Biggest Ever Australian Health Survey
12 May 2010 at 1:24 pm
The health of Australians will be getting its most comprehensive check-up ever, with the announcement of the Australian Health Survey.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will conduct the survey under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, to build on its long running health survey program.
The survey is being planned in close consultation with the Department of Health and Ageing and the National Heart Foundation of Australia, who have provided supporting funding for new components of the collection.
Australian Statistician, Brian Pink says it will be the most comprehensive health survey ever undertaken by the ABS and will be an important benchmark to help determine future health strategies.
The survey will include new measures of what Australians are eating and how physically active they are. It will also collect other health information, such as whether people have been diagnosed with arthritis or heart disease.
In another first, the survey will also measure chronic disease risk factors such as cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
In support of the survey, the Heart Foundation’s CEO, Dr Lyn Roberts says information from this survey will help improve the understanding of cardiovascular disease, which is currently responsible for one-third of all deaths in Australia.
The survey will also ask people to consider a visit to a pathology centre so that information on health risks factors can be derived from blood and urine samples.
The ABS says this will give a more accurate picture of the number of Australians with health issues such as high cholesterol, diabetes risk or poor nutritional status.
Around 50,000 people across Australia will be asked to take part in the survey, which will start in April 2011.
As part of the Federal Budget’s $7.3 billion in new health spending is the introduction of individual electronic health records.
As far as I know, this country Australia is still a democratic country. We are not under a dictatorship as yet, unless of course I am dreaming. If I was one of the 50,0000 chosen for this survery, you would have “buckleys” of making me tell you what you want to know. As for a daily fine of $110 per day, I would like to know how you are going to instigate this and how would you get it out of a Pensioner. How dare you say it is going to be compulsory.
Hopefully the Chinese haven’t over-run us yet. If this story is not true, DELETE, if it is true PLEASE EXPLAIN???
Every ABS survey is compulsory and has been for over a hundred years since 1911 , This is why Australia has accurate statistics . If only the people who wanted to do it took part it would mean that the sample would not be as accurate . The ABS does not care if you give your name so with any of their surveys you can remain anonymous .
If we don’t have accurate statistics it is not possible to plan things like health ,transport,education allocate resources .
Most people don’t realise but Centrelink does not have anything to do with the unemployment rate it is the ABS that finds out .
In a free and open society we do have rights but we also have responsibility , if you research how stats are created you will understand that it only works if the sample randomly selected all takes part .
If you want our country to provide and plan for the future , make it easy and do your ABS survey . We all benefit if our data is accurate .