Report reveals growing divide in colonoscopy access
22 Sep 2025
Report reveals growing divide in colonoscopy access
New data shows Australians are not always receiving colonoscopies at the right time, highlighting disparities in access and opportunities to improve patient care.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) says better communication between medical professionals and with patients could help ensure colonoscopies are performed within the appropriate clinical window. Analysis indicates that some patients may either be missing initial or repeat colonoscopies or having them too soon.
The Commission launched an updated Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard at the World Congress of Gastroenterology in Melbourne, providing guidance to make procedures safe and high quality. Key changes include addressing difficulties in accessing previous patient results—which can lead to unnecessary repeat procedures—and emphasising clearer communication at the referral stage and when sharing reports with patients and GPs.
Alongside the standard, the ACSQHC released the Atlas Focus Report: Colonoscopy, an interactive tool showing localised Medicare data on colonoscopy and repeat colonoscopy between 2013–14 and 2023–24. The data reveal disparities in access, particularly in rural, remote, and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
Australians undergo around one million colonoscopies each year, with repeat procedures depending on prior results and risk factors. While national rates of repeat colonoscopy before three years have decreased by 8% over the past decade, rates fell most in remote areas (down 26%) and in the most disadvantaged areas (down 17%). Overall colonoscopy rates in 2023–24 were four times higher in major cities than in remote areas and nearly double in more affluent areas compared with disadvantaged areas.
ACSQHC CEO Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan said it is essential all Australians receive colonoscopies at the right time. “The Atlas Focus Report highlights a widening gap in colonoscopy access. People living in cities and more affluent areas are having more colonoscopies than those in rural and disadvantaged areas,” she said.
GP and ACSQHC Medical Adviser Dr Phoebe Holdenson Kimura said the revised standard focuses on improving communication between GPs and colonoscopists, helping ensure patients receive timely and appropriate care. The update also strengthens guidelines around discharge, ensuring patients clearly understand their results, follow-up recommendations, and that this information is shared with their GP and uploaded to electronic records, including My Health Record.
