Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 19;19(9):4959. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19094959.
Australia is a federation of six states and two territories (the States). These eight governmental entities share responsibility for health and health services with the Australian Government. Mortality statistics, including causes of death, have been collected since the late 19th century, with national data produced by the (now) Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from 1907. Each State introduced hospital in-patient statistics, assisted by State offices of the ABS. Beginning in the 1970s, the ABS conducts regular health surveys, including specific collections on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Overall, Australia now has a comprehensive array of health statistics, published regularly without political or commercial interference. Privacy and confidentiality are guaranteed by legislation. Data linkage has grown and become widespread. However, there are gaps, as papers in this issue demonstrate. Most notably, data on primary care patients and encounters reveal stark gaps. This paper accompanies a range of papers from expert authors across the health statistics spectrum in Australia. It is hoped that the collection of papers will inform interested readers and stand as a comprehensive review of the strengths and weaknesses of Australian health statistics in the early 2020s.
澳大利亚是由六个州和两个地区（州）组成的联邦。这八个政府实体与澳大利亚政府共同负责卫生和卫生服务。自 19 世纪末以来，一直收集死亡率统计数据，包括死因，国家数据由（现）澳大利亚统计局（ABS）从 1907 年开始编制。每个州都在澳大利亚统计局（ABS）的州办事处的协助下引入了住院病人统计数据。从 20 世纪 70 年代开始，ABS 定期进行健康调查，包括对原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民的专门调查。总体而言，澳大利亚现在拥有全面的健康统计数据，定期发布，不受政治或商业干预。隐私和保密性受立法保障。数据链接不断发展并得到广泛应用。然而，正如本期论文所展示的，仍然存在一些差距。最值得注意的是，初级保健患者和就诊的数据存在明显差距。本文是一系列来自澳大利亚健康统计领域专家作者的论文的配套文件。希望这些论文能够为感兴趣的读者提供信息，并成为对 21 世纪 20 年代澳大利亚健康统计数据的优势和劣势的全面回顾。
