• Indigenous, Standard 16/09/2014

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health-care services provide care, including but not limited to, for sickness and injury, as well as counselling, health education and screening.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health-care services episodes of care cluster describes the number of episodes of health-care provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health-care services that received funding from the Australian Government through the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH).

The three data elements are used together to provide a count of episodes of care by the Indigenous status and sex of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services clients.

Episodes of health care

Includes:

• health care provided through all sources of funding (e.g. OATSIH, State government etc.)
• transport only if it involves direct provision of health care/information by service staff
• outreach (e.g. episodes at outstation visits, park clinics, satellite clinics etc.)
• episodes of health care delivered over the phone
• episodes of care provided to visitors/transients.

Excludes:

• residential care
• administration contacts with clients (e.g. receptionist making appointments for clients)
• groups (e.g. antenatal classes, men's groups etc.)
• family/relationship counselling if people don't have their own file/record.

If figures are not available for the full year, an estimate can be made based on a representative part of the year.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare