Health in Australia

Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall.

The poor and those living in remote areas as well as indigenous people are, in general, less healthy than others in the population, and programs have been implemented to decrease this gap.

These include increased outreach to the indigenous communities and government subsidies to provide services for people in remote or rural areas.

According to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study Australia was ranked third highest in life expectancy.

[16] More than half of all consultations with GPs in Australia are in relation to chronic condition such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

[21] In 2011, endometriosis was estimated to affect 550,000 women and girls in Australia, with estimated direct costs of $6 billion per annum for medical and surgical treatments of adult women and $600 million per annum for medical and surgical treatments of girls.

Working women are estimated to lose 11 hours per week due to absenteeism and presenteeism.

[22] In addition, there are the indirect costs and the general loss of quality of life due to the debilitating pain.

[23] Endometriosis usually first presents symptoms during adolescence but there is an average of 8 years from first symptoms to diagnosis, due to parents and general practitioners "discrediting" the pelvic pain as being a "normal" aspect of the menstrual cycle, while employed women encounter negativity by employers towards women perceived to have menstrual irregularities.

It is more than merely the presence or absence of disease; it includes measures of physical illness, levels of functioning and mental wellbeing.

The provision of adequate mental health services and the quality of aged care, are other problems in some parts of the country.