The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF) was developed to monitor progress towards health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people. The HPF brings together information about health outcomes, broader determinants of health like housing and education, health protective and risk factors, and access to health services. This report presents key findings from the HPF for Aboriginal people in Western Australia.

The report finds mixed results, with some areas of improvement and other areas of concern for Aboriginal people living in Western Australia across the three tiers: health status and outcomes, determinants of health and health system performance.

Key findings

• The age-standardised rate of cardiovascular disease deaths for Aboriginal people decreased between 2016 and 2023.
• Over the period 2011 to 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal people aged 20 to 24 who had completed Year 12 or equivalent increased from 43% to 61%.
• The death rate for Aboriginal infants dropped from 6.7 per 1,000 live births in 2014–2018 to 5.6 per 1,000 live births in 2019–2023. 
• From 2016 to 2023, incidence rates of acute rheumatic fever among Aboriginal people increased.
• Aboriginal people died from injury and poisoning at 2.6 times the rate of non-Aboriginal people. 
• The age-standardised imprisonment rate for Aboriginal adults increased by 16% between 2016 and 2024.