Disadvantaged Australians face barriers to healthcare
More than one in 10 Australians living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage delayed or went without prescription medication when needed due to cost, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Robert Long, ABS head of health statistics, said: “Areas of most socio-economic disadvantage saw 11 per cent of people delaying or going without prescription medication when needed due to cost. This was nearly double the rate of people from areas of least disadvantage (6 per cent).
“More than a quarter, or 27 per cent, of Australians living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage also delayed or did not see a dental professional when needed due to cost,” Mr Long said.
“This was more than twice the rate of people from areas of least disadvantage, which was 11 per cent.
“Only 35 per cent of people living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage had private health insurance cover, compared to 79 per cent of those living in areas of least disadvantage.”
People living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage were also more likely to report waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a GP or medical specialist appointment than those living in areas of least disadvantage.
They were also less likely to have a telehealth consultation.
“On a more positive note, people living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage were more likely to receive coordination of their care than those living in areas of least disadvantage,” Mr Long said.
- 2016 Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage: A lower Index of Disadvantage quintile (e.g. the first quintile) indicates relatively greater disadvantage and a lack of advantage in general. A higher Index of Disadvantage (e.g. the fifth quintile) indicates a relative lack of disadvantage and greater advantage in general.
- Includes dentist, dental hygienist and dental specialists.
- Telehealth service refers to an appointment with a health professional over the phone, by video conferencing or through other communication technologies.
When compared to 2022-23, fewer people delayed seeing, or did not see, GPs (29 per cent compared to 30 per cent), dental professionals (28 per cent compared to 30 per cent), or medical specialists (21 per cent compared to 23 per cent) when needed in 2023-24.
More people could always see their preferred GP when needed than in 2022-23 (66 per cent compared to 64 per cent).
Reported waiting times to see a GP for urgent medical care remained similar between 2023-24 and 2022-23.
Media notes
- The scope of the Patient Experience Survey was restricted to people aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of private dwellings.
- For this publication, areas of greatest disadvantage and least disadvantage are the lowest and highest of 5 possible classifications as defined using a Socio-Economic Index for Area (SEIFA), called the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage. The five area classifications for this index are derived using Census variables related to disadvantage such as low income, low educational attainment, unemployment, jobs in relatively unskilled occupations and dwellings without motor vehicles. SEIFA indexes provide a more general measure of socio-economic status than that given by one measure such as income or unemployment. For further information about SEIFA, please see the Methodology.
- Quintiles divide a distribution into five equal groups. The lowest scoring 20 per cent are given a quintile number of one, the second-lowest 20 per cent are given a quintile number of two and so on, up to the highest 20 per cent of areas which are given a quintile number of 5.
- Dental professionals include dentists, dental hygienists and dental specialists.
- Telehealth service refers to an appointment with a health professional over the phone, by video conferencing or through other communication technologies.
- Watch our data literacy presentation on CPI, inflation and cost of living data as well as our ABS data crash course, designed especially for journalists to learn how to find, download and interpret our data.
- When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
- For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.