3303.0 - Causes of Death, Australia, 2007 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/03/2009   
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Contents >> Deaths by Year of Occurrence >> Year of Occurrence

YEAR OF OCCURRENCE

Introduction

Information contained in the preceding chapters of this publication refers to deaths registered during the 2007 calendar year. In this chapter, death statistics are based on year of occurrence, which is the year in which the death actually occurred, rather than the year it was registered.

Although some deaths can be registered many years after their date of occurrence, the international standard for publishing on a year of occurrence basis is to include deaths registered within the relevant occurrence year and the year immediately following.

Accordingly, this practice has been adopted for the presentation of year of occurrence data in this publication to facilitate international comparisons. Analysis of deaths in Australia has shown that the number of deaths registered after the second year is not significant.

Year of occurrence data allow for seasonal analysis, and data are not distorted by the effects of late registrations or changes in time lags in processing registrations. In those countries where registration systems are complete and timely, there is not a significant difference between the number of deaths derived on a registration basis and those on a year of occurrence basis.

For Australia, approximately 95% of deaths registered in a particular year occurred in that year. However, variations can occur in certain subsets of the population and for particular causes of death. For instance, while 95% of the total 133,739 deaths registered in 2006 occurred in the same year, only 88% of the 2,279 Indigenous deaths and 93% of deaths due to External causes registered in 2006 occurred in that year. More detailed data for specific causes or population groups are available from the ABS on request.


Datacubes

More detailed data by year of occurrence is included in the datacubes associated with this publication. This includes all causes at the 3-digit level of ICD-10.


Comparison of Year of Occurrence and Year of Registration data for 2006

The following table shows the number of deaths occurring in 2006 and registered in either 2006 or 2007. As seen in this table, 12% of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people occurring in 2006 (and registered in either 2006 or 2007) were registered late, in 2007. This compared with 4.9% for the total population.

7.1 SELECTED CAUSES, 2006 Year of Occurrence

Registration Years
2006(a)
2007 (b)(c)
Total as at 2007(d)
Late Registrations
Cause of death and ICD code
no.
no.
no.
%

INDIGENOUS

All Causes
1 979
276
2 255
12.2

TOTAL

All Causes
127 634
6 638
134 272
4.9
Infectious diseases (A00-B99)
1 868
120
1 988
6.0
Cancer (C00-D48)
38 022
1 838
39 860
4.6
Blood and immunity disorders (D50-D89)
468
23
491
4.7
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90)
4 894
221
5 115
4.3
Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
4 916
196
5 112
3.8
Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99)
4 682
217
4 899
4.4
Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59)
4
-
4
-
Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95)
7
-
7
-
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (I00-I99)
43 670
2 206
45 876
4.8
Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99)
10 451
579
11 030
5.2
Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93)
4 290
246
4 536
5.4
Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99)
312
11
323
3.4
Diseases of the muscles, bones, and tendons (M00-M99)
1 025
41
1 066
3.8
Diseases of the kidney, urinary system and genitals (N00-N99)
3 172
155
3 327
4.7
Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O99)
9
1
10
10.0
Conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96)
588
66
654
10.1
Congenital and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
511
46
557
8.3
Ill-defined causes (R00-R99)
1 430
146
1 576
9.3
External causes (V01-Y98)
7 315
526
7 841
6.7

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Deaths occurring in 2006, registered in 2006.  
(b) Deaths occurring in 2006, registered in 2007.  
(c) Cause of death data for 2007 is subject to revision. See Explanatory Notes 3-4 for further information.
(d) Deaths occurring in 2006 and registered in 2006 or 2007





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