Health for Every Heart
Health for Every Heart
Tracking Australia’s heart health
Goal 4: Manage heart disease effectively and prevent further events
People living with heart disease experience physical and psychological challenges and may also be living with other conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, mental health challenges, and cancer. Our vision for 2050 is that everyone should be able to manage their heart health effectively through comprehensive support strategies that take a whole-of-person approach to health and wellbeing.
Tracking Australia’s progress towards two of the 25-year targets set out in Health for Every Heart will help us understand whether the nation is heading in the right direction to achieve Goal 4, with improved long-term health outcomes for people living with heart disease and better survival outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
Find out more about what needs to be addressed to achieve Goal 4.
Goal 4: 2050 Targets
- Increase the survival rate for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests to 30%
- The prognosis and quality of life for people living with heart disease will be steadily improving
Goal 4 indicators
We will use 8 indicators to monitor Australia’s progress towards managing heart disease effectively and preventing further events for everyone in Australia (Goal 3).
The first data points for each indicator are summarised in the tables on this page, establishing the baseline and providing a snapshot of heart disease management and outcomes in Australia at the beginning of the 25-year vision.
Find out more about:
- what the baseline values can tell us about the starting point for the 25-year vision
- how these indicators help us monitor Australia’s progress towards Goal 4
- what to expect in the heart health tracker as we build more data points
Table 11. Indicators to monitor Australia’s progress towards the 2050 target: increasing survival for sudden cardiac arrests to 30%
Find out more about what the baseline values tell us
| Indicator | Indicator details | Baseline value | Baseline timepoint# | Data sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.a Survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests | Adults surviving to hospital discharge/30-days for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests – proportion of total | 10.4% | 2022 | AusROC Epistry Annual Report 2024 |
| 4.b Survival for bystander-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests | Adults surviving to hospital discharge/30-days for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that had a shockable rhythm and were witnessed by a bystander – proportion of total | 29.9% | 2022 | AusROC Epistry Annual Report 2024 |
| 4.c Defibrillator use in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests | Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests involving use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) – proportion of total | 1.9% | 2022 | AusROC Epistry Annual Report 2024 |
- #The timepoint refers to the reference period for the source data set and not the release date.
- “Adults” refers to people 18 years and over unless otherwise specified.
Table 12. Indicators to monitor Australia’s progress towards the 2050 target: improving prognosis and quality of life for people living with heart disease
Find out more about what the baseline values tell us
| Indicator | Indicator details | Baseline value | Baseline timepoint# | Data sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.d Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases | Mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases (deaths per 100,000 population) - persons | 111 | 2024 |
4.d — ABS. Causes of death. Table 1. Underlying causes of death (Australia), 2024
|
| Mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases (deaths per 100,000 population) - males | 133 | |||
| Mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases (deaths per 100,000 population) - females | 91 | |||
| 4.e Burden of cardiovascular disease - total | Total disease burden for cardiovascular diseases (DALYs per 1,000 population) - persons | 19.3 | 2024 |
4.e — AIHW. Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts. 2024. Supplementary data tables. “Impact” Table 3: Burden of disease (DALY) for cardiovascular disease, by age group, population group and sex.
|
| Total disease burden for cardiovascular diseases (DALYs per 1,000 population) - males | 25.5 | |||
| Total disease burden for cardiovascular diseases (DALYs per 1,000 population) - females | 13.6 | |||
| 4.f Hospitalisations due to cardiovascular diseases | Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases (per 100,000 population) - males | 2,604 | 2021-22 |
4.f — AIHW. Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts. 2024. Supplementary data tables. “All cardiovascular diseases” Table 4: Cardiovascular disease hospitalisations (principal diagnosis), by age and sex, 2021–22.
|
| Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases (per 100,000 population) - females | 1,810 | |||
| 4.g Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and comorbidities | Adults who are living with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes | 2.0% | 2011-12 |
4.g — AIHW. Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts. 2024. Supplementary data tables. “Comorbidity” Table 1: Prevalence of CVD, diabetes and CKD and their comorbidity, persons and 18 and over, by sex, 2011–12.
|
| Adults who are living with cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease | 3.5% | |||
| Adults who are living with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease | 0.8% | |||
| Adults who are living with cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease | 1.1% | |||
| 4.h Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases and comorbidities | Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes (adults per 100,000 population) | 696 | 2021-22 |
4.h — AIHW. Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts. 2024. Supplementary data tables. “Comorbidity” Table 3: Hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) with CVD, diabetes or CKD, persons aged 18 and over, by sex, 2021–22.
|
| Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease (adults per 100,000 population) | 202 | |||
| Hospitalisations for diabetes and chronic kidney disease (adults per 100,000 population) | 563 | |||
| Hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic kidney disease (adults per 100,000 population) | 430 |
Abbreviations
ABS – Australian Bureau of Statistics
AIHW – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
AusROC - The Australasian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium
Technical notes
Data availability and completeness
In some areas of heart health, data development will be needed to improve the indicators and the way we track some of the Health for Every Heart targets.
Data sources for Goal 4 indicators
Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Causes of death. Table 1. Underlying causes of death (Australia), 2024
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Heart, stroke and vascular diseases report 2024
- “All cardiovascular diseases” Table 3: Major causes of cardiovascular disease hospitalisations (principal diagnosis), by sex, 2021–22
- “All cardiovascular diseases” Table 4: Cardiovascular disease hospitalisations (principal diagnosis), by age and sex, 2021–22
- “Impact” Table 3: Burden of disease (DALY) for cardiovascular disease, by age group, population group and sex
- “Comorbidity” Table 1: Prevalence of CVD, diabetes and CKD and their comorbidity, persons and 18 and over, by sex, 2011–12
- “Comorbidity” Table 3: Hospitalisations (excluding dialysis) with CVD, diabetes or CKD, persons aged 18 and over, by sex, 2021–22
The Australasian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (AusROC)
References
- Bavishi A, Patel RB. Addressing Comorbidities in Heart Failure: Hypertension, Atrial Fibrillation, and Diabetes. Heart Fail Clin. Oct 2020;16(4):441-456.
- Department of Health. National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke. 2020.
- Cartledge S, Saxton D, Finn J, Bray JE. Australia’s awareness of cardiac arrest and rates of CPR training: results from the Heart Foundation’s HeartWatch survey. BMJ Open. Jan 6 2020;10(1):e033722.
- Kovoor JG, Marschner S, Amarasekera A, et al. Public attitudes towards automated external defibrillators: results of a survey in the Australian general population. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023;10:1178148.
Goal 3: Prevent, detect, and manage risk early
Australia’s starting point for heart health