Births, Australia methodology

Birth statistics published by the ABS are sourced from birth registration systems administered by state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM), based on data provided on a registration form completed by the parent(s) of the child. Core data items are collected in all states and territories and statistics at the national level are derived from these. Some states collect additional information.

Hospitals and birth clinics notify state and territory registries of recent births on a regular basis. For births where a notification has been received by a registry but has not been registered within the prescribed time period, parents are contacted by reminder letters and/or phone calls.

In this publication, 'mother' refers to the birth parent and 'father' refers to the second parent (where a second parent's details have been provided in the birth registration).

Registration of births is compulsory in Australia under relevant state/territory legislation.

Birth records are provided electronically to the ABS by each state/territory RBDM on a monthly basis for compilation into aggregate statistics on a quarterly and annual basis.

The ABS Birth Registrations collection includes all live-born births that occurred and were registered in Australia, including births to mothers whose place of usual residence was overseas.

Birth statistics are one of the components in the production of estimates of natural increase (the difference between numbers of births and deaths) used as a component of population change in the calculation of population estimates of Australia and the states and territories. 

Quarterly estimates of births on a preliminary basis are published five to six months after the reference period in National, state and territory population and revised up to 21 months after the end of the financial year. Annual estimates on a year of registration basis are generally published within 12 months of the reference year in Births, Australia.

The scope for each reference period (publication year) of the Birth Registrations collection (Births, Australia) includes births registered in the:

• reference (registration) year and received by the ABS in the reference period
• reference (registration) year and received by the ABS in the first quarter of the following year
• years prior to the current reference period but not previously received by the ABS, provided that these records have not been included in any statistics from earlier periods.

Birth records received by the ABS during the March quarter of 2025, which were registered in 2025, were assigned to the 2024 reference year and considered as being "registered" in the reference period of this publication.

Any registrations relating to 2024 which were received by the ABS after April 2025 are assigned to the 2025 reference year and will be reported in the next issue of this publication.

The scope of the statistics include:

• all live-born births registered in Australia that have not been previously registered
• births that occurred within Australian Territorial waters
• births to temporary visitors to Australia
• births that occurred in Australian Antarctic Territories and other external territories
• births that occurred on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2016. This is due to the introduction of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. Births occurring on Norfolk Island are registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, which sits in the Norfolk Island Regional Council. On a usual residence basis, when data are presented at the state/territory level, Norfolk Island births are included in statistics for 'Other Territories' as well as totals for all of Australia. These births are not output separately by state of registration, but are included in the totals for Australia. Births occurring on Norfolk Island prior to 1 July 2016 were not in scope for birth statistics
• births that occurred in transit (for example on ships or planes) if registered in the Australian state or territory of 'next port of call'
• births to Australian nationals employed overseas at Australian legations and consular offices (for example children born overseas to Australian diplomats or their families)
• births that occurred in earlier years that had not been previously registered (late registrations).

The scope of the statistics excludes:

• stillbirths/fetal deaths (these are accounted for in perinatal death statistics published in Causes of Death, Australia, and previously, Perinatal Deaths, Australia)
• adoptions, legitimations, transfers of parentage (from a surrogate and her partner to the intended parents), corrections and any other updates to information for a birth, such as changes to name, sex or gender
• births to foreign diplomatic staff in Australia.

Ideally, for compiling annual time series, the number of births should be recorded as all those occurring within a given reference period such as a calendar year. Due to lags in registration of births and the provision of that information to the ABS from state and territory RBDMs, data in this release are presented on a year of registration basis, unless otherwise stated.

There are three dates attributable to each birth registration:

1. the date of occurrence (of the birth)
2. the date of registration or inclusion on the state/territory register
3. the month and year in which the registered birth is provided to the ABS.

Data in this release are presented according to date of registration, unless otherwise stated. The registration date differs between states and territories, and should be taken into account when analysing birth statistics. For births registered in:

• New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, the birth registration date is the date at which the record is entered into the registration processing system.
• Victoria, the birth registration date is the date at which the record is completed in the system.
• Queensland, the registration date is the date at which all mandatory data items required for a registration to be considered complete have been entered into the system at which point the registration number and registration date are automatically assigned.
• South Australia, the birth registration date is assigned on the date on which the birth notification and the birth registration are verified to match by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).  However, the birth record is not provided to the ABS until the record is assessed to be complete.
• Tasmania, a legacy reporting issue meant that births were assigned to the 2022 reference year based on the date they were first entered into the registry system (the insertion date). From the 2023 reference year, births are assigned based on the date on which the registration is finalised in the registry system (the registration date). For further details on the impact of this change on the 2022 reference year, see 'Processing the data', Tasmania section below.
• In the Northern Territory, the registration date is the date at which the record is verified by the Registry, shortly after the record is entered in to the registration system. For birth records not received by the Registry within 60 days of the birth, the Registry will register the child's given name as 'not stated' and the surname as that of the mother, based on information provided on the birth notification.
• Births registered on Norfolk Island are assigned a registration date based on when the birth registration was completed at the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

A small number of twin and higher order births from the same confinement are registered in different reference years. The twin/partner of some multiple births may also be a stillbirth. Stillbirths are not in scope of the births collection. For these reasons, the number of twin and higher order births registered in a reference year may not reflect the number of such confinements registered in that year. 

As a result of an amendment made in 1992 to section 17(a) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901-1973 (Commonwealth), the Indian Ocean territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands have been included as part of geographic Australia since 1993. Norfolk Island has also been included as part of geographic Australia from 1 July 2016, following the introduction of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. These regions are included in the state and territory classification of usual residence as 'Other Territories.' 

On a usual residence basis, when data are presented at the state and territory level, Norfolk Island births are included in statistics for 'Other Territories' as well as totals for all of Australia. These births are not output separately by state of registration, but are included in the totals for Australia. Births occurring on Norfolk Island prior to 1 July 2016 were not in scope for birth statistics.

Prior to 1993, births to mothers usually resident in Christmas Island or Cocos (Keeling) Islands were included with Offshore areas and Migratory in Western Australia, while births to mothers usually resident in Jervis Bay Territory were included with the Australian Capital Territory. 

Of the 292,318 births registered in 2024, 84.9% (248,159) occurred in 2024, while 11.3% occurred in 2023 (33,155) and the remainder occurred in 2022 or earlier years.

The following table shows birth registrations for state or territory of registration by state or territory of usual residence. 

Births that occurred on Norfolk Island are registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, which sits within the Norfolk Island Regional Council.

In 2024, there were 255 births registered in Australia to women who usually lived overseas. These have been coded to 'Special purpose codes' and appear in totals as usual residents of the state or territory in which the birth was registered.

During the second half of 2024, there was an increase in birth registration processing times in New South Wales compared to a ‘typical’ year. The New South Wales Registrar has indicated that this led to higher proportion of births that occurred in 2024 being registered in 2025 than would usually be observed. This should be considered when comparing year-on-year birth registration counts in New South Wales. Births registered in 2025 will be included in the Births, Australia 2025 publication.

In 2016 and 2017, there were lower than expected registration counts for New South Wales. The ABS worked with the NSW Registry to investigate these counts, noting that changes to identity requirements in 2016 had prevented some registrations from being finalised. The NSW Registry worked with parents to finalise these registrations, enabling many to be included in 2018 counts.

Other initiatives also contributed to the higher count of births in New South Wales in 2018, including the implementation of an online birth registration system and a campaign aimed at increasing registrations among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents. For more information, see New South Wales under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As a result, registrations for 2018 increased by 11,043 births (11.7%).

Registrations for 2019 decreased by 8,554 births (-8.1%) and thus returned to be more in line with recent levels. Care should be taken when interpreting changes in birth counts and fertility rates for New South Wales and Australia in recent years.

In recent years, Victoria has registered a higher proportion of births that occurred in the year prior to registration. This trend continued in 2024, with around one in four births occurring in a year prior to registration (22.9%).

In 2024, the Victorian Registry registered births that were impacted by 2023 processing delays. This resulted in Victoria recording an increase of 9,422 (12.9%) births registered in 2024 compared to 2023. . This was greater than the national increase of 5,320 registered births (1.9%). The process improvements made mean that a large proportion of the 12.9% increase in birth registrations is due to administrative factors rather than changes to actual birth occurrences in Victoria.  Caution should be exercised when comparing year-on-year birth registration counts in Victoria and national totals.  For data based on occurrence for births registered to the 31 March, 2025 see Data Explorer datasets 'Births, year and month of occurrence by state or territory of usual residence, 1975 onwards' and 'Births, by year and month of occurrence, by age of the mother,  by state or territory of usual residence, 2001 onwards ' in this publication.

Additional data on births is published by the ABS in 'National, state and territory population' (NSTP). Figures reported with a reference period up to the March quarter of 2025 showed a 3.4% increase in Victorian births between 2023 and 2024 calendar years on a state of usual residence basis. This is expected to be closer to the true change in births, and is likely to be revised down over time, as data based on registration date are replaced with adjusted occurrence data. See the 'Births and deaths' methodology of the NSTP publication for the revision status of births for each quarter. It is recommended that users also refer to births data published in NSTP for movements in births based on adjusted occurrence data.

The Victorian Registry publish information on the number of births registered each month on the 'Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria' website. 

The Queensland Registry, in partnership with other organisations, has undertaken considerable engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to promote birth registration in recent years. Most recently, this has included the 'Closing the Registration Gap' initiative, which is a cross-agency strategy to lift the registration rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births. Strategies such as this have likely contributed to observed increases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations since 2017. For more information, see Queensland under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Since 2022, Western Australia has registered a higher proportion of births that occurred in the year prior to registration, as indicated in the table below. In 2024, Western Australia recorded a decrease of 1,511 (4.7%) registered births compared to 2023. The higher number of registered births in Western Australia in 2023 was in part due to the clearing of a registration backlog that had accumulated early in 2023 for births that occurred in 2022. 

The Western Australian Registry has indicated to the ABS that a similar backlog was cleared in early 2025, for births that occurred in 2024. This has affected the 2024 birth registration count. This should be considered when comparing year-on-year birth registration counts in Western Australia. Births registered in 2025 will be included in the Births, Australia 2025 publication.

Data for Tasmania in 2023 show an increase of 69 births, or 1.3%, compared to 2022. This was in part due to a change in scope for the processing of birth registrations from January 2023, which affected births registered in 2022.  

Births data for Tasmania in 2022 had a decrease of 529 births (-8.8%), compared to 2021. This decrease is largely explained by a procedural change in births processing which affected 2022 data. 

Birth registrations are assigned to a reference year based on their date of registration. Up to the 2022 reference year, a legacy reporting issue meant that Tasmanian births were assigned to a reference year based on the date they were first entered into the registry system (the insertion date), rather than the date on which the registration was finalised (the registration date). 

From the 2023 reference year, the registration date has been used, aligning reporting for all jurisdictions. As the registration date is generally a few days after the insertion date, 336 births that would previously have been recorded in Tasmania in the 2022 reference year now appear in 2023. This change accounted for nearly two-thirds (63.5%) of the decrease in Tasmania's births in 2022. 

This scope change had a similar impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous births. For more information, see Tasmania under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

All Tasmanian births continue to be registered and reported to the ABS.

In 2018, the Northern Territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages identified a processing issue that led to delays in some registrations for births that occurred in previous years being sent to the ABS. This resulted in 355 additional births being included in 2018 data, the majority of which (339) were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Following this increase, registrations for 2019 decreased by 438 births (-10.8%). Care should be taken when interpreting changes in birth counts and fertility rates for the Northern Territory in recent years.

From 2016 to 2020 births on Norfolk Island were recorded in the New South Wales registry. From 2021 to 2022 births on Norfolk Island were recorded in the Queensland registry. 

From 2023 onwards, Norfolk Island birth registrations are recorded in Norfolk Island. Place of usual residence is coded to Other Territories for the purpose of births reporting. This change was back-cast to all registrations received from Norfolk Island since 1 July 2016.

Births registered on Norfolk Island are included in totals for Australia. 

Estimated resident populations (ERP) by place of usual residence are used as denominators to calculate fertility rates.

All ERP are based on the results of the 2021 Census:

• State, Territory and Australia level ERP for 2024 (preliminary status), National, state and territory population, June Quarter, 2024  issued on 12 December 2024
• Sub-state ERP for 2024 (preliminary status), Regional population by age and sex, 2024
• Country of Birth ERP, Australia's Population by Country of Birth, 2024
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population for 2011-2024 Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Rates for the total population for Australia, states, and territories (as reported in this publication and Data Explorer datasets) are based on birth registration data for the reference year only.

The estimated resident population (ERP) used as the denominator to calculate fertility rates is:

• State, territory and Australia level ERP for 2024 (preliminary status), National, state and territory population, June Quarter, 2024  issued on 12 December 2024.

Rates for sub-state/territory regions (for example Statistical Areas Level 2, 4, LGA and Remoteness Areas) presented in the data cubes are calculated for each calendar year and then averaged using data for three years, ending in the reference year.

Sub-state/territory datasets are provided in Data cubes under Data downloads.

The estimated resident population (ERP) used as the denominator to calculate fertility rates is:

• Sub-state ERP for 2024 (preliminary status), Regional population by age and sex, 2024.

Completed cohort fertility rate (CCFR) is the average number of children a specific group of women (born in the same year) have during their childbearing years (15–49 years for Australia).

CCFRs are calculated by first transforming period measures of population and births to cohort population and births. The cohort data represents the population and births experienced by each age cohort through their childbearing ages of 15 to 49 years. CCFRs are then calculated by summing cohort age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) over the childbearing years (ages 15 to 49 years).

• Data Availability: Australia has cohort fertility data for women born from 1905 to 1975.
• Geography: Australia.
• Data is available via Data downloads under: Data cubes: Completed Cohort Fertility Rate, women born 1905 to 1975.

The Census and Statistics Act 1905 provides the authority for the ABS to collect statistical information, and requires that statistical output shall not be published or disseminated in a manner that is likely to enable the identification of a particular person or organisation. This requirement means that the ABS must take care and make assurances that any statistical information about individual respondents cannot be derived from published data.

Where necessary, tables in this release have had small values suppressed or randomised to protect confidentiality. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals. These very minor adjustments allow for a greater amount of data to be released, and as they are small, do not affect the utility of the data.

Every effort is made to minimise error by working closely with data providers, including supporting the careful design of forms, training of processing staff, and efficient data processing procedures.

Year of registration

Year of occurrence

Month of occurrence

State or territory of registration

State or territory of usual residence

Indigenous status

Age of the parents

Marital status

Sex

Country of birth of the parents

State or territory of registration

State or territory of usual residence

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSA) of usual residence

Statistical Areas Level (2, 3 and 4) of usual residence

Remoteness Areas of usual residence

Local government areas of usual residence

Rates for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (for Australia and state and territory in this publication and in Data Explorer datasets) are based on birth registration data for the reference year only. 

Rates for sub-state/territory regions by Indigenous status (for Remoteness Areas) presented in data cubes, are calculated for each calendar year and then averaged using data for three years, ending in the reference year.

The estimated resident population (ERP) used as the denominator to calculate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates is:

• Estimates and projections of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, based on results of the 2021 Census of Population, Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. 

In 2024, a methodological change (an additional source of information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births) was applied by the ABS when deriving Indigenous status for births with the support of the NSW Registrar. Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

In 2022, the Registry increased community engagement following reduced activity earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2022, the Registry hosted events and partnered with Pathfinders and UNICEF to promote birth registration among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents. These initiatives have likely been a contributing factor to the increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in New South Wales in 2022. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations in New South Wales increased by 9.8% in 2022 compared with 2021, with registrations of births that occurred prior to 2022 accounting for around half of that increase.

There are several factors to consider when interpreting time series data for New South Wales. The New South Wales Registry has been involved in several initiatives focused on promoting registration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The Registry works closely with local Aboriginal organisations, land councils, health, and non-government organisations to arrange registration events and communicate the importance of birth registration within Aboriginal communities. These initiatives, along with the implementation of an online birth registration system in 2018, have led to higher numbers of registrations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children since 2018. Higher numbers of registrations in 2018 were also in part due to Registry process changes that enabled the finalisation of registrations that otherwise would have been recorded in previous years. See New South Wales birth registrations under Processing the data for more details. 

In 2016 and 2017, there were lower than expected registration counts for New South Wales. This was influenced by changes to identity requirements, which prevented some registrations from being finalised. In 2018, the Registry worked with parents to finalise these registrations, enabling many to be included in 2018 counts. This should be noted when interpreting time series. See the 'New South Wales birth registrations' section for more details.

From 2006 to 2013, the Registry's process for recording the Indigenous status of the mother and father differed to that of other jurisdictions. Generally, where one parent identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, the New South Wales Registry processed the other parent's origin as either 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' or 'Not stated'. Furthermore, where one parent was 'Non-Indigenous', the other parent's origin was processed as 'Non-Indigenous' or 'Not stated'. The ABS uses the Indigenous status of both parents to derive the Indigenous status of the baby - a child is considered to be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin where at least one parent identifies as such. The Indigenous status of births registered in New South Wales from 2006 to 2013 should therefore be interpreted with caution. From 2014 onwards, the NSW Registry changed their processing rules, so the Indigenous status of both parents is now recorded as per the birth registration, consistent with other jurisdictions.  

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations in Victoria increased by 13.2% in 2023 compared to 2022, with registrations of births that occurred prior to 2023 accounting for nearly two-fifths (39.6%) of births registered. This compares to 30.4% in 2022.

In 2023, the Victorian Registry increased community engagement following reduced activity earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the "Strong identity, strong spirit" program, the Registry has worked to increase equity of access to Registry services, and increase birth registrations and birth certificates for the Victorian Aboriginal community. The Registry has hosted events in communities across Victoria, in partnership with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), Aboriginal service providers and mainstream service providers (e.g. hospitals and family support services).

In 2021, Queensland had the largest proportional and numerical increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered from 2020, up 14.7% (948 births). 

The Queensland Registry has been involved in a number of initiatives to improve the registration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births. Since early 2019, the Queensland Registry has worked in partnership with agencies across government and local communities to develop and implement the ‘Closing the Registration Gap’ initiative, including a 3-year Strategy and Action Plan aimed at improving registration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births and delivering culturally safe services and support.

As part of this initiative the Queensland Registry has implemented the 'Our Kids Count' campaign to increase birth registrations in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This is one of a number of strategies and partnerships the Queensland Registry has been involved with to promote birth registration in recent years. Each of these is likely to have contributed to observed increases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations, by: increasing the timeliness of birth registrations; capturing previously unregistered births; and through improved identification of Indigenous status in the registration process. 

In 2019, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births with a usual residence of Queensland increased by 7.7% (490 births). In contrast to the total number of births in Queensland, which decreased by 196 (0.3%). During this year, Deadly Choices, (a health promotion initiative of the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health) teamed up with the Queensland Registry to encourage birth registration and provide children with a Deadly Choices NRL football birth certificate package.

In 2017 there was a substantial increase in Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births. The Queensland Registry undertook intensive community engagement aimed at registering and providing birth certificates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in communities across the state. This work included a partnership with Pathfinders, a federally funded (by Prime Minister and Cabinet) organisation which ran a National Aboriginal Birth Certificate Program. Approximately two-thirds of the increase in registrations in 2017 could be accounted for by registrations of births that occurred in previous years.

Strategies such as these have likely contributed to observed increases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations in recent years. This should be considered when interpreting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates over time.

The higher count of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births in South Australia in 2021 and 2022 compared to earlier years, was influenced by the introduction of an online birth registration system in April 2020, which enabled birth registrations to be completed entirely online. In this system, a response to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin question is mandatory and cannot be left blank. This has led to a decrease in the number of births for which the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status was 'not stated'.

In 2024 Western Australia introduced an online birth registration form (in addition to a paper form). When completing the online birth registration form, it was not mandatory for parents to answer the question on whether they identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. This led to a significant increase in the number of parents who had an “unknown” Indigenous status on the birth registration. To address this quality issue, the ABS, with the support of the Western Australian Registrar, used an additional field on the Aboriginal and Torres Islander origin of the child to derive Indigenous status for the child. Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

The Western Australian RBDM have made this question mandatory from early 2025 and the number of parents with a “not stated” Indigenous status is expected to decrease.

In 2024, a methodological change (an additional source of information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births) was applied by the ABS when deriving Indigenous status for births with the support of the Tasmanian Registrar. Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in Tasmania in the 2022 reference year was affected by a change in processing. Birth registrations are assigned to a reference year based on their date of registration. Up to the 2022 reference year, a legacy reporting issue meant that Tasmanian births were assigned to a reference year based on the date they were first entered into the registry system (the insertion date), rather than the date on which the registration was finalised (the registration date). From the 2023 reference year, the registration date has been used, aligning reporting for all jurisdictions.

This processing change had a similar impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous births, contributing to a total decrease of 529 births (or 8.8%) in Tasmania compared with 2021.

Of the 336 births affected by this processing change, 12.5% (42 births) were of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, similar to the overall proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in Tasmania in 2022 (12.3%). Had the processing change not been applied, there would have been a 4.7% increase (32 births) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births in Tasmania in 2022, rather than a 1.5% decrease (10 births).  For further information see Tasmania under Processing the data.

In 2024, a methodological change (an additional source of information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births) was applied by the ABS when deriving Indigenous status for births with the support of the Northern Territory Registrar. Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

During editing processes for the births collection, some items are set to unknown where information is missing or incomplete. In 2024, there were 964 birth registrations for which the Statistical Area of usual residence was overseas, of no fixed abode, unknown or could not be determined based on the information provided. These have been coded to 'Special purpose codes'. These registrations are included as usual residents in the state/territory in which the birth was registered.

Each year, there are a small number of parents whose age (as at the birth date of the child) is different to that which is derived using their date of birth and the date of birth of the child. Where this occurred, the derived age was used.

To protect confidentiality, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has adopted a technique to randomly adjust cells with small values. Cells with a value of zero have not been affected by this randomisation. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals. The technique has been applied to all data issued in this release with the exception of median age calculations. These very minor adjustments allow for a greater amount of data to be released, and as they are small, do not affect the utility of the data.

The Census and Statistics Act 1905 provides the authority for the ABS to collect statistical information and requires that statistical output shall not be published or disseminated in a manner that is likely to enable the identification of a particular person or organisation. This requirement means that the ABS must take care and make assurances that any statistical information about individual respondents cannot be derived from published data.

Where necessary, tables in this release have had small values suppressed or randomised to protect confidentiality. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals. These adjustments allow for a greater amount of detailed data to be released, and, as they are small, do not affect the utility of the data.

Calculations as shown in the commentary sections of this release are based on unrounded figures. Calculations undertaken by data users using rounded figures may differ from those released. Where figures have been rounded in tables, discrepancies may occur between sums of component items and totals.

Information on births is obtained from a complete enumeration of births registered during a specified period and is not subject to sampling error. However, births data sources are subject to non-sampling error. 

Sources of non-sample error include:

• inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data
• incompleteness of an individual record at a given point in time
• incompleteness of the dataset (for example, impact of registration lags, processing lags and duplicate records and births that are never registered)
• lack of consistency in the application of questions or forms used by data providers, both through time and between different jurisdictions.

Every effort is made to minimise error by working closely with data providers, including supporting the careful design of forms, training of processing staff, and efficient data processing procedures.

This issue of Births, Australia, includes data cubes containing birth and fertility statistics on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). For further information refer to:

• Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Edition 3
• Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 2016

Birth registrations data in this publication are not the only births data available in Australia. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) also collects birth data from midwives and other health professionals who attend births. These data are published annually in Australia's Mothers and Babies.

As information from these two collections are from different sources, the number of live births differ. Births from the AIHW National Perinatal Data Collection are released on a year of occurrence basis, while registered births from the ABS Birth Registrations collection are predominantly released on a year of registration basis. 

The AIHW National Perinatal Data Collection reported the occurrence of 282,813 live births in Australia in 2023 (the latest available data), 1.5% less than 286,998 births registered in the same year. Since 2010 the size of the difference between the two collections has varied between -3.4% and 4%. 

The birth of a live-born child where the birth registration form reports at least one parent as being an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person or reports the child as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person.

The age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) is the number of live births (registered) during the calendar year, according to the age of the mother, per 1,000 of the female estimated resident population of the same age at 30 June. For calculating these rates, births to mothers under 15 years are included in the 15 to 19 year age group, and births to mothers aged 50 years and over are included in the 45 to 49 year age group. Pro rata adjustment is made for births for which the age of the mother is not given.

The age-specific paternity rate (ASPR) is the number of live births (registered) during the calendar year, according to the age of the father, per 1,000 of the male estimated resident population of the same age at 30 June. For calculating these rates, births to fathers under 15 years are included in the 15 to 19 year age group, and births to fathers aged 60 years and over are included in the 55 to 59 year age group. Pro rata adjustment is made for births for which the age of the father is not given.

The ASGS defines all the regions for which the ABS publishes statistics within the one framework and is used by the ABS for the collection and dissemination of geographically classified statistics from 1 July 2021. It is the current framework for understanding and interpreting the geographical context of statistics released by the ABS.

For more information, please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, July 2021 - June 2026

The delivery of a child, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, who, after being born, breathes or shows any evidence of life such as a heartbeat.

Women's childbearing years, usually assumed as the ages from 15 to 49 years for the purpose of analysis. In this release, births to women less than 15 years are included in the 15 to 19 year age group and those 50 years and older are included in the 45 to 49 year age group.

The labour period which results in at least one live birth.

The classification of countries used in the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).

For more information, please refer to Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC)

The crude birth rate is the number of live births registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident persons at 30 June of that year.

The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of usual residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality, citizenship, or legal status, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomatic personnel and their families. It includes usual residents who are overseas for less than 12 months over a 16 month period. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for less than 12 months over a 16 month period.

An ex-nuptial birth is the birth of a child whose parents are not registered as married to each other at the time of the child's birth.

Australian external territories include Australian Antarctic Territory, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands.

See Birth.

An ABS approximation of the officially gazetted LGA as defined by each state and territory local government department. LGAs cover incorporated areas of Australia, which are legally designated areas over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. The major areas of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are the northern parts of South Australia and all the Australian Capital Territory and the Other Territories. These regions are identified as 'Unincorporated' in the ABS LGA structure.

For more information, please refer to Local Government Areas in Non ABS Structures

Two separate concepts of marital status are measured by the ABS. These are registered marital status and social marital status. Statistics included in this release are based on registered marital status.

Registered marital status refers to formally registered marriages and divorces. Registered marital status is a person's relationship status in terms of whether they have, or have had, a registered marriage with another person. Accordingly, people are classified as either 'never married', 'married', 'widowed' or 'divorced'. 

The median age of mother at the time of birth measures the median age of females who gave birth in a particular year. This release reports on median age of mother at the time of birth.

For any distribution, the median value (age, duration, interval) is that value which divides the relevant population into two equal parts, half falling below the value, and half exceeding it. Where the value for a particular record has not been stated, that record is excluded from the calculation.

See Death.

A multiple birth is a confinement which results in two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.

The net reproduction rate represents the average number of daughters that would be born to a group of females if they are subject to the fertility and mortality rates of a given year during their future life. It indicates the extent to which the population would reproduce itself. The net reproduction rate is obtained by multiplying the age-specific birth rates (for female births only) by the proportion of survivors at corresponding ages in a life table and adding the products.

A nuptial birth is the birth of a child born to parents who are registered as married at the time of the child's birth.

Nuptiality relates to the registered marital status of persons and the events such as marriages, divorces, and widowhood. Confinements and births are identified as being nuptial where the parents registered were married at the time of birth, or where the father (second parent) died during the pregnancy. Confinements and births to parents married under customs in traditional Aboriginal societies are classified as nuptial. Other confinements, and births resulting from them, are classified as ex-nuptial, irrespective of whether the parents were living together at the time of birth.

Following the 1992 amendments to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901-1973 (Cwlth) to include the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as part of geographic Australia, another category at the state and territory level has been created, known as Other Territories. From 1 July 2016, the Australian Government assumed responsibility for Norfolk Island. Other Territories include Jervis Bay Territory, previously included with the Australian Capital Territory, as well as Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island.

A paternity acknowledged birth refers to an ex-nuptial birth where information on the second parent was included on the birth registration form.

A paternity not acknowledged birth refers to an ex-nuptial birth where information on the second parent was not included on the birth registration form.

The sum of age-specific paternity rates (live births at each age of the father per 1,000 males of the estimated resident population of that age) divided by 1,000. It represents the number of children a male person would father during his lifetime if he experienced current age-specific paternity rates at each age of his reproductive life (ages 15 to 59).

Previous births refer to children born alive (who may or may not be still living) to a mother prior to the registration of the current birth in the processing period. In some states, legitimised and legally adopted children may also be included.

See Previous births.

The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) defines Remoteness Areas into five classes of relative remoteness across Australia. Each RA is created from the grouping of Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1) identifying a (non-contiguous) region in Australia having a particular degree of remoteness. The five classes of remoteness are: Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, and Very remote.

For more information, please refer to Remoteness Areas

Replacement level fertility is the number of babies a female would need to have over her reproductive life span to replace herself and her partner, in the absence of overseas migration. Given the current mortality of females up to age 49 years, replacement fertility is estimated at around 2.1 babies per female.

Replacement level fertility is a United Nations population indicator

See Childbearing ages.

The number of male births per 100 female births.

The state or territory in which the event was registered.

The state or territory of usual residence of:

• the population (estimated resident population)
• the mother (birth collection).

There are 61,845 SA1 regions covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This includes 34 non-spatial special purpose codes including an Outside Australia code. These non-spatial SA1s represent populations that are difficult to define geographically such as people who are in transit or have no fixed address. Examples include the Migratory and No Usual Address SA1s.

SA1s are also used as the building blocks for some ASGS geographies, including the Indigenous Structure, Significant Urban Areas, and the Remoteness Structure.

For more information, please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

A general-purpose medium-sized area defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard and built from whole SA1s. They aim to represent communities that interact together socially and economically. SA2s are based on officially gazetted suburbs and localities. In urban areas, SA2s largely conform to one or more whole suburbs, while in rural areas they generally define the functional zone of a regional centre. SA2s generally have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 people, and an average population of about 10,000 people.

There are 2,473 SA2s covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This includes 19 non-spatial special purpose codes including an Outside Australia code. These non-spatial SA2s represent populations that are difficult to define geographically such as people who are in transit or have no fixed address. These are represented by Migratory – Offshore – Shipping and No Usual Address SA2s.

For more information, please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

An area defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard and built up from SA2s, which provides a standardised regional breakup of Australia. SA3s aim to create a standard framework for the analysis of ABS data at the regional level through clustering groups of whole SA2s that have similar regional characteristics. Their boundaries reflect a combination of widely recognised informal regions as well as existing administrative regions such as State Government Regions in rural areas, and Local Government Areas in urban areas. SA3s generally range in population from 30,000 to 130,000 people. 

There are 359 SA3s covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This includes 19 non-spatial special purpose codes including an Outside Australia code. These non-spatial SA3s represent populations that are difficult to define geographically, such as people who are in transit or have no fixed address. These are represented by Migratory – Offshore – Shipping and No Usual Address SA3s.

For more information, please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

An area defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard, designed for the output of labour force data and to reflect labour markets. In rural areas, SA4s generally represent aggregations of multiple small labour markets with socioeconomic connections or similar industry characteristics. Large regional city labour markets are generally defined by a single SA4. Within major metropolitan labour markets SA4s represent sub-labour markets. SA4s are built from whole SA3s. They generally have a population over 100,000 people to enable accurate labour force survey data to be generated.

Whole SA4s aggregate to Greater Capital City Statistical Areas and States and Territories. There are 108 SA4s covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This includes 19 non-spatial special purpose codes including an Outside Australia code. These non-spatial SA4s represent populations that are difficult to define geographically such as people who are in transit or have no fixed address. These are represented by Migratory – Offshore – Shipping and No Usual Address SA4s.

For more information, please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

The number of births during the calendar year to women aged 15 to 19 years, per 1,000 females of the estimated resident population aged 15 to 19 years at 30 June of the same year. Births to women aged under 15 years are included.

Within Australia, usual residence is the address of the dwelling at which a person considers themselves to currently live, either having lived there for some time or intending to live there for some time.

The usual residence of a newborn is that of the mother.

The year the birth occurred.

The year the birth was registered.