CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENTS

Indigenous status

Around one-third (32%) of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in 2010 were births for which both parents reported themselves as being Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons on the birth registration form. For 42% of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births only the mother reported herself as being an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (including births where paternity was not acknowledged and those where the father's Indigenous status was unknown). The remaining 27% of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births were to an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander father and a non-Indigenous mother (including births where the mother's Indigenous status was not stated).

Median age

Overall, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have children at younger ages than all women. The median age of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who registered a birth in 2010 was 24.6 years, six years lower than the median age of all mothers (30.7 years). Of the states and territories, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers living in Western Australia had the lowest median age (24.2 years), followed closely by the Northern Territory (24.3 years).

Fathers of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births in 2010 were also younger than all fathers (where the age of the father was known), with a median age of 27.7 years compared with 33.1 years for all fathers. Western Australia recorded the lowest median age of fathers of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births (27.2 years), followed by Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory (all 27.4 years).


Nuptiality

In 2010, 84% of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births were ex-nuptial; that is, births to women who were not in a registered marriage at the time of birth, although many may have been in de facto relationships. Ex-nuptial births where the father did not sign the birth registration statement (that is, births where paternity was not acknowledged) accounted for 14% of all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births.

Previous Page

Next Page