What are the most common health conditions in your suburb?
By Craig Butt, Aisha Dow and Henrietta Cook
Can the place you live impact the state of your health?
For the first time, the 2021 census asked Australians to disclose whether they had been diagnosed with 10 specific health conditions, including asthma, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and dementia.
The Age wanted to check just how healthy Victorians are. As part of the State of Our Health series, our data team used the census results to create a new tool that allows you to see how the health of residents in your suburb compares with the statewide average.
The data includes Victorian suburbs with more than 1000 people. You can enter the name of your suburb or town to see how your area compares. Our health team has unpacked the results to analyse why certain health conditions are more prevalent in some places than others.
What the figures show
Mental health has been at the forefront of Victorians’ minds during COVID lockdowns and beyond. Australians who completed the most recent census in 2021 were asked whether they had been told by a doctor or nurse that they had a long-term mental health condition, including depression and anxiety.
According to the census data, residents of Tarneit, on Melbourne’s western fringe, have the lowest rates of mental health conditions in Victoria.
Between 2 and 3 per cent of Tarneit residents have a mental health condition compared with a statewide average of 9 per cent.
However, experts say these figures might be pointing to a larger problem around Tarneit residents’ access to healthcare and trouble obtaining diagnoses, rather than health and happiness.
Marvin Magallanes, who has lived in Tarneit for almost 23 years, believes high rates of employment, and immigrants’ drive to create a better life for their children has boosted locals’ mental health.
Marvin Magallanes loves living in Tarneit.Credit: Chris Hopkins
According to the census, it is also a suburb with a high proportion of religious residents, and Magallanes believes this contributes to their mental wellbeing.
“It gives people a sense of community,” he says.
Melton, on Melbourne’s western fringe, has the city’s highest rate of diabetes, with 8.2 per cent of residents reporting that they have the disease, compared to a statewide average of 4.7 per cent.
The data does not distinguish between type 1 and 2 diabetes (the second being most common in Australia).
Some of Victoria’s most affluent, inner-city suburbs, such as Port Melbourne and South Yarra, have the lowest rates of diabetes. Towns and suburbs with higher rates of disadvantage, such as Norlane, Thomastown and Moe, have higher rates of diabetes.
“We need to be doing more in our town planning to prevent diabetes,” says Professor Elif Ekinci, director of the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations at the University of Melbourne.
Ekinci points to the importance of walking paths for incidental exercise and the fact that families struggling financially often reach for unhealthy, processed foods instead of more expensive, healthier options.
The story of social disadvantage is also noticeable in data about rates of asthma in the state. About 14 per cent of residents of Sebastopol and Redan, in the south of Ballarat, and about 13 per cent of locals in Wendouree and Miners Rest to the north, have the long-term lung condition. The state average is 8.35 per cent.
“We know much of the cause for chronic diseases … are linked to environmental, economic and social factors, and are very strongly influenced by social disadvantage,” says Asthma Australia chief executive Michele Goldman.
She points out that people relying on lower-quality rental housing may find it difficult or impossible to avoid things like gas stoves, which are estimated to cause 12 per cent of childhood asthma cases, or dampness, which was responsible for 8 per cent.
Poor outdoor air quality, the prevalence of smoking, as well as rodents’ faeces are also a common asthma trigger.
Health trends among senior Victorians
When it comes to older Victorians, the census health figures tell an interesting story.
Avondale Heights, in Melbourne’s north-west, has the highest rate of dementia in the state. The figures show 2.41 per cent of the community have the condition – three times the state average.
However, according to Dr Vincent Strangio, who grew up and practises in the area, the data also speaks to longer life expectancy among many of the area’s migrants.
The suburb has a median age of 45, seven years older than the Victorian average, and where almost a quarter of the residents have Italian ancestry.
But along with improved life expectancy, Strangio points to dementia risk factors such as an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and eating more white pasta and sweets. Avondale Heights also has a number of residential aged care facilities, home to many dementia patients.
Paynesville, in Gippsland, has the top rates of cancer in Victoria, and also leads the state for arthritis and heart disease. But these figures do not mean it’s an unhealthy place to live. Many senior Victorians have moved to this holiday destination, and it now has the oldest population of any place in the state. Its average age is 61 years, compared to the state average of 38.
Jenny Prowse, 60, moved to the picturesque town in Gippsland to enjoy the lakeside lifestyle. But in 2021 she found out she had rectal cancer. She has been cancer-free for a year now, but while undergoing treatment, had trouble accessing health services in her area. She travelled to Melbourne for lengthy and costly chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgeries.
There is also high demand for heart specialists in Paynesville.
Cardiologist Tim Barton from Melbourne Heart Care travels to a clinic in Warragul, about two hours’ drive from Paynesville, once a week to treat Gippsland patients.
“Most patients who come to see us are probably sicker, and maybe waited for longer before coming to see us, as opposed to our practices in the city,” he says.
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