Indicators

HEAL Indicators

The HEAL Indicators Project aims to develop, as well as curate, numerous relevant Australian climate change and health indicators, making them freely and easily accessible on the HEAL Observatory, a national digital knowledge-action hub. These indicators are co-designed with key stakeholders for each HEAL Theme to ensure high relevancy in supporting adaptation and mitigation planning by policy makers as well as public health managers. All HEAL indicators fulfil the five pre-specified criteria:

 

    1. Importance – HEAL indicators are relevant.

      Meaning - HEAL indicators are impactful.

      Validity – HEAL indicators are scientifically sound.

      Possibility - HEAL indicators are reliable, possible and feasible.

      Implications - HEAL Indicators are actionable.

 

If you would like to submit a proposal for a new HEAL indicator, please contact the relevant HEAL Theme leads, fill out the Indicator Proposal Form and send it to [email protected]. Please also contact us with any questions around indicators or the process to implementation. You are also welcome to send us suggestions for any existing, HEAL-relevant indicators you would like to see referenced and linked here.

 

For guidance on how to fill out the Indicator Proposal Form, please consider this example: Desflurane Indicator Proposal

 

 


Health System Sustainability Indicators

Trends in greenhouse gas emissions from desflurane

This indicator tracks the amount of CO2e equivalent emissions released into the atmosphere due to desflurane use in Australian hospitals. Desflurane is one of three inhalation agents used for the induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia in Australia. It is a highly potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of more than 2,500 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years.

 

This HEAL indicator is a collaboration between researchers from the University of Canberra, The University of Melbourne and The University of Sydney (project lead: Dr Luise Kazda).

 

Related publication: coming soon.



Trends in greenhouse gas emissions from prescribed SABA and ICS/LABA respiratory inhalers

Coming soon

 


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Other Indicators

The MJA–Lancet countdown on health and climate change in Australia

Medical Journal of Australia and the Lancet

The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and has produced five annual national assessments. It examines five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. The MJA–Lancet Countdown tracks progress on an extensive suite of indicators across these five domains, accessing and presenting the latest data and analyses. Each year, an accompanying policy brief is also published by the team in collaboration with various stakeholder organisations.


MJA-Lancet Countdown Reports
Beggs et al
2023 MJA-Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: sustainability needed in Australia's health care sector
Globally, 2022 was the eighth warmest year on record, with a persistent La Niña event resulting in a cooler year than would otherwise have been the case. In Australia, the La Niña event contributed to 2022 being the ninth‐wettest year on record.
Beggs et al
The 2022 report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Australia unprepared and paying the price
As Australia continued its battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) at the start of 2022, it was inevitably and unforgivingly reminded of the ongoing and escalating climate crisis.
Beggs et al
The 2021 report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Australia increasingly out on a limb
Within the space of just over a year Australia has experienced its worst bushfires in living memory, extensive and unprecedented flooding in the east, and an unprecedented tropical cyclone in the south‐west of the country.
Zhang et al
The 2020 special report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: lessons learnt from Australia’s “Black Summer”
The effects of climate change are felt by populations around the world and across income groups, with the health of the Australian public uniquely at risk.1,2
Beggs et al
The 2019 report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: a turbulent year with mixed progress
The natural environments in which we live play a major role in our health and wellbeing and include the important roles of weather and climate.
Zhang et al
The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Australian policy inaction threatens lives
Climate is important to health and wellbeing, especially where climates are extreme and particularly variable, as in Australia.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change: Policy briefs for Australia
2022 Policy Brief for Australia in collaboration with the MJA, RACP, AMA, AIDA, ACN, AMSA, and PHAA.
2021 Policy Brief for Australia in collaboration with RACP, AMA, AIDA, ACN, AMSA, and PHAA.
2020 Policy Brief for Australia in collaboration with the RACP, AMA, AMSA, and MJA.
2019 Policy Brief for Australia in collaboration with the MJA-Lancet Countdown Australia, RACP, AMSA, and MJA.
2018 Briefing for Australian policy makers in collaboration with the MJA, RACP, and AMSA.
2017 Briefing for Australian policy makers in collaboration with the RACP and AMSA.

Australian health performance framework

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The AIHW’s Australian Health Performance Framework (AHPF) is a tool for reporting on the health of Australians, the performance of health care in Australia and the Australian health system. The indicators within the framework are grouped into determinants of health, health system and health status indicators. They can be disaggregated and analysed through selected population groups, providing a rich source of information at the National, State and Territory and local levels.

 

To find out more, visit AIHW – Australia’s Health Performance Framework


Environmental health indicators for selected environmental hazards in New South Wales

The University of Sydney and NSW Government

This project on Environmental Health (EH) indicators was commissioned to develop a system for tracking health impacts from environmental risk factors for communities in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to prioritise key areas of concern, and where possible to estimate the burden of diseases attributable to different exposures. EH indicators link exposures to biophysical, built, social and aesthetic environments to health effects.

 

To find out more, visit NSW Environmental Health Indicators


We acknowledge the HEAL (Healthy Environments And Lives) National Research Network, which receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council Special Initiative in Human Health and Environmental Change (Grant No. 2008937).
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