years of life lost due to premature death, defined as dying before the global ideal life span at the age of death. YLL represent fatal burden.
Your Experience of Service National Best Endeavours Data Set (YES NBEDS)	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- external site opens in new window entry on the METEOR website.

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