Residents of inner regional, remote and very remote areas were pooled as the 'non-urban' group and reflect the reduced access to a range of oncology services experienced by those who live outside state capital cities, irrespective of the level of remoteness [ 12].
These responses were grouped into five categories indicating degree of remoteness: major city, inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote.
(Remoteness categories for Inner and Outer Regional were grouped together, as were the categories Remote and Very Remote).
The post-strata were formed according to sex (male or female), remoteness (major city, inner regional, outer regional or remote) and age (five year age groups from 45-85 years or ≥85 years).
These include all inner regional, outer regional, remote, and very remote locations as defined by the Australian Standard Geographical Classification – Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA).
To describe geographical disadvantage, we used the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA +), which measures access in terms of physical distance from services and is grouped into five categories: major cities, inner regional, outer regional, remote, and very remote [ 23].
The Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) classification system was used to define place of residence as either major city, inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote, and is based on road distance and population size of the nearest town [ 23].
The findings in relation to remoteness showed that inner and outer-regional areas of the country were less likely to experience alcohol-attributable harm than major cities and remote areas of Australia.
ASGC Remoteness categorizes areas as "major cities", "inner regional", "outer regional", "remote" and "very remote".
16 17 ABS Australian Standard Geographical Classification System ASGCC) for remoteness areas uses categories major cities, inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote.
