This study shows that there was a 22% needs-based shortfall of health workforce in the Northern Territory (NT) relative to the burden of disease and injury between 2014-2018. The current health workforce level did not meet the needs for health protection, health care and maintenance of the NT population health. This important public health service issue is a matter of urgency.

This report describes the morbidity and total BOD (burden of disease) for the Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations between 2014 and 2018 and updates three previous NT BOD studies (1994–1998, 1999–2003 and 2004–2013).

The current study presents the results of life expectancy, years of life lost (YLL), all-cause and cause specific mortality in the Northern Territory (NT) for the past twenty years from 1999 to 2018. It describes 219 causes of deaths from the NT burden of disease and injury (BOD) study by counting deaths, measuring YLL and life expectancy for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. Life expectancy, mortality and YLL are important indicators for health outcomes and health need assessments. Life expectancy at birth is widely accepted as a headline indicator of population health, which measures the number of years an average person is expected to live at birth based on current public health and mortality patterns. YLL is the fatal BOD measure for premature deaths using the age at death linked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard life expectancies. This study focused on the five-year period from 2014 to 2018 and compares the results with those from the three previous NT BOD studies, conducted since 1999. Underlying cause and nine additional causes of death were used to analyse deaths by disease groups, developed by WHO and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for BOD studies. This study compares life expectancy, mortality and fatal BOD between NT subpopulations and the total Australian population by key demographic and geographic variables including age, sex, Aboriginal status and NT health region. The results of this study will provide valuable information to inform health policy, service planning, long-term investment and economic development in the NT.

In the Northern Territory (NT), demographic and geographic conditions have a significant impact on the provision of health and community care services. The NT has only 1 % of the Australian population dispersed over an area almost 116th of the continent. Indigenous people represent 28% of the NT population and live mainly in small, widely dispersed rural/remote communities. These people have the worst health status of any group in Australia particularly in relation to the growing incidence of chronic diseases. As a result, the provision of health and community care services across urban, rural and remote areas of the NT is extremely diverse; reflecting the need to address Indigenous health within the wider context of service provision for the total NT population.

Health gain planning aims at maximising health and well-being gain through an appropriate mix of efficient and cost-effective health intervention. Oral health, that includes dental caries, plays an important role in general health and well-being gains. Dental caries represents a health problem, which impacts on the medical, functional, nutritional and psychological status of patients.