New report finds ACT residents are the least likely to die early

The report, released this week by the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing (AIHW), found the ACT had the lowest premature-mortality rate out of any other state or territory.

Just 173 people for every 100,000 died before they turned 75, well below the national average of 235 people.

By contrast, the Northern Territory had the highest rate of premature deaths, more than double the ACT's figure with 388 people.

Coronary disease was found to be the biggest cause of premature deaths (10.1 per cent), followed by lung cancer (8.9 per cent) and suicide (4.6 per cent).

The finding was one of many contained in the AIHW's two-year report card into the state of health of Australians.

AIHW chief executive Barry Sandison said it was good news to see the rate of premature deaths continue to decline.

"Australia has much to be proud of in terms of health," he said.

"We're living longer than ever before, death rates continue to fall and most of us consider ourselves to be in good health."

The study comes as good news for ACT Health, which said the findings were a step in the right direction.

"The decline in premature mortality could be attributed to improvements in road-safety measures and in the prevention, detection and treatment of diseases such as cardiovascular disease," a spokeswoman said.

"However, as a community, we must not be complacent about any health gains we have made."

Among the other findings in the AIHW report, 85 per cent of Australians thought their health was "good or better" when asked to self-rate.

However, Mr Sandison said while most Australians were optimistic about the state of their health, the report paints a different picture.

"If Australia had a population of just 100 people ...19 of us would have a disability, 20 would've had a mental health disorder in the last 12 months and 50 would have at least one chronic disease," he said.

The report also found that many lifestyle choices were a major factor in developing chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Almost half (45 per cent) of Australians don't do enough physical activity every day, with 63 per cent either obese or overweight.

The number of people who smoke daily has declined however, from 15 per cent to 13, as well as those drinking alcohol at risky levels, down from 20 to 18 per cent.

Mr Sandison also highlighted that socioeconomic factors remained a key factor in access to healthcare.

"Compared to people living in the highest socioeconomic areas, people in the lowest socioeconomic areas generally live about three years less, are about 1.6 times as likely to have more than one chronic health condition and are three times as likely to smoke daily," he said.