Australian Health Survey Gets Under Way
The Australian Health Survey about to be undertaken will help with the design and planning of a more focussed health care system for all Australians.
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Joint Release
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP
Minister for Health and Ageing
The Hon Bill Shorten MP
Assistant Treasurer
4 March 2011The Australian Health Survey, which gets under way this weekend, will help with the design and planning of a more focussed health care system for all Australians.
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, and the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, today welcomed the start of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ survey, noting it would allow new insights into the health of Australians and provide the evidence base to strengthen preventive health efforts.
“This survey will help us better understand the range of health issues facing Australians, including levels of obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption,” Ms Roxon said.
“It will provide the health system and governments at all levels with the information necessary to better target health policy, health services and health promotion campaigns.
“The survey will be particularly helpful to guide the Government’s historic investment in preventative health and the new Australian National Preventive Health Agency.”
Mr Shorten said the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a world leading statistical organisation and has conducted health surveys since 1977.
“Statistics provide the building blocks for good policy development,” Mr Shorten said.
“Monitoring the nation’s health using surveys such as this is the only way to know the size of potential problems, which groups in the population are most affected and whether the situation is changing over time.”
The first wave of the Australian Health Survey will be conducted over 2011-12 with summary results available in late 2012.
The survey will involve about 50,000 randomly sampled adults and children from across Australia and will give a ‘snapshot’ of Australia’s health.
The survey builds on previous ABS health surveys and includes an expanded nutrition and physical activity component to collect information on the population’s food and nutrient intake and physical activity levels.
It will also include for the first time a voluntary biomedical component, where blood and urine samples collected from survey participants will be analysed to provide information on chronic disease risk factors like high cholesterol and levels of nutrients such as iron or B vitamins.
The Australian Government is investing $48 million in the survey, with the National Heart Foundation contributing a further $4 million for this survey round.
For more information, contact Ms Roxon’s Office: (02) 6277 7220
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