AIHW news

National Reconciliation Week (27 May–3 June) is a time for all Australians to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how people can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The AIHW produces a wide range of information and statistics about First Nations health and welfare to inform policy making, program planning and community discussion. Over the past 12 months, the institute has released 20 products focused on the health and welfare of First Nations people. The reports explore issues including eye health, hearing health, cancer screening, rheumatic heart disease, asthma, and cultural safety in health care. Additionally, there were updates to more than 20 measures under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework, and a new ‘Closing the Gap’ dashboard on the Regional Insights for Indigenous Communities (RIFIC) website to track progress targets at the regional level.

Key findings from the past 12 months show:

• Among First Nations women aged 50–74, 96% live within a one-hour drive of a permanent BreastScreen Australia screening service or one that visits at least once every 2 years.
• The 213 government-funded First Nations-specific primary health care organisations provided around 3.71 million episodes of care to almost 507,000 clients in 2022–23.
• Almost 9 in 10 (88.9%) First Nations liveborn singleton babies had a healthy birthweight in 2020.
• The age-standardised proportion of hospitalised severe heart attack events among First Nations adults that were treated by PCI (a procedure to restore blood flow to the heart) rose from 28% to 70% between 2006–07 and 2020–21.
• The age-standardised cataract surgery rate for First Nations people increased by more than 25% between 2013–14 and 2020–21.
• The proportion of First Nations people aged 14 and over who smoked daily fell from 35% to 20% between 2010 and 2022–2023.
• An estimated 35% of the health gap between First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians in 2017–19 was explained by social determinants (such as housing, employment, income and education).

The AIHW has also published 7 new articles to the Indigenous Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Clearinghouse on topics including digital mental health resources, physical activity, climate change, racism, and intergenerational trauma. The articles summarise current research, policies and programs to provide evidence for what works to improve outcomes. For example, Indigenous domestic and family violence, mental health and suicide found that traditional responses to domestic and family violence, which heavily rely on the law and criminal justice system, do not achieve positive outcomes for First Nations families and communities.

First Nations content is also included within the mainstream reports, such as the 7 First Nations-focused web articles within the flagship biennial report Australia’s welfare 2023.

The AIHW staff have been celebrating the spirit of reconciliation with a range of activities including screenings of Living Black: Patrick Dodson – Father of reconciliation and Araatika! Rise up, First Nations painting workshops, and team activities including quizzes, reading of books by First Nations authors, and sharing of food cooked with native ingredients. Thanks to the AIHW Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group members for organising these events.