Health Literacy in the Australian Context

Whilst the life expectancy for Australians is high, Australians also have the greatest number of years spent in ill-health when compared to other high-income countries. Much like the rest of the world, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have emerged as the leading causes of death and ill-health in Australia. The social determinants of health (including health literacy [HL]) play an important role in shaping the prevalence and distribution of NCDs and associated risk factors in Australia. HL can improve health outcomes, sustain healthy behaviours, reduce health inequity and increase the uptake of preventive health services. HL can also support educational attainment; however, less is known about how HL develops across the life course. In Australia, HL has recently been embedded in the national curriculum (through health and physical education) from inception to completion; however, evidence suggests that teachers, in both primary and secondary schools, need and want professional development that focuses on improving capacities to teach health and physical education to enhance students HL levels. Cross-sectoral efforts are important for strengthening the HL of Australian children, schools, health services and community organisations now and into the future, but examples of such efforts are limited. As such, important insights and practical recommendations for developing Australian children and their community’s health literacy are proposed.