3302.0.55.004 - Information Paper: Death registrations to Census linkage project - Methodology and Quality Assessment, 2011-2012

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/09/2013 First Issue

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Contents >> Linkage results

LINKAGE RESULTS

At the completion of the linkage process, 142,697 out of the 153,455 death registrations in 2011-12 were linked to a 2011 Census record, comprising 1,884 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths, 140,037 non-Indigenous deaths and 776 deaths where Indigenous status was not stated. Overall, 10,758 death registrations remained unlinked, of which 461 were identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths (Tables 3.1 and 3.2).

Table 3.1 shows the number of records linked at each pass, and whether they were automatically assigned (above the upper cut-off) or confirmed through clerical review. Note that for all tables and analyses explored in this section, it is assumed that Indigenous status as reported in the Death Registration data is correct.

Table 3.1 - LINKAGE RESULTS, By Indigenous status and pass number

		Pass 1	Pass 2	Pass 3	Pass 4	Pass 5(a)	Total
ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
Automatically assigned links		1 161	360	13	0	0	1 534
Clerically reviewed record pairs		363	430	497	493	1 738	3 521
	Confirmed as true links	146	112	38	25	29	350
	Rejected as false links	217	318	459	468	1 709	3 171
Total links		1 307	472	51	25	29	1 884
NON-INDIGENOUS
Automatically assigned links		106 927	22 853	851	31	0	130 662
Clerically reviewed record pairs		11 580	5 588	6 161	996	0	24 325
	Confirmed as true links	4 127	2 659	2 335	254	0	9 375
	Rejected as false links	7 453	2 929	3 826	742	0	14 950
Total links		111 054	25 512	3 186	285	0	140 037
TOTAL(b)
Automatically assigned links		108 678	23 335	868	31	0	132 912
Clerically reviewed record pairs		12 022	6 058	6 714	1 500	1 738	28 032
	Confirmed as true links	4 307	2 784	2 384	281	29	9 785
	Rejected as false links	7 715	(c)3 113	(c)4 199	(c)786	1 709	17 522
Total links		112 985	26 119	3 252	312	29	142 697

(a) Only death registrations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were examined in Pass 5 of the linkage.
(b) Includes death registrations where the person’s Indigenous status was not stated.
(c) Contains only unique rejected pairs. As several records were reviewed more than once, numbers may not align exactly with totals.

Of all links, about 76% were automatically assigned in the first pass of the linkage. Almost 7% of all links were confirmed through clerical review. Although numerically much smaller, the proportion of linked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths confirmed through clerical review (19% or 350) was higher than that for linked non-Indigenous deaths (7% or 9,375). This is likely due to the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons have higher rates of missingness and inconsistency on key linking variables, and are more geographically mobile. For more information, refer to National best practice guidelines for data linkage activities relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2012, available on the National Statistical Service website (www.nss.gov.au).