Causes of Death, Australia methodology

ABS causes of death publications include all deaths occurring and registered in Australia. This includes deaths in Australia of overseas visitors but does not include deaths of Australian residents occurring abroad, even if registered by an Australian state or territory registry.

In scope:

• deaths registered for the first time in Australia
• deaths of temporary visitors
• deaths in Australian Territorial waters
• deaths in Australian Antarctic Territories or other external territories (including Norfolk Island)
• deaths in transit (i.e. on a ship or plane) if registered at the next Australian port of call
• deaths of Australian nationals employed overseas at Australian diplomatic missions and consular offices (i.e. deaths of Australian diplomats while overseas), where able to be identified. This includes historical legations, which are no longer in operation
• late registration of deaths that occurred in earlier years.

Not in scope:

• deaths occurring overseas, even if remains are repatriated
• deaths of foreign diplomatic staff in Australia (if known)
• stillbirths (or fetal deaths) (covered in perinatal statistics only).

Since 1 July 2016, deaths registered on Norfolk Island have been included in national statistics under the Norfolk Island Statistical Area 2 (SA2) code under the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. Prior to this, only deaths of Norfolk Island residents occurring in Australia were included, and their usual residence was recorded as ‘overseas’.

The ABS compiles national causes of death statistics with data from state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDMs). Added details for coroner referred deaths come from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). 

The registration of deaths is the responsibility of the Australian states and territories Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDMs). Deaths occurring in 'other territories' of Australia are registered by RBDMs in one of the eight states and territories. The exception to this is deaths occurring on Norfolk Island which are registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages which sits within the Norfolk Island Regional Council. Deaths for "other territories" are included in the death statistics for Australia.

Deaths must be registered by RBDMs after a burial or cremation. 

During the death registration process:

• the cause of death is completed by the certifying medical practitioner or coroner on a medical certificate of cause of death or coronial form
• demographic details are supplied on a death registration statement, usually completed by funeral directors with assistance from an informant such as a relative, acquaintance, or official of the institution where the death occurred
• all information is collected and the event is then registered by the RBDMs
• a data extract is sent to the ABS by RBDMs for coding and compilation in the causes of death dataset.

For coroner certified deaths, the ABS also accesses selected documents and information from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) to supplement coding and compilation of the data. The NCIS is a medico-legal database that contains select information from the coronial investigation and is a voluntary collaboration between the states and territories of Australia and New Zealand. 

Coroners are responsible for investigating reportable deaths, which generally include:

• unexpected deaths with the cause of death unknown
• direct or indirect deaths from accident, injury or medical procedure – even with prolonged interval after the incident
• violent or unnatural deaths
• deaths where the person was 'held in care' or in custody immediately before they died (noting that ‘in care’ excludes facilities such as residential aged care)
• when a doctor has been unable to sign a death certificate giving the cause of death
• when the identity of the deceased is unknown.

In 2025: 

• 87.0% of deaths were certified by doctors using the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, while 13.0% were certified by coroners.
• The proportion of coroner certified deaths varied by jurisdiction – from 5.9% in Queensland to 24.2% in South Australia.

The diagram below shows the flow of information in the Australian causes of death statistics system.

This publication draws extensively on information provided freely by the Australian state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Norfolk Island Regional Council and the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety who manage the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of vital statistics published by the ABS would not be available. 

The ABS would also like to acknowledge the Coroners Court of New South Wales and the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages for their assistance in the review of selected coroner referred deaths in New South Wales for 2025.

Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

The 'sex' variable has traditionally been interpreted as reflecting the sex of the deceased, as reported at birth. In recent years, some states and territories have amended their jurisdictional-based Births, Deaths and Marriages legislation to allow for gender identity to be reported or updated on birth and death registrations. For a death registration, the change in legislation means that a person’s gender identity may be recorded. The terms 'sex' and 'gender' are interrelated and often used interchangeably, however they are two distinct concepts, and a person's sex may differ to their gender identity. Data for 'sex' in this publication may refer to:

• the person's sex reported at birth
• the person's gender identity.

In 2025, the ABS received just over 10 death registrations where the sex or gender was reported as a term other than male or female. To ensure confidentiality, data for sex is output in tables as ‘males’ and ‘females’ only. Sex ‘not specified’ may be included in totals for the Perinatal Deaths publication.

With the legislative changes, there are now instances in the data where a person has died from a cause of death that is not traditionally considered to be consistent with their reported sex or gender. For example, prostate cancer may be recorded for a female, or ovarian cancer may be recorded for a male. While the number of deaths is small, they may increase over time.

Transgender status, variations in sex characteristics and sexual orientation are not collected as part of a death registration.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of the deceased is captured through the death registration process. Data is coded and presented in this publication based on the ABS Indigenous Status classification, see Indigenous Status Standard, 2014. For details of how the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is derived for each state and territory, and changes to this derivation over time, refer to the Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people section.

This publication presents mortality data coded the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) 2024. For deaths from 2023, occupation coding has been applied to coroner referred deaths based on information provided on the death registration. There are known limitations to the occupation information used for coding this dataset. 

Key considerations include:

• Occupation questions on the death registration statement vary across jurisdictions. 
• Occupation coding is typically based on the occupation title alone, with limited or no information on job tasks. 
• Industry of employment is not collected on death registrations.
• Working status may be reported instead of occupation, with responses such as retired, unemployed or pensioner commonly recorded.
• If multiple occupations are provided, the occupation is generally assigned to the one with the higher skill level under OSCA.
• Occupation as reported by family members or other informants may differ from how the deceased may have self-reported.
• Occupation coding does not take account of workplace details or the circumstances and mechanism of death.

Occupation data should be interpreted with caution and used alongside other variables, such as age and psychosocial work-related factors, to provide appropriate context. More details and quality considerations were outlined in Occupation coding for coroner referred deaths in the 2024 publication. 

The coding of occupation and psychosocial risk factors by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is funded by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), as part of the National Suicide and Self-Harm Monitoring Project.

Since the Causes of Death, Australia, 2011 publication, the ABS has released deaths data using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) for geographic areas (Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, July 2021 - June 2026). Under the ASGS, a deceased person's usual residence is coded down to the meshblock level. Data in this publication reflects the 2021 ASGS version.

Causes of death statistics are presented primarily by:

• National
• State/Territory
• Greater Capital City/Rest of State
• Remoteness Areas.

They are based on the usual residence of the deceased, regardless of where the death occurred or was registered. Deaths of persons usually resident overseas which occur in Australia are included in the state or territory where their death was registered.

A range of geographies for all deaths are available in Deaths, Australia, 2025.

Edition 4 of ASGS with 2026 based boundaries was published in July 2026. Causes of death data will be updated to reflect new boundaries in future publications.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) ranks areas by relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage, using data from the five-yearly Census of Population and Housing.

This publication uses the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) and the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD).

For IRSD:

• Low scores indicate greater disadvantage (e.g. low income, low qualifications, low-skilled jobs).
• High scores indicate less disadvantage – not necessarily advantage.

For IRSAD:

• Low scores indicate disadvantage and a lack of advantage in general.
• High scores indicate a relative lack of disadvantage and greater advantage in general.

SEIFA quintiles divide the national population into five groups (approximately 20% each), though distribution may vary by state or territory. Data is aligned to usual residence by the 2021 ASGS Remoteness Area structure. Correspondence files are from the ASGS: Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas. Data reflects the 2021 version of the ASGS.

Country of birth is classified using the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). The classification groups neighbouring countries into progressively broader geographic areas based on similarities in terms of social, cultural, economic and political characteristics. Coding reflects the country of birth of the deceased, as opposed to ancestry. 

Country names change and are updated in the classification over time. Causes of death data reflects the most current update available at the time of processing data.

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the global standard for classifying diseases and causes of death. It enables consistency in how mortality and morbidity data is recorded, interpreted and compared across countries. The classification is used for coding information from medical and death records.

Currently the ICD 10th revision is used for Australian causes of death statistics. This version is a variable-axis classification, meaning it groups conditions not just by anatomical site but also by disease type.

ICD-10 categories include:

• epidemic diseases
• constitutional or general diseases
• local diseases by site
• developmental diseases
• injuries

For example, a systemic disease such as sepsis is grouped with infectious diseases; a disease primarily affecting one body system, such as a myocardial infarction, is grouped with circulatory diseases; and a congenital condition, such as spina bifida, is grouped with congenital conditions.

For further information and access to versions of the ICD, refer to WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

The World Health Organization’s Classification and Statistics Advisory Committee (CSAC) oversees updates to the ICD. Updates may include new codes, code deletions, revised coding instructions, and clarified terminology. See the Coding causes of death section in Processing the data for details on the use of the ICD for cause of death coding and the implementation of updates. Lists of ICD-10 groups used for analysis is available for download in the Code list for cause of death groups section below.

Further guidance on how causes of death are certified is available in the Cause of death certification guide.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced emergency ICD-10 codes.

The WHO define a death due to COVID-19 as 'a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease (e.g. trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery from COVID-19 between illness and death. A death due to COVID-19 may not be attributed to another disease (e.g. cancer) and should be counted independently of preexisting conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of COVID-19'. 

In 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations were introduced globally. The World Health Organization subsequently issued the ICD-10 emergency code U12.9 (COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use, unspecified) to capture adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines in therapeutic use. For mortality coding, this code allows COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths to be identified separately from deaths involving adverse reactions to other vaccines and biological substances.

• 2019: new codes were introduced to better specify deaths due to carbon monoxide and other gas exposures across all intents – accidental (X47), intentional (X67), assault (X88), and undetermined (Y17). The codes allow identification of the type of gas and source of exposure:
  • X47.0/X67.0/X88.0/Y17.0 carbon monoxide from combustion engine exhaust
  • X47.1/X67.1/X88.1/Y17.2 carbon monoxide from utility gas
  • X47.2/X67.2/X88.2/Y17.2 carbon monoxide from other domestic fuels
  • X47.3/X67.3/X88.3/Y17.3 carbon monoxide from other sources
  • X47.4/X67.4/X88.4/Y17.3 carbon monoxide from unspecified sources
  • X47.8/X67.8/X88.8/Y17.8 other specified gases and vapours
  • X47.9/X67.9/X88.9/Y17.9 unspecified gases and vapours.
• 2013: the ABS implemented a new automated coding system called Iris. Many updates were implemented alongside the new software. Details of updates can be found in technical notes published in Causes of Death, Australia, 2013: ABS Implementation of the Iris Software: Understanding Coding and Process Improvements and Causes of Death, Australia, 2018: Updates to Iris coding software: Implementing WHO updates and improvements in coding processes.
• 2009: The code J09 'Influenza due to identified zoonotic or pandemic influenza virus' was added to capture deaths from H1N1 2009 influenza and Avian flu. This reflected the pandemic status of the H1N1 influenza virus at the time and the need to separate zoonotic and pandemic influenza viruses from seasonal strains.
• 2007: If a death had an underlying cause of death in the ICD-10 code block 'Mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use, acute intoxication' (F10.0, F11.0....F19.0), these deaths were reassigned to the relevant code in the block 'Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances' (X40-X49), with a corresponding poisoning code in the injury and poisoning chapter (S00-T98). For example, a death previously coded to F10.0 (alcohol intoxication) as the underlying cause of death would now be coded X45 (alcohol exposure) with code T51.9 (toxic effect of alcohol).

The cumulative List of Official ICD-10 Updates can be found online.

Causes of death are classified using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). They are grouped into three main categories:

• Natural Causes – deaths due to diseases (for example diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc.) (A00-Q99, R00-R98)
• External Causes – deaths due to causes external to the body (for example intentional self-harm, transport accidents, falls, poisoning etc.) (V01-Y98)
• Unknown Causes – deaths where it is unable to be determined whether the cause was natural or external (R99).

For deaths where an injury has led directly to death, the underlying cause is based on the circumstance of the fatal event, not the injury itself. Example: A motorcyclist may crash into a tree (V27.4) and die from fractures to the skull and facial bones (S02.7). The underlying cause is classified as the crash (V27.4), as it led to the fatal injuries.

For specific cause groups discussed in the publication (e.g. drug-induced deaths) refer to Code lists for causes of death in the Classifications section.

Since 2013, the ABS has used the Iris automated coding system to classify causes of death. This system applies updated ICD-10 versions for coding the multiple causes of death and selecting the underlying cause of death.

2025 data in this publication was coded using Iris version 5.8.0, incorporating the WHO ICD-10 updates (2021 version).

For more detail on Iris and its use for cause of death coding in Australia please refer to:

• Causes of Death, Australia, 2013: ABS Implementation of the Iris Software: Understanding Coding and Process Improvements
• Causes of Death, Australia, 2018: Updates to Iris coding software: Implementing WHO updates and improvements in coding processes

Versions of Iris and ICD-10 updates are as follows: 

The quality of causes of death coding for coroner certified deaths can be affected by administrative factors including:

• differences in the way information is reported, including the types of reports available on the NCIS
• the length of time it takes to complete a coronial investigation  
• the processing of coronial findings including the type of information included. 

These factors particularly affect deaths coded to ICD-10 chapters:

• Chapter XVIII: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
• Chapter XX: External causes of morbidity and mortality – likely to be affected because the code assigned within the chapter may vary depending on the coroner's findings (in accordance with ICD-10 coding rules).

If a case is still open and lacks sufficient detail at the time ABS finalises processing, less specific ICD-10 codes are assigned, as per coding rules. The level of detail available for open cases varies from no information to full police, autopsy, and toxicology reports. 

The manner or intent of an injury which leads to death, is determined by whether the injury was inflicted purposefully or not. Intent categories used in ICD-10 coding are:

• Accidents: the injury was not intentionally inflicted
• Intentional:
  • Intentional self-harm (suicide): the injury was self-inflicted
  • Assaults: the injury was inflicted by others
• Event of undetermined intent: the intent cannot be established.

For more considerations for coroner certified data in this publication, see Data Quality – 2025 data considerations – Coroner Certified Deaths.

All conditions listed on a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) are assigned ICD-10 codes. This is referred to as multiple cause coding. Rules are then applied to select the underlying cause of death. The underlying cause of death is defined by the WHO as the disease or injury that initiated the sequence of events leading directly to death. For accidental or violent deaths, the external cause (e.g. the circumstances of the incident) is coded as the underlying cause, rather than the resulting injury.

Diseases and injuries listed on the death certificate that are not selected as the underlying cause are referred to as associated causes. Most data in this publication is based on the underlying cause. Some data on associated causes and multiple causes of death (both associated and underlying) are presented in the data cubes in the data downloads section of this publication. 

Multiple cause data provides a more complete picture of mortality by:

• highlighting conditions and diseases that are less likely to be selected as the underlying cause of death
• revealing relationships between co-existing conditions
• indicating injuries which occur because of specific external events
• capturing the broader health context, especially in older populations with multiple co-morbidities.

Multiple cause data can be analysed in two ways:

• by counts of deaths: number of people who died with a specific condition
• by mentions of disease/injury: total number of times a condition appears on death certificates.

For example, a person with breast cancer (C50) and secondary lung cancer (C78.0) would count as one death from cancer, but two mentions of cancer.

Changes in patterns of mortality are studied by policy makers and researchers to improve health outcomes for all Australians. However, changes in patterns of mortality can occur for many reasons. Changes can reflect a real increase or decrease in the prevalence of a disease or disorder, or a change in medical treatment. With an ageing population, people are more likely to die with multiple co-morbid conditions, many of which may be listed on the death certificate. The multiple cause of death data can provide more meaningful insights into relationships between diseases and how these may contribute to mortality. This information cannot be obtained from focusing on the underlying cause of death data alone.

Analysing multiple causes of death helps distinguish between real health trends and administrative effects, offering deeper insights into population health.

Ranking causes of death helps identify mortality patterns and supports comparisons over time and between populations. Results can vary depending on how causes are grouped. Broad categories like "cancer" or "heart disease" may obscure specific causes, while overly narrow groupings may lack policy relevance.

Leading causes in this publication are based on research presented in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 84, Number 4, April 2006, 297-304. Adjustments are informed by global data, prevention strategies, and classification consistency. 

For 2025 causes of death the ABS has conducted a larger review of causes of death that were not previously included in leading cause tabulations. The review aims to modernise the leading cause list and better reflect emerging health trends in Australia. 

As a result of this review, three leading cause groups were expanded, and 12 new groups have been added. There is minimal statistical impact in terms of previous ranking from the changes and inclusions. The list below includes all changes from the 2006 WHO list over time and notes when each was implemented.

A full list of the current leading causes of death groups is available in the downloadable Code lists for causes of death in the Classifications section.

Deaths coded to R00–R99 (ill-defined or unspecified causes) are excluded from leading cause tables. Many deaths coded to this chapter are likely to be recoded to more specific causes of death as they progress through the revisions process. The exception is for infant deaths under 1 year where R95–R99 include Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (R95) and Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (R99). 

Prior to 2022, R00-R99 was used in leading cause tabulations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous deaths. From 2022, R00–R99 was no longer used in these tabulations as analysis showed it no longer ranked in the top 10 causes once the revisions process was finalised.

Potentially avoidable mortality refers to deaths of people aged under 75 years from conditions that could have been avoided through individualised care, or treated through primary care or hospitalisation (METeOR, 2021). Deaths are defined as avoidable in the context of the present health system. Conditions contributing to potentially avoidable mortality include:

• natural causes such as certain cancers, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and infectious diseases.
• external causes such as accidents, suicides and assaults.

The ABS calculates potentially avoidable mortality using ICD-10 codes defined in the National Healthcare Agreement: PI 16–Potentially avoidable deaths, 2021.

Death rates enable comparisons between populations of different sizes by expressing deaths as a proportion of the population. Rates in Causes of Death, Australia are presented as per 100,000 people (except for infant and perinatal rates as noted below). This differs from Deaths, Australia, which uses rates per 1,000 people (published to three decimal points from 2024). 

From 2022, data is presented by registration year rather than reference year. For 2025, death rates use registration-year deaths as a numerator and reference-year population estimates as the denominator.

Rates for five-year periods (e.g. 2021-2025) are based on the average annual count over the five years for the numerator, and the 30 June population of the midpoint year for the denominator (e.g. 2023).

Crude and Age-Specific Death Rates

• Crude Death Rate (CDR): deaths per 100,000 population at 30 June of the same year.
• Age-Specific Death Rate (ASDR): Deaths at a specific age per 100,000 population of the same age at 30 June of the same year.
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Deaths under one year per 1,000 live births.

To account for processing changes impacting birth registrations in 2025, infant mortality rates have been calculated based on the average number of live births over the previous three years (2023-2025). For infant mortality rates based over five years (2021-2025) in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death table 12.4, births are not averaged as the midpoint year (2023) is used for the denominator. 

Refer to Data quality – Live birth counts used for infant mortality rates for more details.

Age-Standardised Death Rates

Age-standardised death rates (SDRs) enable the comparison of death rates over time and between populations of different age structures. SDRs are the rate per 100,000 population as at 30 June of a standard year (2001). They are used to monitor trends and disparities between different groups.

The ABS uses the direct method of standardisation, agreed upon with AIHW and other stakeholders (see: AIHW (2011) Principles on the use of direct age-standardisation in administrative data collections: for measuring the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Cat. no. CSI 12. Canberra: AIHW).

SDRs are not calculated when there are fewer than 20 deaths occurring due to robustness concerns.

For further information, see Appendix: Principles on the use of direct age-standardisation, from Deaths, Australia, 2010.

Estimated Resident Populations (ERP) used in this release are based on the results of the 2021 Census and are as follows:

• State, territory and Australia level ERP for 2025 (preliminary status), released 18 December 2025 in National, state and territory population, June 2025
• Sub-state ERP for 2025 (preliminary status), released 27 August 2026 in Regional population by age and sex, 2025
• Country of Birth ERP for 2025 (preliminary status), released 29 April 2026 in Australia's Population by country of birth, 2024
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ERP for 2011-2025 published 24 July 2024 in Estimates and projections, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, 2011 to 2031

Rates for the total population and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are based on 2021 Census estimates. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population data is based on Series B population projections released in Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011 to 2031. Non-Indigenous rates each year are derived by subtracting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates from the total Australian estimated resident population (ERP). 

The 2021 Census base denominator introduced with the 2023 publication significantly changed mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Mortality rate comparisons should not be made with previous publications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data. For more information on the impact of the rebased rates, see the Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – Data quality considerations section of the methodology. Also refer to Guide to using historical estimates for comparative analysis and reporting and Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians - methodology for more information including a section on comparisons to previously published estimates.

Limited births data for 2025 has been included to allow for the calculation of infant mortality rates. Detailed births data for 2025 will be released 6 November 2026 in Births, Australia.

Cause of death coding for coroner certified deaths can be affected by the length of time for the coronial process to be finalised and the coroner case closed. The coronial process can take several years if an inquest is being held or complex investigations are being undertaken. From 2006, the ABS introduced a revisions process that enabled open coronial investigations that had been assigned a less specific ICD-10 code at the time of coding to be re-examined. ABS coders incorporate additional cause of death details from various reports such as police, toxicology, autopsy, and coroners’ reports and where possible, assign more specified ICD-10 codes. 

Before 2006, ABS finalised data at a fixed point, often before coronial cases were closed or fully documented in the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). This led to less specific ICD-10 coding due to missing information. Between 2001-2005 it is likely that deaths that are particularly sensitive to the revisions process, such as suicide, will be an under count in the ABS national mortality dataset. 

The focus of the revisions process is open coroner cases, but the scope may also include updates to closed coroner cases and doctor certified deaths. The revisions process is undertaken in four components: preliminary (when data is first published), preliminary revised (data is revised approximately 6 months after publication), revised (data is revised approximately 18 months after first publication) and final (data is unlikely to have more coding changes). 

The 2025 Causes of Death release (October 2026) includes:

• Preliminary 2025 data
• Preliminary revised 2024 data
• Revised 2023 data
• Final data 2022 and prior.

The 2025 Causes of death publication updates all tables in previous publications including data revised and released in May 2026. For details on previous revisions, see Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024 and Methodology: Revisions to causes of death, 2022-2024.

Ideally, for compiling annual time series, the number of deaths should be recorded and reported as those which occurred within a given reference period, such as a calendar year. Most deaths are registered in the year in which they occur.

In Australia, a death cannot be registered until a burial or cremation has occurred. This requirement can mean: 

• Deaths occurring near the end of the year are more likely to be registered in a subsequent year.
• Depending on circumstances, a burial or cremation may not be able to occur soon after death (e.g. an extensive autopsy may be required) resulting in delays in the registration of a death.
• There may also be further delays to the ABS receiving notification of the death from the registries due to processing or data transfer lags.

Therefore, every death record will have:

• date of occurrence – when the death happened
• date of registration – when it was officially registered
• date received by ABS – when it was included in national statistics.

Mortality data can be reported using any of these dates.

The registration year is the year in which the RBDM registered the death. Since 2022, the Causes of Death publication presents most data by year of registration. This change was introduced as the ABS at times receives deaths that both occurred and were registered in earlier years leading to volatile time series.

The reference year is the year in which the ABS receives the death registration. Most deaths are received by the ABS in the year that they are registered. 

Before 2022, data was reported by reference year, which included:

• deaths registered and received in the same year
• deaths registered in the year but received early the next year
• late registrations from earlier years, if not previously counted.

The Deaths, Australia publication still publishes on this scope. As a result, totals may differ from those in the Causes of Death, Australia report.

There have been occasions where the ABS received large numbers of deaths in a reference year which were registered in earlier years. By reference year, they would be in scope of a year which was different to the year when they were registered or occurred. For examples, see Technical Note: Victorian additional registrations and time series adjustment and Technical Note: Victorian additional registrations (2013-2016). Refer to the Data Quality section for more details.

The table below shows the differences between registration and reference year over the last 10 years.

Each year, a small number of deaths are registered more than 20 years after the death occurred. From 2025 onwards, deaths registered more than 20 years after the date of death are no longer included in reference and registration year tabulations. These deaths will still be included in tables reported by year of occurrence. See Data Quality for more detail on the changed treatment of historical deaths in 2025.

The year of occurrence represents the year in which the death occurred. Some tables in this publication are produced by year of death. Year of occurrence data can more accurately represent trends, especially at time points of interest (e.g. heat waves, or deaths occurring in a particular month). Year of occurrence data can take longer to be complete because of administrative factors. Approximately 5% to 8% of deaths are not registered until the following year or later. 

Cause of death data in this publication includes all deaths the ABS received by 31 July 2026 with a date of death before 31 December 2025.

Year of occurrence tables will differ to those in the Deaths, 2025 publication which only includes deaths registered by 31 December 2025 and received by 31 March 2026.

Provisional Mortality Statistics report preliminary deaths by date of occurrence and is not directly comparable with data included in Causes of Death and Deaths, Australia publications.

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 may restrict access to data at a very detailed level.

Some data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect confidentiality. As a result some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a value of 0 have not been affected by confidentialisation. Refer to the footnotes for the tables where confidentialisation has been applied.

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between totals and sums of the component items.

Customised tables may be available as paid data consultancies via a Consultancy Request Form. Consultants will discuss requests to refine and ensure alignment with research objectives and data integrity standards. Requests are subject to confidentiality and quality assurance considerations.

For the full range of ABS statistical and reference information, refer to the Statistics page.

For information on upcoming releases, refer to the Release Calendar.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been varying patterns of mortality in Australia. The ABS has been monitoring mortality patterns and produced several reports on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The latest release introduces a new method and research question, presenting analyses for excess mortality by state from January 2024 to December 2025 (Excess mortality, January 2024 - December 2025).

The ABS has produced previous publications on excess mortality looking at mortality patterns in the absence of a pandemic to the end of 2023, and has presented excess mortality by remoteness areas and by selected causes of death.

Coroner certified deaths can take time to be fully investigated, affecting the timeliness and specificity of cause of death data. Some cases are coded before coronial findings are finalised, leading to more deaths being coded under ill-defined categories like:

• R99: Other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality
• X59: Exposure to unspecified factor
• Y34: Unspecified event, undetermined intent.

Delays in transferring information, such as autopsy and toxicology reports, from coroners to the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) vary by jurisdiction and impact data quality. For statistics on case closure and document attachment for each jurisdiction, refer to the Operational Statistics published on the NCIS website.

Causes of death that require a coroner referral (e.g. suicide, assault, drug-induced deaths) should be interpreted with caution due to the expectation that this data will change during revisions.

New South Wales coroner certified deaths

Upon completion of coroner coding, 2025 deaths from intentional self-harm in NSW appeared low in comparison with other sources. The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the Coroners Court of New South Wales were consulted and a review was conducted between ABS records received from the RBDM and Coroner Court records. The ABS thanks the NSW Coroner Court for their advice and work put into this review which improved the preliminary ABS intentional self-harm dataset. 

Each death record may be linked to several dates, including the date of death, the date the death was registered, and the date the registration was received by the ABS. In rare cases, a death is not registered until many years after it occurred. These deaths were often subject to extended coronial investigations and may not accurately reflect recent mortality patterns and cause of death trends. Each year, a small number of deaths are registered more than 20 years after the death occurred. From 2025 onwards, deaths registered more than 20 years after the date of death are no longer included in reference and registration year tabulations. These deaths will remain in the year the death occurred in tables created by year of occurrence. 

In 2025, the number of deaths registered in the Northern Territory increased by 17.2% (214 deaths), compared with a national increase of 0.6%. This increase was largely influenced by the Northern Territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM) finalising a higher than usual number of death registrations with outstanding queries when first submitted to the RBDM. These registrations accounted for 17.0% of all deaths registered in 2025, compared to 10.7% in 2024 and 9.5% in 2023.

For deaths registered in the Northern Territory in 2025:

• More than half of the increase (53.3%, or 114 deaths) was attributable to the finalisation of registrations that had previously remained incomplete due to outstanding queries.
• Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased by 158. Around two-thirds of this increase (66.5%) was attributable to the finalisation of registrations that previously remained incomplete due to outstanding queries.
• 8.5% of deaths occurred two or more years before the year of registration, compared with 4.3% in 2024 and 0.6% in 2023.

Two reconciliation exercises conducted by the ABS and the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages led to additional death registrations from earlier years being added to the ABS mortality dataset. This was due to an issue associated with the Registry's previous processing system (replaced in 2019) which resulted in some death registrations not being delivered to the ABS in the year they were registered. 

• 2020 exercise: identified 2,812 additional deaths registered between 2017–2019. Most were registered in 2017 (40.4%) and 2018 (57.0%). These were included in the Deaths, Australia, 2019 and Causes of Death, Australia, 2019 datasets. Of the deaths registered in 2017 and 2018, 62.9% were coroner certified and 37.1% were doctor certified. This led to an increase across a number of causes of death, with those more likely to be referred to a coroner (i.e. external causes of death) experiencing larger effects from the delayed delivery of registrations. See Technical note: Victorian additional registrations and time series adjustments in Causes of Death, Australia, 2019 for detailed information.
• 2022 exercise: identified 1,864 additional deaths registered between 2013–2016. Of these, 31.7% were registered in 2013, 24.6% in 2014, 7.7% in 2015 and the remainder in 2016 (36.1%). These were excluded from 2021 mortality reference year counts as they occurred more than five years prior. In Deaths, Australia the additional registrations are included in year of occurrence tables only. See Technical note: Victorian additional registrations (2013-2016) for more details.

From 2022, all registrations, are reported by year of registration in Causes of Death, Australia to better adjust for the receipt of deaths that were registered in earlier years. 

As part of the implementation of the new registration system in Victoria in February 2019, there was a change in the way coroner referred deaths are reported to the ABS. Previously there was a range of factors that would determine the point at which a coroner referred death was reported to the ABS, often leading to significant delays in reporting. From 2019, this changed and interim registrations (open cases) have been submitted to the ABS resulting in more timely delivery of deaths data to the ABS.

Western Australia (2016–2020) – An issue with Western Australia doctor certified deaths between 2016-2020 meant information from Part II of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) or Medical Certificate of Cause of Perinatal Death (MCCPD) was not uploaded into the ABS processing system. The main impact was on the associated causes, both in terms of the capture of conditions listed and the number of causes listed as contributing to death. Data was updated and released and incorporated into current publications. For more information, see Technical note: Updates to doctor certified causes of death data, Western Australia, 2016 to 2020.

Queensland (2016–2021) – In Queensland, Part II information from MCCDs was incorrectly moved to Part I during processing, altering disease sequences and affected the application of ICD-10 coding rules when selecting the underlying cause of death. This impacted 300 to 600 records annually (under 2% of doctor certified deaths in Queensland). Revised data has been published.

The number of births registered from year to year can be impacted by administrative factors such as processing times. To account for larger movements in 2024 and 2025, the denominator for infant mortality rates has been calculated based on the average number of registered live births over the previous three years (2023-2025). More detail on factors influencing annual birth registration counts at the state and territory level is available in the Births, Australia methodology. This includes historical considerations impacting other years.

Infant mortality rates in this publication are presented per 1,000 live births. From 2024, a methodological change (an additional field of information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births) was applied by the ABS when deriving Indigenous status for births in four jurisdictions: New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. This resulted in an increase in births where the child was identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.

Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

Assault-related deaths (ICD-10 codes X85–Y09, Y87.1) in the ABS Causes of Death data differ from those in Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia due to differences in scope, coverage, and pending outcomes of legal proceedings. The 2025 data is provisional and subject to revision. See Processing the data – Revisions process for details.

Perpetrator coding in assault deaths

The ABS uses ICD-10 code Y07 to capture information about the relationship to perpetrators for deaths occurring as a result of an assault, maltreatment or neglect. The code is applied as follows:

The cause of death information included national mortality dataset compiled by the ABS is sourced from medical certificates of causes of death (MCCD) for doctor referred deaths or the forensic pathology reports for coroner referred deaths. For a death to be tabulated as involving COVID-19, the condition must be certified as having contributed to death on the MCCD or coroner report.

There may be deaths where COVID-19 was present, but the infection was not certified on the death certificate. Reasons for this vary but may include:

• It may be the best medical opinion of the certifying practitioner that the viral infection did not contribute to death. For example, a person may have died from injuries from a motor vehicle crash who had COVID-19, but it was not deemed to be contributing to death.
• A certifying practitioner may be unaware that a person had a current or past infection.
• A certifying practitioner may only include partial information on a death certificate. For example, a cause of death may be reported as “viral pneumonia”. While this certification indicates a virus had caused a respiratory disease, the death is not able to be attributed to COVID-19, as the viral agent is not explicitly stated.

As a result, this publication will not capture every death in Australia where COVID-19 was present or contributed to death. This publication should be used a resource alongside other outputs including national and state and territory disease surveillance data and publications such as Excess Mortality in Australia.

The civil registration system captures deaths which may be caused by COVID-19 vaccines. The World Health Organization issued the ICD-10 emergency code U12.9 (COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use). This code allows COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths to be identified separately from deaths involving adverse reactions to other vaccines and biological substances.

Independent analysis and interpretation of deaths data by authorities such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is not conveyed to the ABS or reflected in coding outputs. Due to the scope of the ABS deaths collection, data received and published by the ABS may differ from data collected through the TGA's independent investigations into COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths. The ABS and the TGA have communicated and understand that there are differences in how a death may be categorised as being related to a COVID-19 vaccine. These differences may include scope (as described) and the timing of coding and investigations (the TGA regularly updates data in relation to vaccines, whereas the ABS is reporting on coded data at a point in time). The ABS and the TGA will continue to work together to ensure that datasets remain consistent as possible whilst considering the known differences in each agency’s reporting scopes.

• There have been 18 deaths in Australia for which the information provided to the ABS indicated that COVID-19 vaccination was the underlying cause of death, 16 of which were registered in 2021.
• Of the total deaths, 16 were certified by a coroner and 2 were certified by a doctor.
• There were a further 13 deaths where the vaccine caused a complication which exacerbated an existing condition but did not in itself cause death. These are not included in underlying cause of death tabulations but are included in multiple cause of death data cubes. 
• The TGA has identified 14 reports where the cause of death was linked to vaccination. Refer to the TGA COVID-19 vaccine safety reports for further details on the TGA’s vaccine safety monitoring process. These reports were not published beyond November 2023.

Drowning and submersion death figures from the ABS Causes of Death collection may differ from other sources due to variations in scope and coverage. The 2025 data is provisional and subject to revision. See Processing the data – Revisions process for details.

Deaths from road traffic crashes from the ABS Causes of Death collection may differ from other sources due to variations in scope and coverage. The 2025 data is provisional and subject to revision. See Processing the data – Revisions process for details.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of a deceased person is captured through the death registration process. It is noted on the Death Registration Form (DRF) and the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). While more than 99% of all deaths provided to the ABS have data on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of the deceased, it is recognised there may be under-identification causing concern regarding the completeness of the data by Indigenous status. Factors affecting identification are discussed further below under Data quality considerations.

The ABS Deaths and Causes of Death reports identify a death as being of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person where the deceased is recorded as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the DRF. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is also derived from the MCCD. If the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin reported in the DRF does not align with the MCCD, an identification from either source that the deceased was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is given preference over non-Indigenous or an unknown status, although there are some rare exceptions to this.

The use of MCCD data to support Indigenous status reporting was introduced progressively:

• 2007: South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
• 2015: Queensland – the impact is discussed in Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. See Data linkage to derive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths identification rates for details.
• 2022: New South Wales – see Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022.
• 2023: Victoria – see Technical Note: The impact of using multiple sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in 2023 – changes for Victoria and coroner referred deaths.

From 2023, the ABS has used information captured on the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) during the coronial investigation process in the derivation of Indigenous status. When there is misalignment across sources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, an identification from any source that the deceased was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is generally given preference over non-Indigenous or an unknown status. This change in process affects coroner deaths in all jurisdictions for the first time in 2023, except for New South Wales where a similar enhancement was introduced from 2022.

There are several data collection forms on which people are asked to provide details of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin. A person's Indigenous status may not be consistent across datasets, jurisdictions and time.

People change their identification for a range of factors, including:

• how the information is collected (e.g. Census, survey, or administrative data)
• who provides the information (e.g. the person in question, a relative, a health professional, or an official)
• the perception of why the information is required, and how it will be used
• education programs about reporting as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person
• cultural aspects and feelings associated with reporting as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person.

In addition to those deaths recorded as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or non-Indigenous, deaths occur each year where Indigenous status is not stated on any sources. In 2025, there were 404 deaths registered in Australia for whom Indigenous status was not stated, representing 0.2% of all deaths registered. This proportion (0.2%) has remained consistent since 2023.

Additionally, a higher proportion of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to a coroner (27.3% in 2025). Coroner referred deaths can also take longer to register which may cause some disparities in annual registration data.

Data presented in this release may therefore underestimate the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in Australia. Lags in registrations may also affect the reliability of measures. Caution is advised when interpreting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death data, particularly for year-to-year comparisons.

Limited data is presented for all states and territories, with more detailed data reported by jurisdiction of usual residence for:

• NSW, QLD, SA, WA, NT – due to higher quality identification.
• VIC – included from 2023 for selected leading cause tables due to improved data quality. Included from 2018 for deaths due to suicide. 

Data for TAS and the ACT remain excluded from more detailed analysis in line with national reporting guidelines.

Mortality rates for 2016–2025 are based on 2021 Census population estimates and projections.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rates use updated projections.
• Non-Indigenous rates are derived by subtracting Indigenous estimates from total population figures.

These rates are not directly comparable with those in previous publications, which used 2016 Census data for Indigenous populations. For more, see:

• Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
• Guide to using historical estimates for comparative analysis and reporting 

Infant mortality rates are presented per 1,000 live births. From 2024, an additional data field on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of the child was used to derive Indigenous status in four jurisdictions: New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. This has resulted in an increase in births where the child was identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin and reduced cases where Indigenous status was not stated. Please refer to Change in how Indigenous status of births is derived for further information.

The ABS produces life expectancy estimates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people using:

• Death records
• Census data
• Post Enumeration Survey (PES)

For the latest estimates, refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy. 

Estimates are available by state and territory, remoteness area and socio-economic status (SEIFA).

Following a 2020 independent review, the ABS enhanced its methodology for calculating life expectancy. For details, refer to Updated method for 2020-2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy estimates.  

The ABS uses the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) to obtain causes of death information for coroner referred deaths including suicides. Information regarding the causes of death and associated factors is obtained from various reports including police, toxicology, autopsy and coronial findings.

A death may be coded as due to suicide when:

• a coroner makes a formal finding stating the death was due to suicide.
• in the absence of a formal finding by the coroner, an investigation of information on the NCIS may indicate a death was likely due to suicide. For example, this may include indications by the person that they intended to take their own life, the presence of a suicide note, or knowledge of previous suicide attempts.
• for an open coronial investigation, the police may record the death as being a suspected suicide (open cases are reviewed by the ABS when closed as part of the annual revisions process).

These coding guidelines have been applied since 1 January 2007. Previous coding rules required a coroner to determine a death as intentional self-harm for it to be coded to suicide.

Since 2006 the revisions process for coroner certified deaths has allowed open cases to be updated if additional information is added and cases are closed over time. For more details see the Revisions process in the Processing the data section. Suicide deaths 2001-2005 may be understated as the ABS adopted the NCIS for coding coroner referred deaths. 

The two flow charts below highlight the guidelines ABS coders use in assessing intent for both open and closed cases. Where intent status at the time of coding is neither intentional self-harm nor assault, the ABS considers additional information available on NCIS such as the mechanism and other available data.

The circumstances surrounding a suicide are often complex and multifaceted. Suicide is rarely associated with a single event, condition or circumstance. A range of interacting factors may contribute to a person's death, and any individual risk factor should not be considered in isolation. A complete list of codes used for risk factors analysis is available in the downloadable Code lists for causes of death in the Classifications section. 

Information available from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) includes police, pathology, toxicology and coroners' reports. These reports contain information that is important for public health reporting and may identify circumstances or conditions present in the life of a person who died by suicide. Reports can include mental health conditions, lifestyle circumstances, chronic diseases and other psychosocial factors. The presence of a risk factor does not necessarily mean it contributed directly to the death. Risk factors are assigned codes by the ABS based on ICD-10. Psychosocial codes have been taken from ICD-10 Chapter 21 Factors Influencing Health Status and Contact with Health Services. More information on psychosocial risk factor codes and their definitions is available in the Listing of psychosocial risk factor ICD-10 codes with inclusions and exclusions. 

The availability of information on associated causes and risk factors depends on the documentation available for each death. This can be influenced by factors such as the length of the coronial investigation, differences in reporting practices across jurisdictions, and the timing of report availability. The information presented reflects the reports available on the NCIS at the time of coding and may not capture all factors associated with every suicide death. More detail may be added to recent years as part of the revision process. 

Psychosocial risk factors have been coded by the ABS since 2017. The inclusion has expanded on previous risk factors information related to mental and behavioural disorders and chronic health conditions. Risk factors are included as associated causes in the National Mortality Dataset. 

Deaths that are referred to a coroner (such as those from suicide) can take time to be fully investigated, which can influence what information is available to assign a cause of death code during the ABS coding process. These delayed registrations can sometimes create large yearly variation in some causes of deaths and for populations, for example deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In recent years, for some jurisdictions, there has been increased delays in information flowing between the coroner court and the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), including uploading autopsy reports, toxicology reports and coronial findings, and updating the closure status. Deaths coded to suicide will continue to change as further information is received and data is revised. For jurisdiction-specific statistics, refer to the NCIS Operational Statistics.

Other influences on the mortality dataset include:

• changes in administrative systems
• certification practices
• information flow delays
• updates to classification or coding rules.

These factors can impact comparability across time periods and regions.

Each year, some coroner cases are coded by the ABS before the coronial proceedings are finalised (i.e. the case is still open). The ABS refers to this as “open coding”. This can impact on data quality as less specific ICD-10 codes may need to be applied. It means that:

• some deaths due to suicide may be a suspected suicide
• less specific codes may be applied
• risk factors and other associated causes may not be available.

As many coronial investigations for deaths occurring in 2021 and 2022 have now been completed, data for these years are considered final.

As a result of two reconciliation exercises conducted jointly between the ABS and the Victorian Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Victorian RBDM), additional historical registrations of suicide were identified that had not been previously provided to the ABS.

• The first exercise (conducted in the first quarter of 2020) resulted in the identification of an additional 180 suicides that were registered in Victoria in 2017 (88 suicides) and 2018 (92 suicides) but not previously supplied to the ABS.
• The second exercise (conducted in the first quarter of 2022) resulted in the identification of an additional 72 suicides that were registered in Victoria in 2013 (20 suicides), 2014 (14 suicides), 2015 (8 suicides) and 2016 (30 suicides) that were not previously supplied to the ABS.  

In February 2019, Victoria introduced a new registration system and began submitting interim death registrations (a coronial case is still open, but a death registration has been commenced to assist the family with managing the estate), improving the timeliness and quality of suicide data. Previously, the Victorian RBDM only submitted a death registration once the coronial investigation has closed. 

Refer to Data quality Historical considerations for more details.

Upon completion of coroner coding, 2025 deaths from intentional self-harm in NSW appeared low in comparison with other sources. The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the Coroners Court of New South Wales were consulted and a review was conducted between ABS records received from the RBDM and Coroner Court records. The ABS thanks the NSW Coroner Court for their advice and work put into this review which improved the preliminary ABS intentional self-harm dataset. 

Drug-induced deaths are those directly attributable to drug use including acute drug toxicity (e.g. overdose) and chronic drug use (e.g. drug-induced cardiac conditions). A full list of ICD-10 codes which are considered representative of drug-induced deaths is available for download in the Classifications section - Code lists for causes of death. This list is reviewed annually. The list of codes is based on a tabulation created by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About 97% of drug-induced deaths annually are certified by coroners. Certification is complex and can take significant time to complete due to multiple factors including:

• the timing between the death and toxicology testing influencing the levels and types of drugs detected
• individual drug tolerance related to sex, body mass and previous exposure
• pre-existing conditions or diseases
• contextual information about the circumstances of the death from informants (e.g. friends and families).

As a result, drug-induced death data is particularly sensitive to the revisions process. Data for 2023, 2024 and 2025 is not yet final. This data is preliminary and comparisons to previous years can be misleading. Numbers of drug-induced deaths should be interpreted with caution, as they are expected to increase when the ABS revisions process is applied.

Data by common drug classes indicates the number of deaths with a specified drug recorded. Drug classes in these tables represents when the drug is present in an acute overdose/toxicity setting. Drug types are not mutually exclusive and deaths with multiple drugs present will be included in more than one category. As a result, categories cannot be summed to obtain the total number of drug-induced deaths.

Selected drug classes referred to in tables are listed below with the drugs types that may be included.

For drug-induced deaths prior to 2020, the detection of cannabis in blood in was captured using T40.7 Poisoning: Cannabis (derivatives). However, cannabis can remain detectable long after consumption and its presence in toxicology results does not always indicate a role in drug overdose. Since 2020, T40.7 is used only if a pathologist determines cannabis contributed to a multi-drug effect or was the sole drug present in a drug overdose. If cannabis was detected but deemed unlikely to have influenced the cause of death, R78.3 (Finding of hallucinogen in blood) is used. As a result, time series data for drug-induced deaths involving cannabis should be interpreted with caution.

Alcohol-induced deaths are those where the underlying cause can be directly attributed to alcohol use. They include acute conditions (e.g. alcohol poisoning) or chronic conditions (e.g. alcoholic liver cirrhosis).

On average, around 60% of alcohol-induced deaths are certified by a doctor. These deaths are primarily caused by chronic alcohol-induced conditions. As a result, data on alcohol-induced deaths is less likely to be impacted by ABS revisions than causes with a higher proportion of coroner referral such as drug-induced deaths and suicides.

A full list of ICD-10 codes which are considered representative of drug-induced deaths is available for download in the Classifications section -  Code lists for causes of death.

Persons who are identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of deceased persons is captured through the death registration process. For further information refer to Deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Age-specific death rates (ASDRs) are the number of deaths (occurred or registered) during the registration year at a specified age per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age at the midpoint of the year (30 June). ASDRs for deaths under 1 year of age are calculated based on 1,000 live births for that year.

See Standardised death rate (SDR).

All causes listed on a death certificate other than the underlying cause.

The ASGS provides a common framework of statistical geography and thereby enables the production of statistics that are comparable and can be spatially integrated. See Classifications section of the methodology in this publication for more information.

The causes of death to be entered on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death are all those diseases, morbid conditions or injuries that either resulted in or contributed to death and the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced any such injuries.

Deaths may be certified by either a medical practitioner, using the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or Medical Certificate of Cause of Perinatal Death (doctor certified), or coroner (coroner certified). Natural causes are predominantly certified by doctors, whereas external and unknown causes are usually certified by a coroner. However, some deaths for natural causes are referred to coroners for investigation, for example, unaccompanied deaths. 

Some data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect confidentiality. As a result some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with 0 values have not been affected by confidentialisation. Refer to the footnotes for the tables where confidentialisation has been applied.

Deaths that were certified by a coroner. Deaths certified by a coroner represent 11-14% of all deaths each year. Coroner cases remain open while cause of death investigations are undertaken, and are closed when coronial investigations are complete. Following completion, causes of death information is passed to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, as well as to the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). All coroner certified deaths registered after 1 January 2006 will be subject to a revision process. 

The classification of countries used is the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). For more detailed information refer to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).

A form of multiple causes of death analysis that is a calculation of the number of people who have died with a particular disease/s or disorder/s.

A form of multiple causes of death analysis that calculates the total number of incidences of particular disease/s or disorder/s listed on the death certificates.

The crude death rate (CDR) is the number of deaths registered during the year per 100,000 estimated resident population at 30 June.

Data cubes are a series of spreadsheets which present Causes of Death data. Causes of Death data cubes can be found on the web page under the Data downloads section.

Death is the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life after birth has taken place. The definition excludes all deaths prior to live birth. For the purposes of the Deaths and Causes of Death collections, a death refers to any death that occurs in, or en route to, Australia and is registered with a state or territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Deaths that were certified by a doctor or medical practitioner, which were not required to be referred on to a coroner. Deaths certified by a doctor represent around 86%-89% of all deaths each year. Doctor certified deaths are not subject to the revisions process.

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 fewer than 12 months over a 16-month period and excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for fewer than 12 months over a 16-month period. 

Deaths due to causes external to the body (for example suicide, transport accidents, falls, poisoning etc.). These relate to ICD-10 codes V01-Y98.

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 Standardised Death Rate (SDR).

An infant death is the death of a live born child who dies before reaching their first birthday.

The number of deaths of children under one year of age in a registration year per 1,000 live births in the same reference year.

The manner or intent of an injury that leads to death is determined by whether the injury was inflicted purposefully or not (in some cases, intent cannot be determined). The determination of "intent" for each death is essential for determining the appropriate ICD-10 code to use for a death. 

The purpose of the ICD is to permit the systematic recording, analysis, interpretation and comparison of mortality and morbidity data collected in different countries or areas and at different times. The ICD, which is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is primarily designed for the classification of diseases and injuries with a formal diagnosis. The ICD-10 is the current classification system, which is structured using an alphanumeric coding scheme. Each disease or health problem listed on the death certificate is assigned a 3-character identification code. Causes of death statistics can be produced for aggregates of these, for example, chapter level (letter), 2-character code (first two characters of the assigned code), and 3-character code (first three characters of the assigned code). 

Ranking causes of death is a useful method for describing patterns of mortality in a population and allows comparison over time and between populations. The ranking of leading causes of death in this publication is based on research presented in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 84, Number 4, April 2006, 297-304. For details of the main differences between the WHO defined leading cause groupings and the leading cause groupings presented in this publication, refer to the Processing the data section of the methodology.

Mechanisms of external cause of death by which a person may die include: poisoning; hanging and other threats to breathing; drowning and submersion; firearms; contact with sharp object; and falls.

This refers to the age at death at the 50th percentile for the relevant demographic group.

The events and diseases that lead to death.

See Death.

All morbid conditions, diseases and injuries entered on the death certificate. These include those involved in the morbid train of events leading to death which were classified as either the underlying cause, the immediate cause, or any intervening causes, and those conditions that contributed to death but were not related to the disease or condition causing death. For deaths where the underlying cause was identified as an external cause (for example, injury or poisoning, etc.) multiple causes include circumstances of injury and the nature of injury as well as any other conditions reported on the death certificate. 

The NCIS is a national data storage system which contains information about all deaths referred to a coroner since July 2000 (January 2001 for Queensland).

Deaths due to diseases (for example diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc.) that are not external or unknown.

Following the 1992 amendments to the Acts Interpretation Act, the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included as part of geographic Australia. As of 01 July, 2016, Norfolk Island is now also considered part of geographic Australia, due to the introduction of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. Jervis Bay Territory (previously included with the Australian Capital Territory), Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island appear as "Other Territories", which is another category that has been created at the same level as states and territories within the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

A death that is either a stillbirth (i.e. a fetal death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother as a product of conception of 20 completed weeks of gestation or with a birth weight of at least 400 grams (or 22 weeks' gestation or 500 grams' birth weight according to World Health Organization scope)), or a neonatal death (i.e. death of a live born baby within 28 completed days of birth). Perinatal deaths are published separately.

Rate difference is calculated by subtracting the standardised death rate for one group (such as all persons with a usual residence of Queensland) from the standardised death rate for the total relevant population (such as all persons with a usual residence of Australia).

Rate ratio is calculated by dividing the standardised death rate for one group (such as all persons with a usual residence of Queensland) by the standardised death rate for the total relevant population (such as all persons with a usual residence of Australia).

Data for a particular reference year includes all deaths registered in Australia for the reference year that are received by the ABS by the end of the March quarter of the subsequent year. For example, data for the 2025 reference year includes all deaths registered in Australia in 2025 that was received by the ABS by the end of March 2026. Data for the ABS Deaths, Australia publication is presented by reference year.

From the 2022 issue of this publication, Causes of Death data is presented on a year of registration basis. This relates to the date the death was registered with the relevant jurisdictional Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Previous to 2022, Causes of Death data was presented by reference year. For some years, the number of deaths registered in that year is the same as the number that fall within scope of the reference year, but for other years, the numbers are quite different. Refer to Data Collection section of the methodology for more information on this change in how data is presented in this publication.

Each state and territory has a Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. It is a legal requirement that all deaths are recorded by the relevant Registry for the state or territory in which the death occurred. Deaths registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages are also included in the death statistics for Australia. 

Deaths which are reported to a coroner. See Scope of causes of death statistics section of the methodology for further information on what constitutes a reportable death. 

When additional information about an 'open' coroner certified death is received by the ABS, a more specific ICD-10 code may be applied, thereby 'revising' the cause of death. See Revisions process in the Data quality section of the methodology for further information on this process. 

The number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio is defined for total population, at birth, at death and among age groups by appropriately selecting the numerator and denominator of the ratio.

Standardised death rates (SDRs) enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001. SDRs are expressed per 100,000 persons. There are two methods of calculating standardised death rates:

• The direct method – this is used when the populations under study are large and the age-specific death rates are reliable. It is the overall death rate that would have prevailed in the standard population if it had experienced at each age the death rates of the population under study.
• The indirect method – this is used when the populations under study are small and the age-specific death rates are unreliable or not known. It is an adjustment to the crude death rate of the standard population to account for the variation between the actual number of deaths in the population under study and the number of deaths that would have occurred if the population under study had experienced the age-specific death rates of the standard population.

Standardised death rates included in this release are based on the direct method.

Throughout this publication, when SDRs are produced for comparison between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and the non-Indigenous population, they are produced according to the principles outlined in Appendix: Principles on the use of direct age-standardisation, from Deaths, Australia, 2010. Rates based on a total persons death count of fewer than 20 deaths are not published, in accordance with Principle 3. Standardised Death Rates for the total population have been produced according to the same principles, with the main exception being the use of data up to the 85 and over year age grouping.

State or territory of registration refers to the state or territory in which the death was registered. It is the state or territory in which the death occurred, but is not necessarily the deceased's state or territory of usual residence. Deaths registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages are not counted in any Australian state or territory of registration but are included in the Australian totals.

State or territory of usual residence refers to the state or territory in which the deceased usually resided. Deaths registered by the Norfolk Island Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages are presented by the state or territory in which the deceased usually resided. If the deceased normally resided on Norfolk Island, these deaths are counted in the category of “Other territories” and are included in the Australian totals. 

The disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death. Accidental and violent deaths are classified according to the external cause, that is, to the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury rather than to the nature of the injury.

Deaths for which it is not possible to determine between a natural and an external cause.

Data presented on a year of occurrence basis relates to the date the death occurred rather than when it was registered with the relevant state or territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. 

YPLL measures the extent of 'premature' mortality, where 'premature' mortality is assumed to be any death at age 1-78 years inclusive. By estimating YPLL for deaths of people aged 1-78 years it is possible to assess the significance of specific diseases or trauma as a cause of premature death.