The overview that emerges shows that health status is steady or improving and few of its indicators show unfavourable trends. Mortality especially is reducing and the levels of certain illnesses and diseases have reduced. Determinants of health show a more mixed picture with smoking-related indicators having improved levels, but rates of overweight and obesity increasing.

Some of the improvement may have been driven by the preventive and treatment activities of the health system, but health improvements are due to the combined impact of many different influences in society, and it is not possible to estimate the contribution of the health system alone.

Australian levels of health compare favourably with those of other OECD countries in the majority of indicators for which OECD comparisons are available; however, improvements in rankings could be an aim in certain areas, particularly for the incidence of cancer and for the rates of obesity and overweight, which are significant determinants for many chronic diseases.

Inequalities between high and low socioeconomic groups and urban and rural populations can also be seen across all tiers. This probably reflects the impact that the broader determinants of health have on health outcomes.

Finally, despite the evidence of generally improving health, the picture is much less clear in relation to the 25 indicators in Tier 3 that aim at capturing the health system’s performance. The question remains whether this is a fair reflection of Australia’s health system or just a result of the short period used here to analyse trends and also of the nature, number and scope of the indicators used. The NHPC set was chosen to be manageable in size and comprehensive in scope, but this is a difficult combination to achieve.