- 07 October 2025
- Michael McGrath
Life Expectancy improvements have been astounding!
As one of the last of the baby boomers, born in 1964, and now having been in business for 38 years (anniversary was 21st September), I was reflecting – an activity that seems to be increasing with age! My life expectancy in 1964 was 67.6. To prove the point when I was just 6 my grandfather on my Dad’s side, John McGrath, tragically died suddenly from a heart attack age 66, a few months after retiring!
Life expectancy has improved since then, quite dramatically. My life expectancy is currently 81.1 years, that’s an improvement of 13.5 years, up 20%! Mortality rates quite dramatically improved in the 1970’s and 80’s, due largely to significant progress in cardiac care, and they have steadily improved since then, only dropping off slightly in 2021-2023 due to the effects of Covid.
My wife’s mother, Mernda, passed in 1989, having just undergone a heart transplant, at just 44 years of age, under Dr Chang in Sydney. This procedure was still being perfected, and no doubt the drugs, developed later, would have coped much better with her body’s rejection of the new heart and she would have gone on, as so many have since, after a heart transplant.
Life can deal us some very unexpected and unwelcome blows at any point, as many of us know well: my later brother Paul tragically passed at just 44 years from brain cancer, so life expectancy stats are just that, a set of average statistics! Happily, his daughters Elly and Penny, who were just 9 and 14 at the time, got through the very difficult years following their Dads passing, largely thanks to their Mum, and are now thriving.
My own Father, also John McGrath, if I was American, I’d call him John McGrath Junior, thankfully I’m not, had a heart attack at the same age as his Dad, 66. Thankfully the medics got to him and with the aide of the massively improved cardiac care, he went on for another 23 years, passing late in 2023.
My own doctor just about had a heart attack himself, when I told him my history, given I’m 61 and have very high cholesterol! Back to my reflection, basically I’m very grateful for the medical care available here in Australia and think its one of the most civilising things we do as a country, make medical care, free at the point of delivery – thanks to all those who have gone before and have made this the societal norm that it is today, including Dr Chang who was tragically murdered in 1991, being voted Australian of the Century in 1999.
Below is the chart that maps the improvements to life expectancy over time. Life expectancy in 1890 was just 47.2 for a male and 51 for a woman – the progress has been truly astounding!
Good health and long life to you all.
Australian Government Institute of Health and Welfare Updated April 9th 2025.