• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

UNDER-IDENTIFICATION OF DEATH REGISTRATIONS FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE


One of the aims of this statistical data integration project was to estimate measures of under-identification of death registrations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Detailed information on the outcomes of this assessment are published in Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2010–2012 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003).

Linking 2011–12 death registration records to the 2011 Census presented a unique opportunity to identify deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were not identified as such on their original death registration. However, the net undercount determined by the 2011 Post Enumeration Survey was 17.2% for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (for more information see Census of Population and Housing: Details of Undercount, 2011, cat. no. 2940.0). This means that there will not necessarily be a Census record for every death registration record. Therefore, dividing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths before linkage by the number after linkage is a flawed measure of likely under-identification, as it may understate it.

Many mortality indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are presented as death rates, and use estimated resident population as the denominator. To avoid introducing further numerator-denominator bias when deriving Indigenous status to calculate mortality rates, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in the death registrations numerator needs to align as closely as possible with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander estimated resident population. The use of an 'Ever Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' algorithm may be appropriate when there are only two datasets to link, but is prone to over-identify. Therefore to assess whether using this algorithm is appropriate when determining the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths used to calculate mortality indicators, a sensitivity analysis should be conducted to compare the results produced by this and other algorithms to derive Indigenous status (National best practice guidelines for data linkage activities relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2010–2012 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003) compares the results given using different methods to determine the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths.