Data and information sources
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AIHW
Health of older people – Some groups of older Australians may face barriers in accessing and engaging with the essential supports and services that contribute to better health. Groups at risk include people who are culturally or linguistically diverse; people who are alone or homeless; and people who need assistance with daily living or housing.
Council of the Aging
State of the Older Nation 2021
Department of Veterans Affairs (Aus)
Data for research – DVA-owned data is available for use in approved research projects.
Research and development – DVA takes a proactive approach in commissioning research to build an evidence base that supports the health and wellbeing needs of Australia’s veterans and their families.
Documents and publications – Published material that helps DVA better understand and engage veterans and their families, support their needs, and marks veterans’ service.
Department of Health
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AIHW Healthy Community Indicators (Murray)
Healthy community indicators – Covering health topics including health risk factors, cancer, expenditure, and different population groups. Each topic has a number of different measures which you can explore in an interactive data tool, across 31 Primary Health Network (PHN) areas.
Municipal Association of Victoria
Municipal health and wellbeing plans – Local government health and wellbeing plans and data.
Murray PHN
Murray PHN – Part of the national network of 31 Primary Health Networks across Australia working closely with the primary health system to identify opportunities to improve health outcomes in our community, through better coordination and support of health services and by commissioning new services to address the health needs of our population.
Murray PHN Exchange
Murray PHN Atlas – Uses the most current information available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and supports you to build your population health knowledge about your PHN.
PHN Exchange Priority Areas – Provides data sets on the burden of disease, demographics, risk factors and social determinants of health for identified priority areas –
- Aged Care
- Alcohol & Other Drugs
- Child Health
- Chronic Disease
- General Population Health
- Health Workforce
- Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
PHN Exchange Resources – Provides links to a large number of resources with data, tools and research available across a broad range of areas, including indigenous, early years, aged care, mental health, and health mapping.
The University of Melbourne
Department of Rural Health – A range of health conditions, mental health measures, health behaviours, use of services, social issues and demographic items were surveyed in Greater Shepparton and three other regions.
Women’s Health Goulburn North East
Women’s Health Goulburn North East – Focused on building capacity to support and advance women’s economic security, agency and wellbeing in the face of climate change, sexual and reproductive health and to prevent violence against women.
Gendered data and planning – Research, reports, submissions, podcasts, blogs and more across organisational focus areas of prevention of violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, climate change and mental health.
Gendered Data and Planning: A Resource for Local Government (2020-25) – This resource has been designed to support local government in Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing planning by demonstrating the value of gender-disaggregated data and highlighting priority areas for men, women and gender-diverse people across the region. It may also be of use to those working in the health and community sector who are interested in gendered planning for social health outcomes.
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Alcohol and Other Drugs
AODstats by Turning Point – Provides information on the harms related to alcohol, illicit and pharmaceutical drug use in Victoria.
Better Safer Care
Safer Care – Website shared by Safer Care Victoria (SCV), the Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI) and the three independent boards/councils they support. SCV and VAHI work together closely using data, insights and evidence to flag emerging issues and drive improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety.
Victorian Population Health Survey 2020 – Dashboards – In January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Australia, requiring a significant public health response to mitigate its spread and impact. In response, the annual Victorian Population Health Survey (VPHS) in 2020 was co-opted to provide critical information to inform the public health response.
Health system performance: how does Victoria fare nationally and internationally? – This report provides insights into health and sector performance measures for Victoria, Australia and selected Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It draws largely on results from the 2016 International Health Policy Survey of Adults.
The health and wellbeing of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer population in Victoria – Findings from the Victorian Population Health Survey 2017. The findings from this survey enabled measurement and reporting on the health status of LGBTIQ+ Victorians at the population level for the first time, and provided comparison, within the same survey, with Victoria’s non- LGBTIQ+ population.
Challenges to healthy eating: food insecurity in Victoria – This report, based on findings from the 2014 Victorian Population Health Survey, identifies particularly vulnerable populations and local government areas that disproportionately experience food insecurity, providing the evidence base to consider broader policy options and targeted interventions.
Climate Change
Climate Change Victoria – Climate information, projections, tools, data and policy.
Victorian Climate Projections 2019 – The Victorian Government partnered with CSIRO’s Climate Science Centre to do new high-resolution climate modelling and incorporate these into an updated set of climate projections for Victoria.
Climate and weather – Learn more about the climate, how it’s changing and how it influences Victoria’s weather.
Crime Statistics Agency (Vic)
Crime Statistics Agency – The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) is responsible for processing, analysing and publishing Victorian crime statistics, independent of Victoria Police.
Department of Education and Training (Vic)
Victorian Child and Adolescent Monitoring System (VCAMS) – The Victorian Child and Adolescent Monitoring System (VCAMS) portal allows you to view and explore data about children and young people across a range of indicators drawn from the VCAMS outcomes framework. Indicators can be viewed for individual LGAs, and by a range of demographic breakdowns at the state level. To access data on an indicator, expand the relevant domain below and click on the indicator you wish to view. The information will appear in a new window.
Department of Health (Vic)
Victoria State Government Department of Health – Plays a critical role in the Victorian health system and is responsible for shaping it to meet the health needs of Victorians into the future.
Victorian Health Information Surveillance System (VHISS) – An interactive website displaying selected public health indicators. Three interactive components are available on VHISS: Burden of Disease, Avoidable Mortality and Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions. The data are standardised to monitor trends over time (**Need to request access).
Victorian public health and wellbeing outcomes framework and data dictionary – The Victorian public health and wellbeing outcomes framework provides a transparent approach to monitoring and reporting progress in our collective efforts to achieve health and wellbeing.
Department of Transport and Planning
Victoria in Future – The official state government projection of population and households. Projections are based on trends and assumptions for births, life expectancy, migration, and living arrangements across all of Victoria.
Municipal Association of Victoria
Municipal health and wellbeing plans – Victorian councils’ health and wellbeing plans for 2017-2021.
The Well
The Well – A health information hub for tools and resources, local projects and networks, it provides comprehensive, evidence-based information, resources and local wisdom about a range of different health and wellbeing topics relevant to the Eastern Metropolitan Region.
Shared Knowledge for Community Health & Wellbeing – The Well is a health information hub for tools and resources, local projects and networks. This is a great resource for local practitioners to learn, plan, share and connect.
Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI)
Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI) – Monitors and reports on quality and safety data within Victoria’s health system. Data are collected and presented in many different ways and to different audiences, including health services, government and the Victorian community.
Population health – Population health surveillance and survey data on the health and wellbeing of people living in Victoria.
VAHI Data Request Hub – The VAHI Data Request Hub is a simple way to request access to Victorian health data.
Victorian Health Services Performance – Explore quality and safety performance data for Victoria’s public health services and hospitals.
Victorian Council of Social Service
VCOSS Poverty Maps – This map shows the overall rates of Victorians living in poverty in individual suburbs and localities.
Victorian Government
DataVic – The place to discover and access Victorian government open data which can be filtered and searched by local government area.
Discover Victoria’s diverse population – A look at Australian census data to examine the diversity and ethnicity characteristics of multicultural Victorians.
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth)
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) – A pioneer in health promotion – the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. The primary focus is promoting good health and preventing chronic disease.
VicHealth Indicators Survey – The VicHealth Indicators Survey is a Victorian community wellbeing survey that focuses on the social determinants of health. The survey is based on core questions related to individual and community health and wellbeing, critical to informing decisions about public health priorities.
Women’s Health Victoria
Women’s Health Victoria – Provides support services, resources and training, as well as sharing evidence to influence and shape policy. The health promotion, information and support programs work with and for women, to identify and respond to service gaps and health inequalities in innovative ways.
Women’s Health Atlas – A tool to assist in the identification of gender impacts on key health areas. The Atlas provides a coordinated State approach to support women’s health services and other health planners, to enable comparison between LGAs, regions and the state. The purpose of the Atlas is to increase the availability of reliable data for evidence-based decisions about service design, emerging priorities and program planning.
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Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research
Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research – Collection of significant crime, court and custody datasets including information on alcohol and other drugs.
Bureau of Health Information
Healthcare Observer – Healthcare Information about the performance of the NSW healthcare system including Aboriginal health, Ambulance performance, Child health, Chronic disease, Deaths, Elective surgery, Emergency department, Emergency department performance, Hospital, Surveys
Reports – Independent reports and data about the performance of the public healthcare system in NSW.
NSW Health
NSW Health – Provides information for the public and health professionals including health data and reports covering a range of topics.
Open Data – Search for NSW health data and reports.
HealthStats NSW – A one-stop-shop public website bringing together data from many sources to produce statistical information about the health of the NSW population. Users can view and download data and select indicators to produce tailored reports that provide insights into a wide range of health determinants and outcomes.
Your Room – A place to get information and facts about drug and alcohol use. Links to research.
Mental health commission
Progress and outcomes – Tracks and conducts research into mental health and wellbeing for the community.
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
AIHW – Indigenous Australians – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not one group, but comprise hundreds of groups that have their own distinct set of languages, histories and cultural traditions.
AIHW reports and other products include information about Indigenous Australians, where data quality permits. Thus, information and statistics about Indigenous Australians can be found in most AIHW products.
Health Performance Framework – This website brings together information from numerous sources to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date view of the state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes, health system performance and the broader determinants of health in one area. It is designed to inform policy, planning, program development and research.
Healthy community indicators – Healthy community indicators cover health topics including health risk factors, cancer, expenditure, and different population groups. Each topic has a number of different measures which you can explore in an interactive data tool, across 31 Primary Health Network (PHN) areas.
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics – Australia’s national statistical agency and an official source of independent, reliable information.
2021 Census articles – Data snapshots from the 2021 Census.
SBS Census Explorer – Interactive community diversity snapshots.
Search by area – A fast, simple way for users to understand an area at a glance, intended for anyone wanting quick summary information about an area.
Data by Region – Access to statistics from the ABS and other sources on a particular geographical region. Use the tools to browse, search or explore by map to find statistics about different regions in Australia.
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Fourth Atlas 2021 – The Fourth Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation examines variations in healthcare use according to where people live. It covers six clinical areas: early planned births; chronic disease and infection; ear, nose and throat surgery in children and young people; lumbar spinal surgery; gastrointestinal investigations; and medicines use in older people.
Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS)
ACOSS publications – Inform public debate about ACOSS policy issues, document ACOSS research and influence government on policy. Many ACOSS publications are developed in partnership with other organisations.
Australian Government Department of Health
Population health data – Australian Government collated and published health statistics, summaries and reports about:
- immunisation coverage for children and adults
- Australia’s health workforce
- Medicare use from 1984 onwards
- hospital use, including non-admitted patient care, admitted patients, and elective surgery and emergency department waiting times
- patient, medical and financial casemix for public and private hospitals
- medicine use and the cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Australian Health Policy Collaboration
Analysis and Policy Observatory (APO) – An open-access evidence platform making public policy research and resources accessible and useable.
Australia’s Health Tracker by socioeconomic status 2021 – Australia’s Health Tracker by Socioeconomic Status 2021 updates the first report, published in 2017. These reports track progress towards achieving targets for improved health among Australians by 2025. An additional target for participation in employment by people living with mental ill-health is included in this edition.
Australian Institute of Criminology
Australian Institute of Criminology – The AIC informs crime and justice policy and practice in Australia by undertaking, funding and disseminating policy-relevant research of national significance, by generating a crime and justice evidence base, and by establishing a national knowledge centre.
Statistics – Statistical information on crime and justice compiled by the AIC and relying on data provided by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments. Crime can have negative health impacts for both the perpetrator and the victim and is deemed to be one of the social determinants of health.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Produces authoritative and accessible information and statistics to inform and support better policy and service delivery decisions, leading to better health and wellbeing for all Australians
Reports and data – The AIHW develops, collects, analyses and reports information on a broad range of health and welfare issues in Australia. In addition to print-ready (PDF) and online (HTML) reports and detailed data tables, they also produce infographics across many of the topic areas.
Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs in Australia – Data and reports, search by region
Australia’s health performance framework – A tool for reporting on the health of Australians, the performance of health care in Australia, and the Australian health system.
Australia’s health 2022 – Australia’s health 2022 is the AIHW’s 18th biennial report on the health of Australians. It is a mix of short statistical updates and longer discussions exploring selected topical health issues, including a focus on the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australian National University (ANU) – Research School of Population Health
Population Health Xchange (PHXchange) – Provides resources for fostering partnership and knowledge co-production among researchers and diverse stakeholders in order to achieve better health outcomes through evidence-informed policy and practice change.
Australian Urban Observatory
The Healthy Liveable Cities Liveability Index – Underpinned by eight years of research, this index combines nine indicators of liveability found to be associated with health and wellbeing outcomes.
Beyond Blue
Beyond Blue Statistics – Categorises national mental health statistics under a number of headings.
Climate Change
Climate Change in Australia – Climate information, projections, tools and data.
Cochrane Library
Cochrane Library – An independent, diverse, global organization that collaborates to produce trusted synthesized evidence, make it accessible to all, and advocate for its use. Internationally recognised as the benchmark for high-quality information about the effectiveness of health care.
Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
FARE – Contributes to international research on reducing alcohol harm in Australia and across the world.
Homelessness statistics
Council to Homeless Persons – Key statistics on homelessness in Australia and Victoria
Homelessness Australia – Homelessness Australia (HA) is the national peak body for homelessness in Australia, providing systemic advocacy for the homelessness sector.
id. informed decisions
id. informed decisions – The .id team is a unique combination of demographic and spatial analysts, urban economists, industry sector experts, IT and data management specialists, and the largest population forecasting team in the country.
Demographic resource centre – Hundreds of free demographic resources including community profiles, population forecasts, economic profiles, eBooks, blogs, and national profiles and indicators.
Services – A unique combination of population expertise and demographic information to enhance the decision-making process.
Melbourne Institute
HILDA Statistical Reports – Key research findings from current and past releases of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, known as HILDA, a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian households.
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre – The Centre works with universities, research centres, health services, criminal justice agencies, peak bodies and alcohol and other drug service providers to deliver novel, high-quality research on alcohol and other drug use.
Resources – A range of resources drawn from high-quality research and related activities that increase the effectiveness of treatment and intervention responses to alcohol and other drug-related harm.
Primary Health Network Exchange
PHN Exchange – A data platform that gathers information from multiple sources and presents an integrated view for health planners, health providers and PHN staff to access.
Public Health Information Development Unit (Torrens University)
Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU) – Free online access to a comprehensive range of current (and some historical) data at national, jurisdictional, regional and small area levels for Australia. Socioeconomic and geographical variations in health are highlighted in interactive atlases and graphs, and supported by data tables and metadata. Where available, data are analysed by age, sex and Indigenous status.
Social Health Atlases – Data workbooks, interactive maps and more, published by the PHIDU.
Sax Institute
Sax Institute – The Sax Institute’s Knowledge Exchange program assists health decision-makers to access existing research and use it more effectively in their work
Resource Hub – The Resource Hub allows you to search for downloadable files such as PDFs, videos and Word files. You can filter your search by publication date, topic keyword, type of product, as well as the Sax program associated with it.
Victoria University
Australia’s Health Tracker by Socioeconomic Status 2021 lays bare the dramatic difference in preventable deaths between the top and bottom 20% of income earners. And the gap appears to be widening.