Foreword
The health of Queensland. Report of the Chief Health Officer Queensland is the ninth in the series from Queensland’s Chief Health Officer. It has three objectives:
- to provide a public assessment of the health status of the population
- to be a reference document for health practitioners in Queensland
- to inform strategic policy and planning within Queensland Health.
Suggested citation: Queensland Health. The health of Queenslanders. Report of the Chief Health Officer Queensland. Queensland Government. Brisbane 2023.
There is the potential for minor revisions of the data in this report. Please check for updates and amendments. Past reports can be accessed from the Queensland Government Publications portal.
Acknowledgements
Executive leadership: Dr John Gerrard, Chief Health Officer, Queensland; Mark West, Executive Director Prevention Strategy Branch, Strategic Policy and Reform Division; Ross Andrews, Senior Consultant Epidemiologist, Office of the Chief Health Officer; Rachel Hoffman, Director, Office of the Chief Health Officer; Susan Clemens, Manager Epidemiology, Strategic Policy and Reform Division.
Overall report development, data analysis, writing and editing: Susan Clemens, Taku Endo, Douglas Lincoln, Darren White, Jia-Li Feng, Bridie Thompson and Tim Roselli from the Strategic Policy and Reform Division.
Development, data analysis and writing of specific report sections: Ross Andrews, Sophie Phelan, Ximena Tolosa, Cassie Jansen, Candice Holland and Communicable Diseases Branch (COVID-19 feature, Japanese encephalitis virus feature, Communicable diseases section); Kerry-Ann O’Grady (Our Times and First Nations peoples health); Nick Ormiston-Smith and Cancer Screening Branch (Population screening); Bridget Appleyard and the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (Dental and oral health); Kerry-Ann O’Grady, Claire DeBats and the Immunisation Program, Communicable Diseases Branch (Immunisations section); John Piispanen, Andrea Casasola and Health Protection Branch (Environmental factors and food safety).
Content subject matter and/or data quality review was undertaken by the following areas: Statistical Services Branch, Communicable Diseases Branch, Cancer Alliance Queensland, Office of the Chief First Nations Health Officer, Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Branch, and the Prevention Strategy Branch.
Website design: The website was designed by the Digital Transformation Team, Strategic Policy and Reform Division.
It is acknowledged that other areas and individuals contributed to the delivery of this report. This includes administrative support and team members who changed roles (Jessica Sexton, Cushla Coffey) but contributed to this report while they were in specific areas.
Digital-first delivery
This is the first report of the series delivered as a digital-first product and is available from https://choreport.health.qld.gov.au.
Additional content enabled by digital delivery:
- More in-depth feature articles were added so that selected topics could be described in more detail.
- Data dashboards previously as separate webpages were integrated into the report and were expanded to include longer term trends.
- Designated sections for First Nations peoples’ health and regional health were created to improve access to results. Additional populations will be added over time.
- Health differences by remoteness and area-based measures of socioeconomic status were expanded in line with Queensland Health’s broader health equity principles.
The report continues to provide:
- 12-month snapshots—more frequently or real-time updates are out of scope.
- both statewide and sub-state results (Hospital and Health Services and Primary Health Networks).
Scope
This report presents the health status of Queenslanders. Analysis is therefore focused on Queensland residents and their health behaviours and outcomes.
This focus means that services provided to non-Queensland residents are excluded in most cases. Results may vary from those provided by other sources for this and other reasons.
Where Queensland results are not available, national results may be provided. The group/s included in analysis is explicitly stated.
Data sources
Data sources were reviewed to identify those best able to meet the objectives of a digital-first Chief Health Officer report. Data sources may have changed from previous reports. More information is provided on the data sources page.