First Nations people

One simple question – Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?

'Indigenous status' is the term used when referring to the standard ‘Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin’ question in data collection.

Identifying the Indigenous status of people improves national health and welfare data, helps ‘Close the Gap’ in outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people and non-Indigenous people and helps First Nations people access specific health measures designed to overcome the health disparities between them and non-Indigenous people. Most of these measures are accessed through general practitioners.

The AIHW plays a leadership role in improving Indigenous status in data collections. It:

• develops national guidelines and other resources to promote best practice in collecting Indigenous status
• monitors and analyses the quality of Indigenous status data in key health and welfare data collections
• helps state and territory governments improve their collection of Indigenous status
• supports consumers and health care providers improve identification via the national helpline – the National Indigenous Data Improvement Support Centre (NIDISC).

Contact for advice and help

NIDISC (AIHW National Indigenous Data Improvement Support Centre) helpdesk:
Telephone: 1800 223 919
Email: [email protected]

Resources available from AIHW to improve Indigenous identification in health services

• National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets
• Towards better Indigenous health data
• Brochure [PDF 305kB] for staff
• Fact sheet [PDF 75kB] for patients
• Poster [PDF 765kB] for waiting area

The general practice sector

The general practice sector provides First Nations people with access to a number of specific health measures.

The 2013 AIHW report, Taking the next steps: identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status in general practice, looks at the collection of information on Indigenous status within the general practice sector.

Making changes to the software used in general practice has been identified as a key way to improve:

• standardisation of processes to ascertain and record Indigenous status
• uptake of GP-mediated First Nations-specific health measures, such as First Nations-specific health checks and follow-up services
• the recording of Indigenous status in datasets that rely on GP-generated data, such as cancer registries, cancer screening registries and mortality data.

In 2015, AIHW released a working paper General practice software model to support best practice in Indigenous health care [PDF 260kB] to raise awareness of these issues and help improve general practice software.

Points to note:

• GPs can help improve data on the health of First Nations people by recording Indigenous status on pathology request forms and death certificates
• GP practices can earn extra income from First Nations-specific Medicare items and practice incentives under the Indigenous Health Incentive
• First Nations people are eligible for targeted health measures through their GPs
• First nations-specific health measures that can be accessed via GPs include:
  • First Nations-specific health checks and follow-up services
  • pneumococcal and influenza immunisations for Indigenous adults and other immunisations for Indigenous children in some states and areas
  • listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • cheaper medicines through the PBS co-payment measure
  • support via the Integrated Team Care for those with complex chronic diseases.

Practices participating in the Practice Incentive Program Indigenous Health Incentive can also register eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for chronic disease management – see Indigenous Health Incentive guidelines on the Services Australia website.

Best practice guidelines for data linkage

Data linkage offers a cost-effective approach to enhancing the completeness and consistency of Indigenous status information in key data sets, for purposes of policy formulation, service delivery, program evaluation, statistical reporting and research.

To ensure that a consistent and informed program of data linkage work is carried out across Australia, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) tasked AIHW and the Australian Bureau of Statistics to develop national best practice guidelines for linking data relating to Indigenous people. COAG requested that the guidelines cover linkage methods and protocols, privacy protocols, quality standards and procedures. AIHW and ABS worked closely in developing the Guidelines, and also consulted widely, in order to offer guidance on how to derive Indigenous status when it is missing or inconsistently reported in a way that protects privacy and individuals' right to self-identification. The result was the publication in 2012 of National best practice guidelines for data linkage activities relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

These Guidelines were developed for use when preparing indicators and outcome measures at the aggregate level to improve monitoring and reporting. The Guidelines do not recommend that the Indigenous status of individuals be altered on source data sets. Indeed, they adopt the position that self‑reporting in response to the standard Indigenous status question is the most accurate means of ascertaining a client’s Indigenous status.