OVERVIEW
An underlying cause of death is the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death. Accidental and violent deaths are classified according to the external cause, that is, to the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury, rather than to the nature of the injury.
Data presented for 2012 is preliminary and subject to a process of revision, with the revisions process only applying to coroner certified deaths. See Explanatory Notes 29-33 and Technical Notes, Causes of Death Revisions, 2006 in Causes of Death, Australia, 2010 and Causes of Death Revisions, 2010 and 2011 in this publication.
DATA CUBES
The following analysis provides insight into selected ICD-10 chapters and specific causes of death. Further information on underlying causes of death is presented in the data cubes associated with this publication. Included in the data cubes are counts, standardised death rates, years of potential life lost, and changes over time for all causes at the ICD-10 three-character level by sex for Australia and each state/territory of usual residence. Age-specific rates are also presented for Australia and each state/territory of usual residence for selected causes of death.