Celebrating Australia’s welfare 2019—and a year of achievements

(QESP Editor’s Note: The following is a reprint of a September 12, 2019  LinkedIn publication by Barry Sandison, CEO, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The original is available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/celebrating-australias-welfare-2019and-year-barry-sandison/?utm_source=TheJuice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter.  )

It’s always a pleasure to see another of the AIHW’s flagship reports released—and this morning’s launch of Australia’s welfare 2019 is one to be particularly proud of.

This year, we’ve taken steps to modernise the format and presentation of Australia’s welfare. Rather than the large, printed book of the past, we’ve moved the majority of the analysis online, so users can explore in a more flexible, intuitive way. We’ve also restructured the content to ensure we’re always putting people and their experiences at the centre of the data. You can learn more about this on our website.

For those who want an overview of the latest findings in one place, we have summarised the data in Australia’s welfare 2019: in brief.

An important part of adding value to our data is to look outwards, which is why I’m pleased to share a new product, Australia’s welfare 2019: data insights. This report brings together the insights of a range of subject experts, who can provide new, in-depth perspectives into the issues behind the data.

This collaboration, as well as the significant teamwork demonstrated by staff all around the Institute throughout the development of Australia’s welfare 2019, is something we are all very proud of. In many ways this is business as usual for the AIHW, but the launch of our flagship report each year is a good time to reflect on and acknowledge the strong collaborative approach our staff take in everything they do. One of our core strategic goals is to be ‘trusted strategic partners’, and the production of our flagship reports is a good example of that goal in action.

Indeed, the development of Australia’s welfare 2019 speaks to several of our strategic goals—our commitment to leadership in health and welfare data, and our focus on adding value to our analysis through meaningful comparisons, commentary, and by providing data in a variety of formats to meet the needs of different audiences.

Congratulations to the Flagships Reporting Unit and all staff involved in the analysis, production and release of today’s report. We look forward to doing it all again for Australia’s health 2020!