3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2009 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/11/2010   
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INDIGENOUS BIRTHS

There were 15,800 births registered in Australia in 2009 where at least one parent identified themselves as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin on the birth registration statement. This was 5% higher than in 2008 (15,000 births), and accounted for 5% of all births registered in 2009 (295,700).

Queensland and New South Wales, the states with the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, recorded the highest number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births (5,200 and 4,100 births respectively), followed by Western Australia (2,400) and the Northern Territory (1,500).

3.1 Indigenous births(a), States and territories(b) - 1991 to 2009
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.(c)
1991
50
508
9
593
33
190
1 257
58
2 698
1992
42
503
4
561
1 215
218
1 354
14
3 911
1993
1 278
493
31
519
1 535
264
1 359
43
5 523
1994
2 011
520
25
531
1 578
247
1 338
59
6 310
1995
2 345
542
29
554
1 492
267
1 354
52
6 640
1996
2 444
474
2 534
557
1 538
244
1 343
66
9 204
1997
2 813
457
3 038
591
1 474
310
1 259
53
9 999
1998
3 014
590
3 085
661
1 468
300
1 284
42
10 445
1999
3 052
521
2 974
640
1 558
339
1 419
75
10 580
2000
2 991
452
3 172
632
1 721
336
1 530
57
10 895
2001
3 112
522
3 337
612
1 597
468
1 688
67
11 405
2002
3 339
601
3 349
679
1 481
431
1 539
66
11 488
2003
3 254
722
3 408
578
1 687
376
1 630
85
11 740
2004
3 533
719
3 424
653
1 719
357
1 509
91
12 006
2005
3 139
802
3 657
718
1 763
415
1 485
98
12 078
2006
3 516
782
3 463
733
1 910
413
1 565
109
12 496
2007
3 720
1 025
4 486
808
2 121
308
1 595
129
14 192
2008
4 003
1 096
4 402
976
2 473
364
1 560
134
15 011
2009
4 128
1 129
5 205
889
2 416
397
1 523
135
15 825
(a) Due to changes in identification of Indigenous births, care should be taken when interpreting changes in number of births.
(b) State or territory of usual residence.
(c) Includes Other Territories.



Indigenous mothers

In 2009, 4% of all mothers who gave birth in Australia identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers ranged from 1% in Victoria, to 36% in the Northern Territory. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers was highest in Queensland (4,000), followed by New South Wales (2,600), Western Australia (1,900) and the Northern Territory (1,400).

3.2 Indigenous mothers, States and territories - 2009
Indigenous Mothers(a)
Proportion of all mothers
State or territory of usual residence
no.
%
New South Wales
2 561
2.8
Victoria
672
1.0
Queensland
3 967
6.1
South Australia
644
3.3
Western Australia
1 887
6.2
Tasmania
216
3.3
Northern Territory
1 372
36.4
Australian Capital Territory
88
1.8
Australia(b)
11 410
3.9
(a) Total confinements to Indigenous mothers.
(b) Includes Other Territories.








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