Australia's health paradox: longer lives but more years in poor health
Australians are living longer than ever, but spending more time in poor health, while mental illness among young people surges unchecked.
Australians are living longer than any previous generation—but the extra years come at a cost. A new snapshot from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that while life expectancy has climbed steadily since 2003, so too has the time Australians spend in poor health.
A man born in 2024 can expect to live 81.6 years on average, but only 71.7 of those in "full health". For women, the figures are 85.5 years of life expectancy and 73.8 years in full health. That means Australians can expect to live about 87% of their lives in good health—a striking gain in longevity that masks a slower-moving crisis in quality of life.
The data reveal a widening gap. Since 2003, years spent in poor health have risen by 1.2 years for men and 1.5 years for women. More than three in five Australians now carry at least one chronic condition—asthma, arthritis, depression—while almost two in five have two or more.
Living with illness, not without it
The distinction matters. Australia's health data measure what the World Health Organization calls "healthy life expectancy": the average number of years a person can expect to live in full health, after accounting for disease or injury. But this does not mean perfect health, free from all ailment.
Many Australians in their 40s and 50s manage high blood pressure, wear corrective lenses, take cholesterol medication, or live with arthritis and still describe themselves as healthy. The framework allows for illness and medication; it measures functional ability and wellbeing in the context of real life.
The challenge is that the extra years lived in less than full health often coincide with demographic shifts. Dementia has become Australia's leading cause of death, accounting for nearly one in ten deaths in 2024. Dementia deaths rose 39% over the past decade, while deaths from coronary heart disease—the previous top killer—fell 18%.
Cancer remains the biggest driver of disease burden, but mental conditions and substance use disorders rank second, ahead of dementia and injury.
Mental illness surges in youth
The most urgent trend in the report concerns young Australians. Mental illness among those aged 16–24 has spiked dramatically, rising from 26% in 2007 to 39% between 2020 and 2022. Since 75% of all mental illness manifests before age 25, this upward trajectory signals a systemic challenge ahead.
One in five Australians aged 16–85 reported experiencing a mental disorder in the previous 12 months, a rate that has held fairly stable overall. But the concentration of illness among the young is pronounced. Mental illness accounts for 15% of the total burden of disease and suicide in Australia, yet mental health receives only 7% of total health spending—a structural imbalance that experts say explains part of the crisis.
The strain on support systems is acute. Some 6.5% of Australians are reported as living with psychosocial disability—disability arising from mental illness—up from 4.6% in 2018. Despite this rising need, about half a million Australians with severe or moderate psychosocial support needs receive no help through the National Disability Insurance Scheme or other government-funded programs.
Self-inflicted injury remains the leading cause of disease burden among males aged 15–44, underscoring the urgency of mental health response among young men.
The COVID dip and recovery
Australia's health trajectory faltered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy dipped between 2019 and 2022, but has since recovered. The most recent data from 2024 show life expectancy at 81.6 years for men and 85.5 for women—back to trend.
What the recovery masks, however, is the persistence of chronic illness and the growing demand for mental health care among the young. Australians are indeed living longer, but the question of how to live well—and how to support those living with ongoing disease and mental distress—remains open.