Data in Health are obtained from the most up-to-date sources available including information collected in the 2001 National Health Survey (NHS) on the health status of Australians conducted by the ABS, a supplementary health survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (NHS(I)), and data from the ABS Causes of Death Collection. Previous National Health Surveys were conducted in 1989-90 and 1995. The 2001 NHS and NHS(I) surveys were the first in a new series of three-yearly national health surveys conducted by the ABS, with the increased frequency assisted by a funding partnership with the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). The funding partnership with DoHA also provided support funding for the Indigenous component of the 2001 NHS, with an oversample that supports estimates at the national level. The partnership will also support in future years, commencing with 2004-05, a six-yearly Indigenous Health Survey with a sample sufficient to enable reporting at the state and territory level.
Data from the 2001 NHS presented in Health are based, for the first time, on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10). Furthermore, comparisons between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations are presented after adjusting for their differing age structures.
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