Researchers and health service providers expect Australia's 2025 census to record an increase in reported mental health conditions compared with 2021, when approximately one in 11 Australians — ahead of arthritis and asthma — indicated they lived with a long-term mental health condition.
Australia's 2025 census expected to show rise in mental health conditions, experts say
Researchers and health service providers expect Australia's 2025 census to record an increase in reported mental health conditions compared with 2021, when approximately one in 11 Australians — ahead of arthritis and asthma — indicated they lived with a long-term mental health condition.
The census, conducted on Tuesday, was the second time the national survey asked Australians to disclose long-term health conditions, defined as those lasting more than six months. The data will give the Australian Bureau of Statistics a comparative dataset to track changes in population health since 2021.
In the 2021 census, mental health conditions were most prevalent in the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia, where about one in 10 people reported such a condition. Conditions counted include depression and anxiety.
Tim Slade, a biostatistician and professor at the University of Sydney's Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, said the census provides 'really important information at an Australian population level for the prevalence of these conditions, and obviously tracking whether things have changed over time.'
Professor Slade's research group published data in July showing more than one in three young Australians aged 16 to 24 reported mental health conditions by 2022. He also noted increases in mental health problems across the broader adult population.
The 2021 census took place during COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, though Professor Slade noted mental health problems had been rising before the pandemic. He said COVID 'has had an impact on the mental health of the population and particularly among some subgroups.'
The 2025 census was conducted amid different pressures, including housing affordability and cost-of-living concerns rather than lockdowns or social distancing measures.
Census data is used by government and non-government organisations to determine resource allocation. Beyond Blue's chief executive said their own data showed rising psychological distress linked to financial pressure over the past four years, along with increased demand for immediate support and indications that anxiety and depression symptoms may be becoming more severe.
Steph Schmidt, a psychologist and farmer based in South Australia's Mid North, said she did not expect mental health prevalence to have decreased in recent years in her area, describing it as 'an ongoing issue, whether you are rural, whether you are urban.' She noted that limited access to clinical services in regional areas could mean some people remain undiagnosed and therefore uncounted in census data, creating a potential gap in the figures for those communities.
- No Australian Bureau of Statistics or government official is quoted on the census methodology or plans for releasing the 2025 mental health data.
- The article does not specify when 2025 census results are expected to be published.
- No breakdown is provided of which specific mental health conditions were most commonly reported in the 2021 census beyond the general categories of depression and anxiety.
- The article does not detail what policy or funding decisions, if any, followed from the 2021 census mental health data.
- No data is provided on current regional versus urban differences in mental health service availability or spending.
Read the original at ABC News Australia