It's not the apple a day keeping some people away from the doctors' office.

For up to 60% of Australian adults reading a medication label, instructions on their referral, or filling in the forms in the waiting room can present a challenge to their literacy levels.

That avoidance of early care means a higher chance of ending up in the emergency department.

Vanessa Iles from the Reading and Writing Hotline says the pandemic highlighted the issue when many people found their usual support networked in locked down and unable to assist.

At Counterpoint community centre in Sydney Grant Nair says his staff are regularly helping clients who need support to complete medical referrals and submit medical histories and reports online.

There were many lessons learned from COVID-19, says Professor Kirsten McCaffery at Sydney University's Health Literacy Lab, but they need to be more widely implemented.