National Health Survey

Latest release

Information on health behaviours, conditions prevalence, and risk factors in Australia

Reference period
2022

About the National Health Survey

The National Health Survey (NHS) 2022 is the most recent in a series of Australia-wide health surveys. It is designed to collect a wide range of information about the health of Australians, including:

  • Prevalence of health conditions
  • Prevalence of health risk factors (such as smoking and vaping, alcohol consumption, and physical activity)
  • Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Brief information about key statistics available from the NHS can be found on this page. To find more detailed information on a topic of interest, a link has also been provided to the individual page.

Health conditions

Health influences, and is influenced by, how we feel and how we interact with the world around us. Health is broader than just the presence or absence of disease, it reflects the complex interactions between a person’s genetic makeup, family environment, and social and economic conditions[1]. It is also affected by their perceptions, emotions, and behaviours[2].

The NHS collects data on a broad range of health conditions, with a focus on selected health conditions that are common, pose significant health problems, or have been a focus of ongoing public health surveillance.

Chronic conditions

Arthritis

Asthma

Cancer

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Diabetes

Heart, stroke and vascular disease

High cholesterol

Hypertension and high measured blood pressure

Kidney disease

Health risk factors

The NHS also collects information about a range of health risk factors that may increase the likelihood of developing a health condition[3].

Alcohol consumption

Breastfeeding

Dietary behaviour

Physical activity

Smoking and vaping

Waist circumference and BMI

Medications

The NHS is linked to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) administrative data to provide information about PBS medications dispensed to survey participants in the 6 months before and after their NHS interview. The NHS also collects information about self-reported use of selected over-the-counter pain relief medications.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications

States and territories

Information on a range of health conditions and health risk factors collected in the NHS are presented on this page for each state and territory in Australia.

State and territory findings

Data downloads

National Health Survey 2022

Data files

Footnotes

  1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘What is health?’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/what-is-health; accessed 15/11/2023.
  2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Australia’s health 2022: data insights’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2022-data-insights/about; accessed 15/11/2023.
  3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Risk factors’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/behaviours-risk-factors/risk-factors/overview; accessed 15/11/2023.

Post release changes

25/06/2024 – This release contains additional data and analysis on state and territory findings. It also contains a data revision to ‘Overweight/obese’, ‘overweight’, and ‘obese’ in table 6.

10/05/2024 - This release contains additional data and analysis on medications dispensed through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to survey participants in the 6 months before and after their NHS interview. It also contains information on self-reported use of over-the-counter medications.

Methodology

Scope

Includes:

  • all usual residents in Australia aged 0+ years living in private dwellings.
  • urban and rural areas in all states and territories, excluding very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.

Geography

The data available includes estimates for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories

Source

The National Health Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Medications data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Collection method

Face-to-face interview with an Australian Bureau of Statistics Interviewer.

Linkage to the Person Level Integrated Data Asset.  

Concepts, sources and methods

Health conditions are presented using a classification which is based on the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

History of changes

Full history of changes.

View full methodology
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