Caching Score: https://www.health.gov.au/
Summary
GradeA
586/642
Requested URL checks
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of TCP_MEM_HIT from a23-40-103-163.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/22.3.2.1-811eb0bc095268e0c68e3c1c2197f35a) (-).
Akamai has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache and X-Cache-Remote headers.
Maximum possible points
100
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a CDN is extremely useful for caching purposes.
Maximum possible points
50
What is this check, and why should you care
The time that it takes for a user's browser to receive the first byte of page content.
The lower the TTFB, the faster your site will be perceived by the end user.
To get maximum points, your TTFB must be less than or equal to 30ms. If your TTFB is more than 1 second then you get no points here.
Maximum possible points
50
What is this check, and why should you care
Using Last-Modified headers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of Sat, 06 Dec 2025 02:31:18 GMT was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
30
What is this check, and why should you care
Having tiered caching can help improve the cache hit ratio of your site because it provides an additional layer of caching in front of your origin.
Maximum possible points
25
What is this check, and why should you care
Caching HTTP 404s is a great way to offload requests from your origin.
To get maximum points, you need to have the ability to cache an HTTP 404 for any amount of time.
This check requested the URL https://www.health.gov.au/cachingscorebrokenurltest.
Maximum possible points
20
What is this check, and why should you care
The purpose of HTTP compression is to reduce the size of the files sent by a CDN/web server by eliminating redundant information in those files. The smaller the size of the files, the more quickly they can be served over the World Wide Web.
On top of faster delivery, compression also reduces the amount of bandwidth used by the CDN/web server. This is especially important for mobile devices, where the bandwidth is often limited.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of br.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Brotli compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
20
What is this check, and why should you care
Drupal 8+ provides an Internal Page Cache module recommended for small to medium-sized websites.
There is extremely limited value in using this module, even when you are using Akamai and having a relatively high cache lifetime of 1 week.
To get maximum points, you must have the module page_cache disabled.
See Drupal's documentation on the Internal Page Cache module. Also, Wim Leers wrote a really awesome blog post on the release of this module with important background.
Maximum possible points
20
What is this check, and why should you care
Akamai has very strict controls around cache tag lengths, counts and characters. If you exceed or break these controls then you risk your content not being invalidated when you issue a cache tag purge.
No issues were found.
See the Akamai technical documentation on how to interpret this header.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
CSS aggregation reduces the number of assets your site needs to download. The filename contains a hash of all the file contents, meaning you can cache these files for an extremely long time with no negative consequences.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Javascript aggregation reduces the number of assets your site needs to download. The filename contains a hash of all the file contents, meaning you can cache these files for an extremely long time with no negative consequences.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Drupal 9.5+ introduces a new debug setting to make it easier to debug render caching. This setting will add cache debugging output for each rendered element.
The main issue with this is that this slows down your page loads (on top increasing your page weight).
To get maximum points, you must disable the render cache debug.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Drupal 7+ provides a Statistics module to which records content view statistics in Drupal's database.
The main issue with this module is that it sends an un-cacheable HTTP POST request to your site to record a 'content view' statistic. This does not scale well as you Drupal site gets more traffic.
To get maximum points, you must disable the statistics module.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Drupal 8+ uses Twig for templating, and the Twig template engine offers a debug tool to which emits out a list of template filenames in the HTML source.
The main issue with this is that you often also have other Twig related performance issues as well, e.g. automatic reloading.
To get maximum points, you must disable Twig debug.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
FBCLID is one such parameter that can be stripped by your caching server. This query parameter only really serves a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
This check requested the URL https://www.health.gov.au/?fbclid=1765023958.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
GCLID and GCLSRC are two such parameters that can be stripped by your caching server. These query parameters only really serve a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
This check requested the URL https://www.health.gov.au/?gclsrc=1765023958&gclid=1765023958.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
TTCLID is one such parameter that can be stripped by your caching server. This query parameter only really serves a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read it from the browser URL.
This check requested the URL https://www.health.gov.au/?ttclid=1765023958.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
You can increase the cache hit rate of your site by stripping certain query parameters from the cache key.
UTM is a collection of parameters that can be stripped by your caching server. These query parameters only really serve a purpose for Javascript to read, and Javascript can still read them from the browser URL.
This check requested the URL https://www.health.gov.au/?utm_source=1765023958&utm_medium=1765023958&utm_campaign=1765023958&utm_id=1765023958.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
There is a SPAM protection module in Drupal called Honeypot.
The honeypot module has a feature that adds a time based hidden form field to forms to protect against bots filling them in too quickly. This is a nice feature, however it happens to disable caching for the entire page. This is terrible for high traffic sites.
It is recommended to disable this time based feature, and only use the core honeypot feature of a hidden input field.
Maximum possible points
5
What is this check, and why should you care
The language_cookie module breaks proxy caching because it makes Drupal’s response vary by a cookie, which most HTTP caches don’t handle efficiently.
The module also has a side effect of breaking Drupal’s page_cache system as well - see the issue #3512070.
To get maximum points, you must disable the language_cookie module.
Maximum possible points
5
What is this check, and why should you care
There are 2 filesystems in Drupal - public files and private files.
Private files force Drupal to bootstrap in order to serve the file, and access control is checked every single time. This is useful for sensitive files, but a hindrance when your site is under high load.
It is recommended to use Drupal's public file system for static, non-sensitive files, and reserve the use of private files for dynamic, or sensitive files.
Maximum possible points
5
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a long cache lifetime helps to ensure a high cache hit rate.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 604800 seconds (1 week).
Maximum possible points
100
What is this check, and why should you care
Using ETag identifiers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. This mechanism allows caches to be more efficient and saves bandwidth, as a Web server does not need to send a full response if the content has not changed. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of W/"1764988278" was sent, but an HTTP 304 was not responded with. So you have Etags, but they are not doing anything.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Etag support (requires login).
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
30
Image checks
Performed on the asset: https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/h_content_max_width_no_upscale/public/2025-11/female_residents_cup_of_tea_connection_5_1.jpg.webp?itok=cvn-deTS
See the HTTP headers for this image file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of TCP_MEM_HIT from a23-40-103-163.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/22.3.2.1-811eb0bc095268e0c68e3c1c2197f35a) (-).
Akamai has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache and X-Cache-Remote headers.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a long cache lifetime helps to ensure a high cache hit rate.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 2628001 seconds (1 month and 2 days).
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using ETag identifiers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. This mechanism allows caches to be more efficient and saves bandwidth, as a Web server does not need to send a full response if the content has not changed. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of "690558be-8484" was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Etag support (requires login).
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
Using Last-Modified headers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:47:58 GMT was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
CSS checks
Performed on the asset: https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/css/css_sHmoXJ6ZU02m9-m1hd5nyVjt-YfAk6orilnJdQF79Us.css?delta=0&language=en&theme=hga&include=eJxFiUEKxCAMAD8k5kklalaF1Ehiuvj7XQqll2GYaYS8GlSWhBxaxUcZt_g6kncupPAR1yx8GOXVZTy7dMtykW6QQf8fJipWxdkMivpEjm-JPqYn7taoBNu26ISERuHq9DW4GU8pzvQDoWI7ig
See the HTTP headers for this CSS file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of TCP_MEM_HIT from a23-40-103-163.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/22.3.2.1-811eb0bc095268e0c68e3c1c2197f35a) (-).
Akamai has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache and X-Cache-Remote headers.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a long cache lifetime helps to ensure a high cache hit rate.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 2628001 seconds (1 month and 2 days).
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using Last-Modified headers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:08:41 GMT was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
The purpose of HTTP compression is to reduce the size of the files sent by a CDN/web server by eliminating redundant information in those files. The smaller the size of the files, the more quickly they can be served over the World Wide Web.
On top of faster delivery, compression also reduces the amount of bandwidth used by the CDN/web server. This is especially important for mobile devices, where the bandwidth is often limited.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of br.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Brotli compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
2
What is this check, and why should you care
Using ETag identifiers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. This mechanism allows caches to be more efficient and saves bandwidth, as a Web server does not need to send a full response if the content has not changed. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of W/"6913d009-e6f" was sent, but an HTTP 304 was not responded with. So you have Etags, but they are not doing anything.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Etag support (requires login).
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
Javascript checks
Performed on the asset: https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/js/js_cIOhE1m78Djd182zI92PcMOUuP7ojYviFXHunxsnBVI.js?scope=footer&delta=0&language=en&theme=hga&include=eJxdjsEOwyAMQ3-ojE-aAgSIFhIE4dB9_XqhlXb0s2W7qBbGNwjwaRSnL3_gqAhs1UNKrpp1NzDjGDhuQ2LVceeiLrHVt8QWMCVMjmkaSdk8LxHkAPHjYJlGbZ3RcNsVueNT2vIA-X7wxQrpanFgNigsQ9eVz0zMOzqbqlU349AHmuq1dV0u4AtrAD6aJsp0bXgSsh_UeGYi
See the HTTP headers for this Javascript file.
What is this check, and why should you care
Having a cache hit ensures the fastest possible delivery of content to end users.
The response header X-Cache had a value of TCP_MEM_HIT from a23-40-103-163.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/22.3.2.1-811eb0bc095268e0c68e3c1c2197f35a) (-).
Akamai has documentation on how to interpret the X-Cache and X-Cache-Remote headers.
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using a long cache lifetime helps to ensure a high cache hit rate.
To get maximum points, your cache lifetime must be greater than or equal to 4 weeks. If your cache lifetime is less, then you will get some proportion of the score based on how close to 4 weeks you are.
The current cache lifetime is 2628001 seconds (1 month and 2 days).
Maximum possible points
10
What is this check, and why should you care
Using Last-Modified headers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-Modified-Since with a value of Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:35:21 GMT was sent, and an HTTP 304 was responded with.
Maximum possible points
3
What is this check, and why should you care
The purpose of HTTP compression is to reduce the size of the files sent by a CDN/web server by eliminating redundant information in those files. The smaller the size of the files, the more quickly they can be served over the World Wide Web.
On top of faster delivery, compression also reduces the amount of bandwidth used by the CDN/web server. This is especially important for mobile devices, where the bandwidth is often limited.
The response header Content-Encoding had a value of br.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Brotli compression.
See the Wikipedia page on HTTP compression for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to use Brotli or Zstandard compression.
Maximum possible points
2
What is this check, and why should you care
Using ETag identifiers is an easy way to ensure your visitors are always getting the most up-to-date version of the content. This mechanism allows caches to be more efficient and saves bandwidth, as a Web server does not need to send a full response if the content has not changed. HTTP 304 responses are used to indicate this is working.
An HTTP request with the request header If-None-Match with a value of W/"6913d649-37729" was sent, but an HTTP 304 was not responded with. So you have Etags, but they are not doing anything.
Akamai has documentation on how to enable Etag support (requires login).
See the Wikipedia page on ETag for more background.
To get maximum points, you need to have ETag identifiers and an HTTP 304 response must be received when using a valid If-None-Match request header.
Maximum possible points
3
HTTP Response headers
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Status Code | HTTP 200 |
| Cache-Control | max-age=604800, public |
| Connection | keep-alive |
| Content-Encoding | br |
| Content-Language | en |
| Content-Length | 11689 |
| Content-Type | text/html; charset=UTF-8 |
| Date | Sat, 06 Dec 2025 12:25:58 GMT |
| ETag | W/"1764988278" |
| Edge-Cache-Tag | 8gveh 158jv 2a4jm 4nn1s 3v4o0 2kquc ktlf8 15plg 38itt 2js4f 2au25 27tul 5eiqn 1j3gk 4pi1m mtd1k 2ag72 2fpll 47osg 2egbl 15nqb 01mpq 4klge 3pgsf 3o7sn 5rohj 63pue 4vrnb 1l40e 61pcr qgghg 342k9 g8cjv 3okn2 5d8m4 1dpve 2sqj2 7b9v0 618g6 5n6ej 23kec 5aks1 78keh 6glaq 2iiie 508of 4lr28 6h152 e6icg 46cj3 7gnfj 2h80i 6m754 1v2eq 3mttr 7blvv 1krvq 1jlkm 71ta0 301tr 41631 2mb8o 0g4mo 7u7cc 23qsv 65ll2 6qh18 7665j 2efmb 2vvuu 5p46l 5dngf 6gt7g 6l9rd 6st88 d4b2i 67kis 54nk6 5bv2j 6u36m 2i4br 1u4jk 3bjrm 4so50 6utih 75rr9 72s7j 44623 1d5o7 4ls68 2bavi 6bboa 206g2 1rto3 1vlsr 1hnad 4jvkj 4nfet 3m4dj 72e9p 3ma9t 4urgk 7j421 4tufq 2nr1s 7edjs 374tr 4iqoe o61hv 5nljh 25fs5 3umhb 64mfe 751d6 3jc2c 1c5tl 7pduk 62k3e 3h5bf 4l4kr 3gj27 4k01t of5em 6elr0 14too 5eckk 757d3 7reev 3sqan 1jo85 1di98 |
| Expires | Sun, 19 Nov 1978 05:00:00 GMT |
| Last-Modified | Sat, 06 Dec 2025 02:31:18 GMT |
| X-Cache | TCP_MEM_HIT from a23-40-103-163.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/22.3.2.1-811eb0bc095268e0c68e3c1c2197f35a) (-) |
| X-Cache-Key | S/L/28909/863803/1d/www.health.gov.au/ |
| X-Cache-Key-Extended-Internal-Use-Only | S/L/28909/863803/1d/www.health.gov.au/ vcd=6147 |
| X-Check-Cacheable | YES |
| X-Lagoon | amazeeio-govcms5>sigsci-ingress-nginx>health-master:nginx> |
If you want to do this yourself
You can use the following cURL command:
curl -sLIXGET -H 'Pragma: akamai-x-cache-on, akamai-x-cache-remote-on, akamai-x-check-cacheable, akamai-x-get-cache-key, akamai-x-get-cache-tags' -H 'Accept-Encoding: br, zstd, gzip, deflate' 'https://www.health.gov.au/' | sort