Practice, Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity and the

Type 2 diabetes affects 7.1 % of the Australian adult population and this prevalence is increasing both as a result of the aging of the population and changing prevalence of risk factors, including being overweight.1,2 in 2005, diabetes was an underlying or associated cause of 8 % of deaths in Australia.1 Type 2 diabetes accounted for 1.6 % of total health expenditure in 2004–2005 ($824 million); much of it on hospital care.1 The high prevalence of type 2 diabetes is reflected in general practice where 2.5 % of encounters are for diabetes.3 General practitioners can provide comparable long term care for patients with diabetes to that provided by specialist services and the significance of their role is increasingly recognised within the health system.4 Early detection Type 2 diabetes may be asymptomatic for prolonged periods of time before diagnosis. Up to half of people with diabetes have not bee