Advice to the Government on the Development of the Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2016–2020

Diabetes is a growing burden on Australians’ health and health care. The cost of diabetes in Australia is about $14.6 billion every year.

The National Diabetes Strategy Advisory Group (NDSAG) has defined 7 goals that a national strategy should address:

• reduce the number of people developing type 2 diabetes
• encourage actions that will result in people detecting type 1 and 2 diabetes earlier
• reduce the number of diabetes-related complications, and improve the quality of life for people with diabetes
• reduce the impact of diabetes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• reduce the impact of diabetes for:
  • culturally and linguistically diverse people
  • older people
  • people living in rural and remote areas
• reduce the impact of gestational diabetes and of type 1 or 2 diabetes in pregnant women
• improve prevention and care

The NDSAG has also listed key actions that could help the government achieve these goals.