Australian women experience different health outcomes to males. They experience more of their total disease burden from living with disease rather than from dying prematurely. They are also more likely to experience sexual violence and intimate partner violence (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2025).
Leading health issues for women
Leading causes of disease burden for women include anxiety disorders, back pain and problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease. Women are also more likely to have multiple chronic conditions.
The leading risk factors contributing to the most total disease burden among females are tobacco, overweight (including obesity), dietary risk factors and high blood pressure (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2023).
Impact of social factors on women’s health
Social factors like inequality, discrimination and gender-based violence significantly impact women’s health and wellbeing.
Evidence indicates there is a link between societal attitudes that support inequality and the prevalence of gender-based violence (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2025).
Family violence and homelessness among women
Across Australia, family violence is a leading cause of homelessness in women. Housing insecurity and homelessness also play a critical role in preventing, women from achieving safety (Homelessness Australia 2024).
- 1,075 family violence incidents were recorded in Boroondara in 2023-24, equating to 604 per 100,000 population (less than half the Victorian rate of 1,418)
- 727 of these incidents were against female victim-survivors, highlighting the disproportionate impact of family violence on women.
Source: Crime Statistics Agency 2023-24.
Unpaid domestic work and caregiving
- 29.7% of women do 15+ hours of unpaid domestic work per week, compared with 11.5% of men. Conversely, 52.6% of men do less than 5 hours, compared with 36.5% of women.
- 28.5% of women in Boroondara provide unpaid care to children, compared with 24.2% of men.
- 80.6% of lone-parent households in Boroondara were led by women
- $448 per week is the gap between the estimated median equivalised household income for female led ($1,373) and male led ($925) lone parent households in Boroondara.
Source: 2021 Census.
Mental health and hospitalisation related to self-harm
Self-reported rates of diagnosed long-term mental health conditions in Boroondara vary by age and sex. At the 2021 Census, the highest prevalence among women was recorded in the 18 to 34 age group.
You can view the related graph in Figure 3 on our People with disability page.
Females in Boroondara are nearly twice as likely as males to be hospitalised due to self-harm, with an admission rate of 1.41 per 1,000 population. The Boroondara rate is slightly above the Eastern Metro Region rate for females (1.1) and similar to the Victorian rate (1.40).
Source: Women's Health Victoria 2021 data and Victorian Department of Health
Birth rates among young women
- 0.1% of female Boroondara residents aged 15-19 gave birth in 2020, well below the Eastern Metro Region rate (0.4%) and Victorian rate (1.0%).