STATE VARIATIONS IN FERTILITY

Total fertility rate

Indigenous TFRs vary between the states and territories. In 2008 Western Australia (with 3.2 babies per woman) recorded the highest TFR, followed by South Australia (2.9), Queensland (2.7), the Northern Territory and Victoria (both 2.4), and New South Wales (2.1). In 2008, Indigenous TFRs for all states and territories increased from the previous year, excluding Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Age-specific fertility rates




Indigenous women aged 20-24 years recorded the highest fertility rate of all age groups in all states and territories in 2008, with Western Australia (180 babies per 1,000 women) and Queensland (165 babies per 1,000 women) the highest.

Indigenous women aged 25-29 years recorded the second highest fertility rate in all states and territories other than Victoria, where Indigenous women aged 30-34 years recorded the second highest rate.


Indigenous teenage fertility rates

Of the 12,300 births registered to teenage women in Australia in 2008, 18% (2,200 births) were to Indigenous women. Of the 400 births registered to teenage women in the Northern Territory in 2008, 75% (300 births) were to Indigenous women.

The teenage fertility rate of Indigenous women living in Western Australia was 117 babies per 1,000 women, almost seven times the rate of all teenage women in Australia (17 babies per 1,000 women). South Australian Indigenous teenagers experienced the second highest teenage fertility rate of the states and territories (94 babies per 1,000 women), followed by Indigenous teenagers in the Northern Territory (91 babies per 1,000 women).

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