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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework - Summary report

Access to hospital procedures

First Nations people are more likely to be hospitalised than non-Indigenous Australians, but are less likely to receive a medical or surgical procedure while in hospital.

Over the period July 2019 to June 2021, there were 444,091 First Nations hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) where a medical or surgical procedure was recorded in both private and public hospitals, accounting for two-thirds (66%) of all First Nations hospitalisations. After adjusting for differences in the age structure between the 2 populations, the proportion of hospitalisations that included a procedure for First Nations people was 0.8 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

For First Nations people, the proportion of hospitalisations where a procedure was recorded decreased as remoteness of usual residence increased, declining from 70% in Major cities to 56% in Very remote areas (Figure 6.9).

Between 2011–12 and 2020–21, the age-standardised proportion of hospitalisations where a procedure was recorded increased by 19% for First Nations people, with a smaller increase for non-Indigenous Australians (2.3%) (Figure 6.9).

Figure 6.9: Proportion of hospitalisations that included a procedure, for First Nations people by remoteness (crude proportion, July 2019 to June 2021), and by Indigenous status (age-standardised, 2011–12 to 2020–21)

The first chart is a column chart that shows the proportion of hospitalisations for First Nations people where a procedure was recorded decreased with remoteness, from 70% in both Major cities and Inner regional areas to 56% in Very remote areas. The second chart is a line chart that shows that the age-standardised proportion of hospitalisations for First Nations people with a procedure recorded increased in the decade to 2020-21.

Source: Measure 3.06, Table D3.06.1 and Table D3.06.11 – AIHW analysis of National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Over the period from July 2019 to June 2021, First Nations people were most likely to have a procedure recorded where the principal diagnosis was cancer and other neoplasms (93.5% of all hospitalisations for such a diagnosis) and diseases of the eye and adnexa (93.2%). Respiratory diseases and infectious and parasitic disorders were the least likely to include a procedure (51.7% and 44.3%, respectively).

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