Mental and Physical Health

According to the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey, around one-fifth of adults in Hume City (20.9%) are reported to have high or very high levels of psychological distress as measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). This is marginally higher than the 19.1% recorded for Victoria. Just over two-fifths of Hume City adults (42.9%) are reported to have low levels of psychological distress, significantly lower than Victoria at 49.7%. Around one in five adults in Hume City (20.9%) have sought professional help for a mental health problem in the last 12-month period, comparable to Victoria at 20.1%.

Proportion of people by level of psychological distress, 2023

Three out of four (74.1%) children aged up to 3.5 years enrolled in the Maternal and Child Health service in Hume City, participated in the service during 2022-23. This is slightly below the 77.9% average across all Victorian local government areas.

Childhood immunisation rates are fairly high in Hume City. As of September 2023, 95.8% of children in Hume City were fully immunised at five years of age, compared to 94.9% across Victoria.

In Hume City, around one in fourteen (6.9%) people require assistance with daily activities due to a long-term health condition, disability, or older age, compared to 5.5% in Greater Melbourne. This places Hume as the third highest in terms of need for daily assistance among metropolitan local government areas. Areas in Hume City with the highest rates of need for assistance include Coolaroo, Campbellfield, Meadow Heights and Dallas, where more than one in ten people require assistance.

In comparison to other Melbourne Metropolitan Council areas, Hume City has the highest proportion of residents aged 0-64 years and fourth highest proportion of residents aged 65 years or older who identified as requiring a need for assistance with core activities. Hume City contains six of the top fifteen suburbs in Greater Melbourne (with populations over 500), that have the highest proportions of residents aged 0-64 years requiring a need for assistance with core activities. These suburbs are Coolaroo, Meadow Heights, Dallas, Campbellfield, Roxburgh Park and Broadmeadows. For children under 15 years, 3.6% across Hume City require assistance with daily activities. Areas in Hume with the highest need for assistance among children under 15 years include Sunbury and Coolaroo.

For persons aged 15 years and over, around one in eight (12.8%) in Hume City provide unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, long-term illness or older age, similar to that for Greater Melbourne (12.6%).

Need for assistance by age

During 2022-23 approximately nine in ten people (91%) across Hume City had a Medicare-subsidised GP attendance. This is higher than compared to the 85% across the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network. Females had higher participation rates (95%) compared to males (88%).

Findings from the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey have found that, over the last 12 months, close to one in four persons (23.4%) in Hume City experienced a time when they, or a member of their household, did not go to see a General Practitioner (GP) when they needed to. This is higher than the 19.5% observed across Victoria. Close to half of people (48.1%) were not able to access a GP when they needed to because they could not get an appointment (higher than the 35.5% seen for Victoria). Less than one in five (17.2%) could not see a GP when needed mainly due to cost, lower when compared to Victoria at 22.9%. More than two in five persons in Hume City (42.6%) felt that they waited longer than was acceptable to get an appointment with a GP, significantly higher than 33.0% reported for Victoria.

Participation in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program amongst 50-74 year olds is lower in Hume City than compared to Greater Melbourne and Victoria. During 2020 and 2021 the bowel cancer screening participation rate in Hume City was 38.8%, compared to 43.9% for Victoria and 42.9% for Greater Melbourne. It was the sixth lowest rate across the state. Cervical screening participation during 2018 to 2020 amongst females aged 25-74 years was also lower in Hume (43.3%) than compared to Victoria (47.4%) and Greater Melbourne (48.1%). This trend is also similar for breast screening participation. During 2018 and 2019 the participation rate amongst females aged 50-74 years in Hume City was 49.3%, versus 53.9% for Victoria and 52.7% for Greater Melbourne.

Findings from the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey, show that less than one in three Hume City adults (31.8%) self-report their health as being excellent or very good. This is significantly lower than the two in five adults (39.8%) reported across Victoria. One in four Hume City adults (24.0%) report their health as fair or poor, compared to 20.9% across Victoria.

As reported through the 2021 ABS Census, more than a quarter of Hume’s residents (27.4%) report living with a long-term health condition, slightly lower than the Greater Melbourne average of 29.5%. The most prevalent conditions in Hume include asthma, mental health conditions (including depression or anxiety), arthritis, and diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes). Almost half of Hume’s 45+ year old residents report living with a long-term health condition (49.8%), higher compared to 46.9% for Greater Melbourne. The most prevalent conditions in this age group include arthritis, diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes), mental health conditions (including depression or anxiety), asthma and heart disease (including heart attack or angina), with Hume having a significantly higher proportion of 45+ year old residents reporting diabetes compared to Greater Melbourne.

Long-term health conditions, all persons

Long-term health conditions, persons aged 45+ years

According to the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey, just over three in five (61.3%) Hume City adults are considered overweight or obese (have a Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2,) significantly higher than Victoria at 54.4%. Just over one in three of Hume’s adults are considered to be overweight but not obese (Hume City 37.7% compared to Victoria 31.4%), while just under one quarter are considered to be obese (Hume City 23.6% compared to Victoria 23.0%).

Prevalence data from the National Diabetes Services Scheme shows that 6.86% of males and 6.19% of females in Hume City have diabetes, with both being the third highest rates across all Greater Melbourne local government areas. The prevalence rates of Type 1 diabetes are 0.42% for females and 0.44% for males. The prevalence rates of Type 2 diabetes are 5.30% for females and 6.38% for males.

Data for 2014-2018 from the Australian Cancer Database shows that Hume City has a higher rate of cancer per 100,000 population amongst males in comparison to Greater Melbourne and a slightly lower rate for females. The most prevalent cancers amongst males are prostate, colorectal and lung cancer, while for females the most prevalent cancers are breast, lung and colorectal cancer. In comparison to Greater Melbourne, Hume has higher rates per 100,000 population amongst males, particularly for lung, bladder, colorectal and stomach cancer. Amongst females, Hume has higher rates per 100,000 population in comparison to Greater Melbourne particularly for lung, uterine and thyroid cancer.

Cancer rates per 100,000 population (age-standardised rate) 2014-2018

As reported in the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey, just over one third (35.4%) of Hume City adults report their dental health as excellent or very good, compared to 38.4% acorss Victoria. More than one quarter (26.4%) of Hume City adults report their dental health as fair or poor, higher (although not statistically significant) in comparison to Victoria at 22.5%. Over one in five adults in Hume City (22.9%) report having gum disease compared to 20.3% for Victoria. Avoiding or delaying visiting a dental professional because of cost, is slightly more common amongst Hume City adults (35.5%) than for those across Victoria (32.3%).

Parent reporting through the School Entrant Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) as children begin primary school shows that Hume City consistently has lower rates of children entering their first year of primary school having visited a dentist in the previous 12 months.

Prep children reported to have been seen by a dentist in the past year

The top principal diagnoses for public hospital admissions for Hume City residents in 2020/21 were ‘digestive system diseases’, ‘injury, poisoning and other external causes’, and ‘circulatory system diseases’. Hume City had higher rates of admissions per 100,000 persons in comparison to Greater Melbourne for almost all principal diagnosis types. The top three ‘injury, poisoning and other external causes’ hospital admissions were due to: ‘injury or poisoning’, ‘falls’, and ‘injury due to a thrown or falling object’, with Hume having higher admission rates than Greater Melbourne.

In comparison to other metropolitan local government areas, Hume City’s public hospital admission rates per 100,000 persons ranked in the top two for the following conditions:

• endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases
• ischaemic heart disease
• digestive system diseases
• genitourinary system diseases
• respiratory system diseases
• diabetes
• ear and mastoid process diseases
• asthma

Public hospital admissions, top ten principal diagnoses, rate per 100,000 persons, 2020/21

Hume City has higher public hospital admission rates per 100,000 persons for potentially preventable conditions in comparison to Greater Melbourne across all age groups and has the highest ranking amongst metropolitan local government areas for the 0-14 year old age group.

The top three potentially preventable hospital admissions for chronic conditions for Hume City residents in 2020/21 were iron deficiency anaemia, diabetes complications, and congestive cardiac failure. Hume City had higher admission rates than Greater Melbourne across all chronic conditions, and was ranked in the top two amongst metropolitan local government areas for asthma, iron deficiency anaemia, and diabetes complications.

The top three potentially preventable hospital admissions for acute conditions for Hume City residents in 2020/21 were urinary tract infections, convulsions and epilepsy, and cellulitis. Hume City had higher admission rates than Greater Melbourne across all acute conditions, and was ranked third amongst metropolitan local government areas for dental conditions.

Public hospital admissions for potentially preventable conditions by age group, rate per 100,000 persons, 2020/21

Public hospital admissions for potentially preventable chronic conditions, rate per 100,000 persons, 2020/21

Public hospital admissions for potentially preventable acute conditions, rate per 100,000 persons, 2020/21