ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER DEATHS


DEATHS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER AUSTRALIANS

There were 2,914 deaths registered in Australia in 2014 where the deceased person was recorded as being an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both (see table 1.3). For detailed data, see data cube Table 16: Deaths, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 2004 to 2014, from the Downloads tab.

1.3 DEATHS, Indigenous status - 2014(a)
State or territory of usual residence	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander			Non-Indigenous		Not stated		Total
		no.	%	no.	%	no.	%	no.
NSW		794	1.5	51 370	98.2	156	0.3	52 320
Vic.		139	0.4	37 869	99.5	34	0.1	38 042
Qld		688	2.4	27 443	95.6	573	2.0	28 704
SA		169	1.3	13 080	98.6	13	0.1	13 262
WA		517	3.7	13 106	95.1	164	1.2	13 787
Tas.		31	0.7	4 442	99.2	3	0.1	4 476
NT		562	48.1	591	50.6	15	1.3	1 168
ACT		13	0.7	1 793	98.9	7	0.4	1 813
Aust.(b)		2 914	1.9	149 701	97.5	965	0.6	153 580
(a) A new confidentiality method has been applied. See CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE (go to the Summary tab and then IN THIS ISSUE).
(b) Includes Other Territories.

Deaths by Year of registration and Year of occurrence

The following table presents deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by year of registration and year of occurrence separately for those deaths registered up to and including 31 December 2014. While the interval between the occurrence and registration of deaths is often longer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians than among the non-Indigenous population, there is normally little difference between the number of deaths registered in a given year and the number of deaths that occurred in the same year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This is because for each year, the number of deaths that are not registered in the year that they occurred are balanced by deaths that occurred in the previous years but were subsequently registered. The table below illustrates that if data are routinely reported on a year of occurrence basis, deaths data for the latest year will be underestimated.

1.4 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER DEATHS(a), States and territories(b)(c) - 1998 to 2014
		NSW	Vic.	Qld(d)	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.(e)
YEAR OF REGISTRATION
1998		462	123	593	127	378	13	415	3	2 114
1999		435	130	529	116	350	11	399	6	1 976
2000		473	108	535	144	407	np	450	np	2 127
2001		481	93	565	125	345	np	429	np	2 072
2002		516	64	590	107	371	20	462	4	2 136
2003		485	82	569	137	338	23	435	9	2 079
2004		490	54	579	131	400	20	449	10	2 136
2005		507	71	519	142	406	28	454	11	2 141
2006		530	111	584	124	443	20	452	14	2 279
2007		601	95	594	138	449	24	461	6	2 368
2008		559	97	562	141	486	24	467	16	2 353
2009		591	106	632	160	416	30	431	10	2 377
2010		622	117	948	147	436	37	447	13	2 767
2011		726	128	629	141	454	30	437	12	2 558
2012		635	100	678	151	466	45	539	6	2 620
2013		753	123	765	177	457	27	489	18	2 811
2014(f)		794	139	688	169	517	31	562	13	2 914
YEAR OF OCCURRENCE(f)(g)
1998		465	108	596	129	389	13	416	3	2 117
1999		433	106	540	119	347	12	438	7	1 999
2000		480	115	619	140	384	10	428	1	2 177
2001		487	81	581	122	368	29	430	2	2 100
2002		508	64	614	108	384	22	471	5	2 178
2003		494	83	594	144	324	22	418	12	2 093
2004		481	55	633	134	391	19	437	7	2 159
2005		507	81	542	140	416	32	493	12	2 226
2006		529	117	591	123	460	16	453	12	2 302
2007		599	94	588	140	462	25	463	8	2 379
2008		559	96	554	144	474	23	490	14	2 355
2009		596	109	627	147	409	33	438	12	2 372
2010		640	132	630	149	424	35	428	12	2 451
2011		711	104	648	145	444	32	479	11	2 574
2012		665	113	675	158	449	43	502	7	2 612
2013		755	116	738	166	460	29	495	17	2 778
2014		728	117	621	157	443	28	434	13	2 542
(a) The death of a person who is recorded as being an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the Death Registration Form (DRF) and/or the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). For further information see paragraph 28 of the Explanatory Notes.
(b) State or territory of usual residence.
(c) Due to differing levels of recording Indigenous status by the states and territories and over time, care should be taken in interpreting change in numbers of deaths. As a result, data for Australia should not be analysed as a time series.
(d) Care should be taken when interpreting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths data for Queensland for 2010. See Technical Note: Queensland Retrospective Deaths Project, and paragraph 36 of the Explanatory Notes of Deaths, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 3302.0).
(e) Includes Other Territories.
(f) A new confidentiality method has been applied. See CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE (go to the Summary tab and then IN THIS ISSUE).
(g) Includes deaths registered up to and including 31 December 2014. The number of deaths presented on a year of occurrence basis is subject to change, as deaths that occurred prior to 31 December 2014 but have not yet been registered are registered in subsequent years. See paragraphs 25 and 26 of the Explanatory Notes for more information.

Median age

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

In 2014, the median age at death of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians varied across the selected states and territories. For males, New South Wales had the highest median age at death (57.7 years) and Western Australia had the lowest (49.9 years). For females, New South Wales again had the highest median age at death (64.1 years) while the Northern Territory had the lowest (57.5 years). For detailed data, see data cube Table 17: Median age at death, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 2004 to 2014, from the Downloads tab.


Age-specific death rates

Age-specific death rates (ASDR) for 2010-2014 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian males and females, in nearly all age groups, were higher than the rates for non-Indigenous males and females. The exceptions for males were in the 1-4 years and 65 years and over age groups in South Australia and the 5-14 and 65 years and over age groups for New South Wales. For females, the exception was for the 65 years and over age group in South Australia where rates were higher for non-Indigenous Australians than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian ASDRs were more than twice the rates for non-Indigenous Australians in the 25-54 years age group for New South Wales and 25-64 years age group for Queensland. Of these two states, Queensland had the largest difference for both males and females aged 35-44 years, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian ASDRs were over three times the non-Indigenous male and female rates.

For South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, ASDRs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in some age groups were over four times the rates for non-Indigenous Australians. For these states and territory, the largest differences in ASDRs mainly occurred among males and females aged 35-44 years. For detailed data, see data cube Table 19: Age-specific death rates, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 2010-2014, from the Downloads tab.


Infant mortality rates

In 2012-2014, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory recorded a combined infant mortality rate (IMR) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that was around twice the rate for non-Indigenous Australians (6.0 and 3.3 per 1,000 live births respectively).

In the Northern Territory, IMRs for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population fell, while fluctuating, from 15.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2002-2004 to 12.5 in 2012-2014. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander IMRs in the Northern Territory were the highest of all states and territories across the 2002-2004 to 2012-2014 period. In the other states the rates fluctuated due to the small and variable number of registered infant deaths in these jurisdictions during the period. For detailed data, see data cube Table 18: Infant mortality rates, Indigenous status, Selected states and territories - 2002-2004 to 2012-2014, from the Downloads tab.