Health Statistics NSW is an interactive, web-based application that allows users to access data and tailor reports about the health of the New South Wales population for their own use. Health Statistics NSW provides information on:
- the health status and demography of the NSW community
- health inequalities and the determinants of health
- the burden of disease and current health challenges
- trends in health and comparisons between age groups and geographic locations.
The health of the people of NSW - Report of the Chief Health Officer has been produced since 1996 and has become a flagship publication of the NSW Ministry of Health. Until 2010, NSW health data was made accessible to NSW Health staff and the public through the Electronic Chief Health Officer’s Report (e-CHO) and a hard copy Summary Report.
In 2010/2011, a significant technical redesign has resulted in improved access to an expanded range of data reports through a dynamic, user-driven application. From 2011, the e-CHO will be replaced by Health Statistics NSW. A hard copy Summary Report of The health of the people of NSW - Report of the Chief Health Officer will be produced every two years.
Finding Health Statistics NSW
Both the interactive, web-based Health Statistics NSW and the latest hard copy Summary Report are available at http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au, via the following link:
Using Health Statistics NSW
Instructions on how to use the Health Statistics NSW web-based application can be found at: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/ContentText/Display/UsingthisReport.
Health Statistics NSW allows users to:
Find data easily
- Access more data than ever before:
- from a broad range of data sets, e.g. hospital and deaths data; health survey risk factor data; infectious disease notifications; cancer data; and ABS population data
- comprehensive trend data
- new data as it becomes available
- Get required data using simple navigation and search functions:
- A-Z, free text or menu navigation
- search by health topic or location (comprehensive data now available for Local Health Districts, Local Government Areas and Divisions of General Practice)
- drill down and explore different views of the data
Visualise and interpret data
- View data tables, graphs and maps on-line
- Access definitions, methods, disease codes, commentaries and associated information
Produce a variety of reports
- Download:
- customised reports in printable format
- standard reports on key health and demographic topics
- images for presentations (tables, graphs and maps)
- data in spreadsheets for further analysis
Using downloadable graphs, maps and data tables
Downloadable graphs, maps and data tables are provided to facilitate re-use of the information. Users are encouraged to utilise these downloadable files in other documents or presentations, provided that no changes to the data are made and that the source is acknowledged.
Commercial use or resale of these downloadable files or any other information contained in Health Statistics NSW is prohibited.
Citing Health Statistics NSW
The suggested citation for Health Statistics NSW is:
Centre for Epidemiology and Research. Health Statistics New South Wales. Sydney: NSW Ministry of Health. Available at: www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au. Accessed (insert date of access).
Updating Health Statistics NSW
Health Statistics NSW was first released in mid-2011. The data cover a range of health risk factors, diseases, locations and special populations, such as Aboriginal people. Regular updates will occur to add new indicators and to update data on existing indicators. Over time, updates will occur quarterly. A New and Updated section on the website alerts users to new information as it is posted.
Privacy issues and reporting of small numbers
NSW Health has obligations for patient privacy under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. These obligations will sometimes restrict the data that can be presented in Health Statistics NSW. In particular, results may not be included in tables and graphs if they include very small numbers of individuals, or are calculated from very small populations where there is an increased risk that an individual or small community could be identified from the data.
Several strategies are used to manage the reporting of small numbers in Health Statistics NSW. Tables and graphs may be re-formatted to aggregate groups, or results may be averaged over several years. In some cases, such as reports by Local Government Area, more sophisticated statistical smoothing algorithms are used to represent patterns from areas with very small populations. These methods provide an estimate of numbers and rates of diseases and health conditions in each LGA rather than the actual count.
There are also important statistical reasons for not reporting results based upon very small numbers. In many cases, the relative variability of any statistical estimates based upon these numbers can be so large that any statistical inferences are compromised.
NSW Health has strict policies regarding access to unit-level health data (NSW Health Privacy Manual). If you need more detailed data than that provided in Health Statistics NSW either go to the Health Outcomes Information Statistical Toolkit (HOIST – only available to NSW Health staff) or submit a special request for data as outlined in the description of the rights of the public to information at http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/gipaa/index.asp.
Further information about privacy issues and the reporting of small numbers in Health Statistics NSW can be found at: Health Statistics NSW: Privacy Issues and the Reporting of Small Numbers
Finding out more about using the Health Statistics NSW application and providing feedback on the application:
For more information on using Health Statistics NSW or to provide feedback on the application, please email: Health.StatisticsNSW@doh.health.nsw.gov.au
Comments are welcome, including:
- any issues encountered in using the application
- any functions that are difficult to use
- any other important indicators that should be included
- any other comments or queries.