Diabetes Australia, Australian Unity and Deakin University join forces to build a more complete picture of life with diabetes. 

For the first time, the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index will be used to build the most complete picture yet of how diabetes affects Australian’s lives beyond clinical outcomes and health system costs, thanks to a partnership between Diabetes Australia, Deakin University, and the Australian Unity Support Foundation.  

The partnership will explore a growing recognition that the true impact of diabetes is not fully captured by hospital visits, treatment costs, or clinical measures alone. 

Current estimates place the financial cost of diabetes to the health system at $9 billion year, but this measure just captures clinical settings.  

International studies indicate that at least one quarter of the impact happens outside of the health system, meaning the real impact to Australians living with diabetes may be vastly under-represented.  

Diabetes impacts beyond clinical management to include mental wellbeing, financial security, personal relationships, community connection and people’s ability to shape their own lives. 

And, with more than two million Australians living with both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, the effects extend to many corners of life.   

Now, the nation’s leading wellbeing index will produce the most comprehensive snapshot yet of diabetes’ wider impact, aiming to shift the conversation towards recognising whole-of-life impact rather than solely relying on health system interactions.   

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index is a fixture on the national policy-making calendar, with this partnership bringing together the Australian Unity Support Foundation, Diabetes Australia, and Deakin University to deliver a landmark research project focused on the lived experience of diabetes.   

The partnership was formally launched at a forum in Melbourne today (Wednesday, 12 August), bringing together health leaders, researchers and people living with diabetes to examine what it means to live well with diabetes, where new research is needed and what health systems, services and policymakers can do to better support care and management outside of clinical settings.  

The launch comes ahead of next weeks’ International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress in Melbourne, where researchers from Deakin University, the Australian Unity Support Foundation and Diabetes Australia will introduce the initiative to an international health, research and lived-experience audience. 

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Australian Unity, said the partnership would help build a more complete understanding of whether Australia’s health and support systems were working for people living with diabetes.  

“Wellbeing isn’t a soft add-on to healthcare. It is one of the clearest ways we can understand whether care is improving people’s lives ,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.  

“For more than twenty-five years Australian Unity has studied what helps Australians live well. By applying that evidence to the lived experience of people with diabetes, we can build a clearer picture of what people need and help shape better policy, services and support.”  

Justine Cain, Group CEO, Diabetes Australia, said the partnership would give greater visibility to the unseen impact of living with diabetes.  

“Clinical measures such as glucose monitoring remain essential, but can’t tell us about the impact diabetes has on daily life,” Ms Cain said.  

“Diabetes care cannot be judged by clinical outcomes alone. If clinicians focus exclusively on HbA1c, weight or other clinical indicators without considering how people feel, function and live with their condition, they are not providing truly person-centred care. 

“People living with diabetes can make up to 180 extra decisions a day, and they tell us the impact extends to their mental health, relationships, finances, work and sense of independence. This partnership puts those lived experiences at the centre of the evidence to help us better understand the real cost, and where change is needed,” she said.  

Dr Kate Lycett of Deakin University said rigorous research would provide a pathway for lived experience to inform meaningful policy and practice.  

“Combining established wellbeing measures with the experiences of people living with diabetes will give us a much richer understanding of the condition’s impact,” Dr Lycett said.  

“Deakin’s role is to ensure the partnership is underpinned by rigorous, evidence-based research that can translate lived experience into meaningful improvements in policy, programs and services.”  

People living with diabetes will contribute throughout the development of the research, including through Diabetes Australia’s Blue Circle Collective, to ensure the questions asked and the insights generated reflect real-world experiences and priorities.  

The partners intend for the research to contribute to future policy submissions, service design, advocacy and program development, with further details about the research methodology and timing to be announced as the program progresses.