Australia's health 2012 is the 13th biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health is the AIHW's report card on the health of Australians and the functioning of their health system.

Some of the highlights from the current report

• Among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Australia compares well on indicators such as daily smoking, life expectancy and all-cause mortality (page 37).

• Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the last century and continues to increase. A boy born in 2008-2010 can expect to live 79.5 years and a girl 84.0 years (page 120).

• Australia's level of smoking continues to fall and is among the lowest for OECD countries, with about 1 in 7 people (15%) aged 14 or older smoking daily in 2010 (page 221).

• Between 1989-90 and 2007-08, the age-standardised prevalence of diabetes more than doubled, increasing from 1.5% to 4.1% of the Australian population (page 298).

• Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is more common than is widely known, affecting 1 in 7 Australian adults to some degree. One in 10 deaths has CKD listed as a contributing factor (underlying or associated cause of death) (page 323).

• The number of workers in health occupations increased by 26% between 2005 and 2010 (606,900 to 766,800). This was higher than the 12% increase for all occupations (page 494). Growth over this period was highest for social workers (55%), psychologists (53%) and 'other health workers' (50%) (page 497).

• Health research expenditure comprises 14% of all research and development (R&D) expenditure in Australia, and this figure has been climbing over the past two decades (page 524).

See the full report at:
AIHW 2012. Australia's health 2012. Australia's health no. 13. Cat. no. AUS 156. Canberra: AIHW.