ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER DEATHS


DEATHS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER AUSTRALIANS

There were 2,811 deaths registered in Australia in 2013 where the deceased person was recorded as being an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both (see table 1.2). For detailed data, see data cube Table 16: Deaths, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 1991 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.

1.2 DEATHS, Indigenous status - 2013
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander		Non-Indigenous		Not stated		Total
	no.	%	no.	%	no.	%	no.
NSW	753	1.5	49 334	97.9	309	0.6	50 396
Vic.	123	0.3	35 774	99.6	19	0.1	35 916
Qld	765	2.7	26 631	95.4	505	1.8	27 901
SA	177	1.4	12 599	98.4	28	0.2	12 804
WA	457	3.4	12 804	95.5	153	1.1	13 414
Tas.	27	0.6	4 417	99.4	-	-	4 444
NT	489	44.6	606	55.2	np	np	1 097
ACT	18	1.1	1 675	98.5	7	0.4	1 700
Aust.(a)	2 811	1.9	143 844	97.4	1 023	0.7	147 678
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Includes Other Territories.

Deaths by Year of registration and Year of occurrence

The following table presents deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by year of registration and year of occurrence separately for those deaths registered up to and including 31 December 2013. While the interval between the occurrence and registration of deaths is often longer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians than among the non-Indigenous population, there is normally little difference between the number of deaths registered in a given year and the number of deaths that occurred in the same year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This is because for each year, the number of deaths that are not registered in the year that they occur are compensated by deaths that occurred in the previous years but were subsequently registered. The table below illustrates that if data are routinely reported on a year of occurrence basis, deaths data for the latest year will be underestimated.

1.3 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER DEATHS(a), States and territories(b)(c) - 1997 to 2013
	NSW	Vic.	Qld(d)	SA	WA(e)	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.(e)(f)
YEAR OF REGISTRATION
1997	88	93	531	132	351	5	458	4	1 662
1998	462	123	593	127	378	13	415	3	2 114
1999	435	130	529	116	350	11	399	6	1 976
2000	473	108	535	144	407	np	450	np	2 127
2001	481	93	565	125	345	np	429	np	2 072
2002	516	64	590	107	371	20	462	4	2 136
2003	485	82	569	137	338	23	435	9	2 079
2004	490	54	579	131	400	20	449	10	2 136
2005	507	71	519	142	406	28	454	11	2 141
2006	530	111	584	124	443	20	452	14	2 279
2007	601	95	594	138	449	24	461	6	2 368
2008	559	97	562	141	486	24	467	16	2 353
2009	591	106	632	160	416	30	431	10	2 377
2010	622	117	948	147	436	37	447	13	2 767
2011	726	128	629	141	454	30	437	12	2 558
2012	635	100	678	151	466	45	539	6	2 620
2013	753	123	765	177	457	27	489	18	2 811
YEAR OF OCCURRENCE(g)
1997	98	106	567	137	382	5	408	3	1 706
1998	465	108	596	129	389	13	414	3	2 117
1999	433	105	540	117	347	12	438	7	1 999
2000	480	115	619	140	384	np	428	np	2 177
2001	487	81	581	122	368	np	430	np	2 100
2002	508	64	614	108	384	22	470	5	2 177
2003	494	83	594	144	324	22	418	12	2 093
2004	481	55	632	134	391	19	437	7	2 158
2005	507	81	541	140	416	32	493	12	2 225
2006	529	117	590	123	460	16	453	12	2 301
2007	599	94	588	140	461	25	463	8	2 378
2008	559	96	553	144	473	23	489	14	2 352
2009	596	109	626	147	409	33	437	12	2 370
2010	640	132	630	149	424	35	428	12	2 451
2011	711	104	646	145	444	32	478	11	2 571
2012	664	112	673	158	449	43	496	7	2 602
2013	690	95	680	154	389	26	384	17	2 437
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) The death of a person who is recorded as being an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the Death Registration Form (DRF). From 2007, Indigenous status for deaths registered in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory is also derived from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). If the Indigenous status reported in DRF does not agree with that in MCCD an identification from either source that the deceased was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is given preference over non-Indigenous. For New South Wales and Queensland, Indigenous status of the deceased is derived from the DRF only.
(b) State or territory of usual residence.
(c) Due to differing levels of recording Indigenous status by the states and territories and over time, care should be taken in interpreting change in numbers of deaths. As a result, data for Australia should not be analysed as a time series.
(d) Queensland began to register Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths as such in 1996. Care should be taken when interpreting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths data for Queensland for 2010. See Technical Note: Queensland Retrospective Deaths Project, and paragraph 36 of the Explanatory Notes of Deaths, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 3302.0).
(e) The ABS has finalised investigations into the volatility of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander deaths in Western Australia in the years 2007 to 2009. As a result relevant details for Western Australia and, as a consequence Australia, were revised on both year of registration and year of occurrence basis in Deaths, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 3302.0).
(f) Includes Other Territories.
(g) Includes deaths registered up to and including 31 December 2013. The number of deaths presented on a year of occurrence basis are subject to change, as deaths that occurred prior to 31 December 2013 but have not yet been registered are registered in subsequent years. See paragraphs 25 and 26 of the Explanatory Notes for more information.

Median age

Median ages at death data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are only included in this release for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are excluded due to the small numbers of registered deaths recorded as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

In 2013, the median age at death of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians varied across the selected states and territories. For males New South Wales had the highest median age at death (58.5 years) and South Australia had the lowest (48.8 years). Similarly, for females New South Wales had the highest median age at death (66.2 years) and South Australia had the lowest (55.3 years). For detailed data, see data cube Table 17: Median age at death, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 1991 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.


Age-specific death rates

Age-specific death rates (ASDR) for 2009-2013 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian males and females, in nearly all age groups, were higher than the rates for non-Indigenous males and females. The exceptions were in the 65 years and over age group for New South Wales males and South Australia, both males and females.

For New South Wales and Queensland the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian ASDRs were more than twice the rates for non-Indigenous Australians in the 25-54 years age group. Of these two states, Queensland had the largest difference for both males and females aged 35-44 years, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian ASDRs were over three times higher than those recorded for non-Indigenous males and females.

For South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, ASDRs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in some age groups were five or more times higher than those for non-Indigenous Australians. For these states and the Northern Territory the largest differences in ASDRs occurred among males and females aged 35-44 years. For detailed data, see data cube Table 19: Age-specific death rates, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 2009-2013, from the Downloads tab.


Infant mortality rates

In 2011-2013, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory recorded a combined infant mortality rate (IMR) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that was around twice the rate for non-Indigenous Australians (6.1 and 3.4 per 1,000 live births respectively).

In the Northern Territory, IMRs for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population remained fairly constant for the periods 2006-2008 and 2011-2013 at about 13.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander IMRs in the Northern Territory were the highest of all states and territories across the 2006-2008 to 2011-2013 period. In the other states the rates fluctuated due to the small and variable number of registered infant deaths in these jurisdictions during the period. For detailed data, see data cube Table 18: Infant mortality rates, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 1991 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.