NSW REGISTRY OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES, DEATHS COLLECTION
INTRODUCTION
1 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Deaths collection has been compiled from data made available to the ABS by the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each state or territory.
2 The Deaths collection brings together statistics and indicators for deaths in Australia.
3 In NSW, the Births, Deaths & Marriages Act 1995 requires all deaths occurring in NSW to be registered within 7 days of burial or cremation.
4 The Deaths collection includes information on the number of deaths classified by age, sex, birthplace, marital status, cause of death and usual residence of deceased by state or territory; also information on infant deaths, deaths of Indigenous persons, age-specific death rates, expectation of life at birth and standardised death rates.
5 In this product, information is presented on deaths and death rates by age and sex. Information is also presented on the number of infant deaths between 2002 and 2004 and the average infant mortality rate for the same period.
SCOPE
6 The ABS Deaths Collection includes all deaths that occurred and were registered in Australia including deaths of persons whose usual residence is overseas. Deaths of Australian residents which occurred outside Australia may be registered but are not included in the ABS statistics.
7 These tables do not include foetal deaths (stillbirths).
REFERENCE PERIOD
8 The reference period is calendar years, with the latest release available for 2004.
KEY DATA ITEMS
9 The following key data items from the Deaths collection relate to data used in this product:
10 Death: Death is the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life after birth has taken place. The definition excludes deaths prior to live birth. For the purposes of the Vitals and Causes of Death collections of the ABS, a death refers to any death which occurs in, or en route to Australia and is registered with a state or territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
11 Infant death: An infant death is the death of a live-born child who dies before reaching his/her first birthday.
12 Infant mortality rate: The number of deaths of children under one year of age in one calendar year per 1,000 live births in the same calendar year. In this product the infant mortality rate has been presented as an average for three years. The average rate was derived by calculating the infant mortality rate for each year, summing those rates and dividing the summation by three.
13 Local government area of usual residence: Local Government Area (LGA) of usual residence refers to the LGA of usual residence of the deceased.
14 Standardised death rate (SDR): Standardised death rates enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The ABS standard populations relate to the years ending in 1 (eg 1991). The current standard population is all persons in the 2001 Australian population. They are expressed per 1,000 or 100,000 persons. There are two methods of calculating standardised death rates: the direct and indirect methods. In this product, only the indirect method is used. The indirect method is used when the populations under study are small and the age-specific death rates are unreliable or not known. It is an adjustment to the crude death rate of the standard population to account for the variation between the actual number of deaths in the population under study and the number of deaths which would have occurred if the population under study had experienced the age-specific death rates of the standard population.
GEOGRAPHY
15 The Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0) is used in the coding of this collection. Data are available by Statistical Local Area (SLA) of usual residence. Within this product, SLA data has been aggregated to Local Government Areas.
COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
16 The registration of deaths is the responsibility of the individual state and territory Registrars and is based on information supplied by a relative or other person acquainted with the deceased, or an official of the institution where the death occurred and on information supplied by a medical practitioner as to the cause of death. This information is supplied to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) by individual Registrars for compilation into the aggregate statistics.
ACCURACY
17 There is usually an interval between the occurrence and registration of a death and, as a result of delays in registration, some deaths occurring in one year are not registered until the following year or even later.
18 For deaths data, cell values of less than three have been suppressed to assist in the preservation of confidentiality of information. Other cells may be suppressed to provide consequential confidentiality.
19 In compiling these statistics, the ABS employs a variety of quality control measures to ensure that the statistics are as reliable as possible. These measures include seeking further information where necessary to enable accurate classification of the underlying cause of death, detailed computer editing of data and checks on the statistical output, at the individual record and aggregate levels.
20 To assist certifiers in providing accurate and comprehensive information for mortality coding, the ABS provides certification booklets for guidance in the completion of medical certificates of cause of death.
PUBLISHED DATA
21 The main summary publications are Deaths, Australia (cat. no. 3302.0) and Causes of Death, Australia (cat. no. 3303.0).
UNPUBLISHED DATA
22 Unpublished data are available via a consultancy from the ABS. For further information, please contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
RELATED WEB SITES
23 The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages web site can be found at <www.bdm.nsw.gov.au>.
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