INTRODUCTION
Deaths in Australia can be categorised as deaths that are certified by either a medical practitioner (doctor certified) or coroner. Doctor certified deaths are predominantly due to natural causes, while coroner certified deaths include the majority of deaths by unknown and external causes.
This publication contains summary information on causes of death for all doctor certified deaths for Australia registered in 2011.
Doctor certified deaths accounted for 88.5% of all deaths registered in 2011. The remainder were reported to, and certified by, a coroner.
All deaths registered in 2011 have been coded using the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) as released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The proportion of deaths certified by a doctor varies according to cause of death.
- For example, deaths classified to Chapter II Neoplasms (C00-D48) and Chapter IX Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) have a higher proportion of deaths certified by doctors. In 2011, doctor certified deaths classified to these chapters accounted for 33.2% and 30.7% of total doctor certified deaths, respectively.
- In contrast, deaths classified to Chapter XVIII (Ill-defined causes) and Chapter XX (External causes) have a much lower proportion of deaths certified by doctors. In 2011, doctor certified deaths classified to these chapters accounted for only 0.3% and 1.4% of total doctor certified deaths, respectively (see Table 2). Given the low number of doctor certified deaths for these particular causes, they are not presented in detail in this publication.
Causes of death for all deaths in 2011, whether doctor or coroner certified, will be published in Causes of Death, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 3303.0), due for release in 2013.
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