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INTRODUCTION

A birth is registered as being an Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth where at least one parent reported themselves as being an Australian Aboriginal person, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the birth registration form. Fertility rates for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women refer to births to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers. Due to data quality concerns and the small number of Torres Strait Islander births, aggregated Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data are presented in this publication.

This chapter reports on the characteristics of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births and fertility rates in each state and territory, except for the Australian Capital Territory, due to small numbers of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births. The number of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births in the Australian Capital Territory are reported in table 3.1.

Some births of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not reported and recorded as such when they are registered. Data presented in this chapter may therefore underestimate the level of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births and fertility in Australia. Lags in registrations may also affect reliability of measures of fertility for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Caution should be exercised when interpreting data presented in this chapter, especially with regard to year-to-year changes (see paragraphs 34 to 44 of the Explanatory Notes for more information).

Further care should be taken when interpreting Queensland birth registration data for 2009, particularly for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as these data have been affected by the 'Retrospective Births Project' undertaken by the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages that year (see paragraph 38 of the Explanatory Notes for more information).