This publication presents a summary of the state of health in Australia in 2024, with key findings on the health system, the health of Australians, and factors that can influence public health.

Key findings

• Australia’s life expectancy at birth is fourth highest among 38 OECD countries, after Japan, Korea and Switzerland. A boy and a girl born in 2020–2022 can expect to live on average 81.2 years and 85.3 years respectively – an increase of over 40% since the start of the 20th century.
• For the first time since the mid-1990s, however, life expectancy in Australia decreased in 2020–2022 – by 0.1 years for males and females from 2019–2021 to 2020–2022. This is likely due to the increase in deaths seen in 2022, of which close to half were due to COVID-19.
• In 2023, the leading causes of total burden among males were coronary heart disease, back pain and problems and suicide and self-inflicted injuries. Among females, the leading causes were dementia, followed by anxiety disorders and back pain and problems.
• Cancer is a major cause of illness in Australia. In 2023, on average over 450 cases were diagnosed each day.