The life expectancy of a boy born today is 78.7 years, while for a girl it is 83.5 years. Having survived to 65, men could expect to live another 18.3 years and women 21.5 years.

Since 1986, life expectancy at birth has increased by around six years for men and four and a half years for women.

The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest life expectancy for both males (80.0 years) and females (83.9 years), while the Northern Territory experienced the lowest life expectancy for both males (72.1 years) and females (78.1 years).

In 2006, the standardised death rate was the lowest on record at 6.0 deaths per 1,000 people. In 1986 the standardised death rate was 9.1 deaths per 1,000 people.

There were 133,700 deaths (68,600 men and 65,200 women) in 2006.

Further details are in Deaths, Australia, 2006 (cat. no. 3302.0). Regional, state and territory information is also available.

Media Note - Life expectancy is calculated using the latest death rates and does not account for any future changes in death rates. The standardised death rate removes the effect of different age structures in populations of interest.