The report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released on Thursday found there was a direct link between someone’s socioeconomic level, and their likelihood of developing three major chronic conditions: cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and diabetes.

It found where someone sat on the economic ladder affected their likelihood of dying from a chronic condition once it developed.

AIHW health group senior executive Lynelle Moon said the data highlighted that social factors played a crucial role in people’s personal health.

“We know that Australia is quite a healthy population ... but the benefits of that are not shared equally across the population,” Dr Moon said.

“The poorer parts of our populations have, on average, higher rates of these diseases, and mortality related to them.”

The greatest disparity between socioeconomic groups was in death rates from diabetes, with women in the lowest socioeconomic category 2.4 times as likely to die from diabetes as women in the highest category.

For men, the poorest were 2.2 times more likely to die from diabetes as the richest.

The report’s authors extrapolated that if everyone had the same chance of dying from these diseases as people in the highest socioeconomic group, in a one-year period there would be 8600 fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease, 6900 fewer deaths from diabetes, and 4,800 fewer deaths from chronic kidney disease.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Mark Henley said the data was not surprising but highlighted the need for action at all levels of government to lift people out of poverty.

“In Queensland we know there’s a number of people who don’t get scripts made because of the affordability issue after they’ve seen a doctor,” Mr Henley said

“One of the reasons we push so hard for governments to support programs like Newstart if people are unemployed, or the pension for seniors, is because people are too busy paying the rent or putting food on the table to look after their own health needs.”

Mr Henley said there was ample evidence that governments saved more money in dealing with chronic health conditions than they spent on social safety nets.

“At the end it will cost society and the government less if they invest well upfront to make sure people have access to adequate income,” he said.

Report author Michael de Looper said, while the data showed mortality rates were decreasing overall, the gap between rich and poor was increasing.

“If you're in a higher socioeconomic group, over the last decade the (mortality) rate has been declining faster than for the lower socioeconomic groups,” he said.

“And so you’re seeing a little bit of a widening in the gap between the groups.”

The report’s authors said it was difficult to determine “causality” related to chronic disease and socioeconomic level, meaning while some people may have developed chronic illnesses due to their circumstances, others may have developed a chronic illness which then caused them to fall down the socioeconomic ladder.

Mr Henley said this was a common phenomenon among disadvantaged groups, especially the homeless, and was another reason for a robust social safety net.

The latest census data from 2016 was used in the report, as well as national medical data and other sources.