The Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring (ACAM) aims to assist in reducing the burden of asthma in Australia by developing, collating and interpreting data relevant to asthma prevention, management and health policy.

We are currently looking for a Project Officer at the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring. This is a full time, temporary appointment for one year.

For further information about this position please click here

Applications close Friday 5 February 2010.

This report was released on
Wednesday 14 October 2009

Asthma in Australian children: findings from Growing up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

Within the first three years of life, 16.9% of infants experience asthma or wheeze. Among non-asthmatic children aged 4 to 5 years, 4.1% will develop asthma by the 7th year of life.
These and other new insights into the incidence, natural progression and outcomes associated with childhood asthma are presented in this report, based on analysis of Growing up in Australia: the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

To view or download the report as a PDF please click here

This report was released
Tuesday 1 September 2009

Burden of disease due to asthma in Australia 2003

In 2003 asthma was the leading cause of burden of disease in Australian children, contributing 17.4% of total DALYs and the eleventh-leading contributor to the overall burden of disease in Australia, accounting for 2.4% of the total number of DALYs. Asthma also contributed a substantial proportion to the Indigenous health gap in the burden of non-communicable conditions. It is predicted that asthma will continue to rank as one of the major causes of disease burden in Australia for the next 2 decades, particularly among females.

To view the whole report as a PDF please click here

This report was released
Tuesday 21 July 2009

Refining national asthma indicators: Delphi survey and correlation analysis

Web-based report only

To view this publication as a PDF please click here

This report is the result of a systematic review undertaken by the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring (ACAM) to refine and simplify asthma monitoring in Australia. A Delphi survey and correlation analysis were used to review the currently recommended list of 24 national asthma indicators in order to identify a smaller set of core indicators which provide the most important and relevant information and which are more effective at signalling change for future asthma monitoring activities.

This report was released
on Monday 20 October 2008.

The HTML version became
available on Friday 6
February 2009.

Asthma in Australia 2008

**Now available in HTML format** - Click here to access

To view this publication as a PDF please click here

Asthma is an important health problem in Australia. This report brings together data from a wide range of sources to describe the current status of asthma in Australia. It includes information on the number of people who have asthma and who visit their GP, are hospitalised or die due to asthma. Time trends and profiles of people who receive various treatments for asthma are also presented, along with information on those who have written asthma action plans. In addition, comorbidities and quality of life among people with asthma are investigated. This report also includes a chapter that focuses on asthma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Other Asthma in Australia 2008 resources:

To view and/or download PowerPoint slides of all the figures from Asthma in Australia 2008 please click here

To view and/or download a list of key asthma messages arising from the report please click here

Statistical methods for monitoring asthma

To view this publication as a PDF please click here

This statistical procedure manual documents and shares the experience of the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring (ACAM) in analysing national asthma-specific population data. Since its formation in 2002, ACAM have undertaken extensive analyses of a wide range of administrative and population health data to monitor asthma in Australia. In this manual, the approaches developed by ACAM for interrogating large population datasets from the point of receipt until delivery of final analyses are documented. It is anticipated that the principles applied in relation to interrogating data for asthma monitoring purposes will also be applicable to other chronic disease areas.

For a full list of reports from ACAM, see our publications page