Health Checks and Preventive Care: What to Book and When

A health check is an appointment you make when nothing is wrong. That is exactly why it gets postponed. Preventive care is designed to find things early, before they have caused symptoms and while they are easier to treat, and it only works if the appointments happen on something resembling a schedule.

This guide covers what is worth checking, how often, and what each check is looking for. None of it requires a referral, and most of it can be grouped into a single appointment rather than spread across several.

What a health check covers

A general health check is a structured review, not a single test. Your GP goes through your personal and family history, your current medications, and lifestyle factors such as activity, sleep, alcohol and smoking. Measurements usually include blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, and often a blood test.

What gets included depends on your age, history and risk factors, so the appointment is not identical for everyone. Bring your family history with you if you can — knowing which conditions run in your family changes what your GP recommends and when.

Heart health and diabetes risk

High blood pressure produces no symptoms until it has done damage, which is why it is checked at almost every appointment. Cholesterol and blood lipids are checked by blood test, usually alongside blood glucose, and feed into an absolute cardiovascular risk assessment that treatment decisions are based on.

The Heart Health Check is a dedicated Medicare consultation for people aged 45 and over who are not already known to have cardiovascular disease — available from 30 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and from 35 for people living with diabetes. Type 2 diabetes testing is driven by risk factors rather than symptoms, with reassessment roughly every three years from age 40.

The national screening programs

Australia runs three national cancer screening programs. Each is free or heavily subsidised and built to detect disease before symptoms appear.

• Cervical screening: every 5 years for people with a cervix aged 25 to 74 who have ever been sexually active. A self-collection option is available.
• Breast screening: every 2 years for women aged 50 to 74, who are actively invited. Women aged 40 to 49 and 75 and over can attend but are not invited.
• Bowel screening: every 2 years for people aged 45 to 74. Kits are mailed automatically from 50; people aged 45 to 49 can request a first kit.

A rough guide by age

Your GP will adjust intervals based on your history, family history and risk factors. And remember: change is the signal between checks. A mole that has altered, a new lump, unexplained weight loss or a persistent change in bowel habit warrant an appointment now rather than at the next scheduled check.

• 20s to 30s: cervical screening from 25, blood pressure every 2 years, sexual health screening, mental health review.
• 40s: diabetes risk assessment from 40, Heart Health Check from 45, breast screening available from 40, bowel screening from 45.
• 50s to 60s: bowel screening kit every 2 years, breast screening invitations every 2 years, ongoing blood pressure and lipids.
• 70s and beyond: continued screening to program upper limits, medication review, bone health, falls and mobility assessment, hearing and vision review.