GLOSSARY
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death
The death of a person who is recorded as being an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the Death Registration Form (DRF). From 2007, Indigenous status for deaths registered in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory is also derived from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).
Age-specific death rate
Age-specific death rates (ASDRs) are the number of deaths (occurred or registered) during the calendar year at a specified age per 1,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age at the mid-point of the year (30 June). Pro rata adjustment is made in respect of deaths for which the age of the deceased is not given.
Balance of state or territory
The aggregation of all Statistical Divisions (SD) within a state or territory other than its Capital City SD. See Major Statistical in Australian Statistical Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Country of birth
The classification of countries used is the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). For more detailed information refer to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC) (cat. no. 1269.0).
Crude death rate
The crude death rate (CDR) is the number of deaths registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. For years prior to 1992, the crude death rate was based on the mean estimated resident population for the calendar year.
Death
Death is the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life after birth has taken place. The definition excludes all deaths prior to live birth. For the purposes of the ABS Death Registration collection, 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.
Estimated resident population (ERP)
The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality or citizenship, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomatic personnel and their families. It includes residents who are overseas for less than 12 months. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for less than 12 months.
External territories
Australian external territories include Australian Antarctic Territory, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Norfolk Island, Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands.
Indirect standardised death rate (ISDR)
See Standardised death rate (SDR).
Infant death
An infant death is the death of a live-born child who dies before reaching his/her first birthday.
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
The number of deaths of children under one year of age in a specified period per 1,000 live births in the same period.
Intercensal discrepancy
Intercensal discrepancy is the difference between two estimates at 30 June of a census year population, the first based on the latest census and the second arrived at by updating the 30 June estimate of the previous census year with intercensal components of population change which take account of information available from the latest census. It is caused by errors in the start and/or finish population estimates and/or in estimates of births, deaths or migration in the intervening period which cannot be attributed to a particular source. For further information see Population Estimates: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2009 (cat. no. 3228.0.55.001).
Life expectancy
Life expectancy refers to the average number of additional years a person of a given age and sex might expect to live if the age-specific death rates of the given period continued throughout his/her lifetime.
Life table
A life table is a tabular, numerical representation of mortality and survivorship of a cohort of births at each age of life. The conventional life table is based on the assumption that as the cohort passes through life it experiences mortality at each age in accordance with a predetermined pattern of mortality rates which do not change from year to year. The life table thus constitutes a hypothetical model of mortality, and even though it is usually based upon death rates from a real population during a particular period of time, it does not describe the real mortality which characterises a cohort as it ages.
Due to differences in mortality patterns between males and females at different ages, life tables are generally constructed separately for each sex.
Live birth
A live birth is the birth of a child who, after delivery, breathes or shows any other evidence of life such as a heartbeat.
Local Government Area (LGA)
LGA is a spatial unit which represents the whole geographical area of responsibility of an incorporated Local Government Council, an Aboriginal or Island Council in Queensland, or a Community Government Council (CGC) in the Northern Territory. An LGA consists of one or more SLAs. LGAs aggregate directly to form the incorporated areas of states/territories. The creation and delimitation of LGAs is the responsibility of the state and territory Governments. The number of LGAs, their names and their boundaries vary over time. Further information concerning LGAs is contained in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Marital status
Two separate concepts are measured by the ABS. These are registered marital status and social marital status.
Registered marital status refers to formally registered marriages and divorces. Registered marital status is a person's relationship status in terms of whether he or she has, or has had, a registered marriage with another person. Accordingly, people are classified as either 'never married', 'married', 'widowed', or 'divorced'.
Social marital status is the relationship status of an individual with reference to another people who is usually resident in the household. A marriage exists when two people live together as husband and wife, or partners, regardless of whether the marriage is formalised through registration. Individuals are, therefore, regarded as married if they are in a de facto marriage, or if they are living with the person to whom they are registered as married. Under social marital status, a person is classified as either 'married' or 'not married' with further disaggregation of 'married' to distinguish 'registered married' from 'de facto married'.
Median value
For any distribution the median value (age, duration, interval) is that value which divides the relevant population into two equal parts, half falling below the value, and half exceeding it. Where the value for a particular record has not been stated, that record is excluded from the calculation.
Mortality
Death.
Natural increase
Excess of births over deaths.
Net overseas migration (NOM)
Net overseas migration is the net gain or loss of population through immigration to Australia and emigration from Australia. It is:
- based on an international traveller's duration of stay being in or out of Australia for 12 months or more;
- the difference between;
- the number of incoming international travellers who stay in Australia for 12 months or more, who
are not currently counted within the population, and are then added to the population (NOM arrivals); and
- the number of outgoing international travellers (Australian residents and long-term visitors to Australia) who leave Australia for 12 months or more, who are currently counted within the population, and are then subtracted from the population (NOM departures).
Under the current method for estimating final net overseas migration this term is based on a traveller's actual duration of stay or absence using the '12/16 month rule'. Preliminary NOM estimates are modelled on patterns of traveller behaviours observed in final NOM estimates for the same period one year earlier.
Other Territories
Following the 1992 amendments to the
Acts Interpretation Act to include the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as part of geographic Australia, another category at the state and territory level has been created, known as Other Territories. Other Territories include Jervis Bay Territory, previously included with the Australian Capital Territory, as well as Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Population growth
For Australia, population growth is the sum of natural increase and net overseas migration. For states and territories, population growth also includes net interstate migration. After the census, intercensal population growth also includes an allowance for intercensal discrepancy.
Remoteness Area
Within the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), the Remoteness classification comprises five categories, each of which identifies a (non-contiguous) region in Australia being a grouping of Collection Districts (CDs) sharing a particular degree of remoteness. The degrees of remoteness range from 'highly accessible' (i.e. major cities) to 'very remote'.
The degree of remoteness of each CD was determined using the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA). CDs have then been grouped into the appropriate category of Remoteness to form non-contiguous areas within each state.
For more information, refer to
Statistical Geography Volume 1: Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) 2006 (cat. no. 1216.0) and
Information Paper: ABS Views on Remoteness, 2001 (cat. no. 1244.0).
Sex ratio
The sex ratio relates to the number of males per 100 females.
Standardised death rate (SDR)
Standardised death rates (SDRs) 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 (e.g. 2001). The current standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001. SDRs are expressed per 1,000 or 100,000 persons. There are two methods of calculating standardised death rates:
- The direct method - this is used when the populations under study are large and the age-specific death rates are reliable. It is the overall death rate that would have prevailed in the standard population if it had experienced at each age the death rates of the population under study.
- The indirect method - this 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.
Wherever used, the definition adopted is indicated.
Standardised mortality ratio
The ratio of 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 (see also Standardised death rate, the indirect method).
State or territory of registration
State or territory of registration refers to the state or territory in which the event was registered.
State or territory of usual residence
State or territory of usual residence refers to the state or territory of usual residence of:
- the population (estimated resident population);
- the mother (birth collection);
- the deceased (death collection).
Statistical Division (SD)
Statistical Divisions (SDs) consist of one or more Statistical Subdivisions (SSD). The divisions are designed to be relatively homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable social and economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Further information concerning SDs is contained in
Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Statistical Local Area (SLA)
Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) are, in most cases, identical with, or have been formed from a division of, whole Local Government Areas (LGAs). In other cases, they represent unincorporated areas. In aggregate, SLAs cover the whole of a state or territory without gaps or overlaps. In some cases, legal LGAs overlap statistical subdivision boundaries and therefore comprise two or three SLAs (Part A, Part B and, if necessary, Part C). Further information concerning SDs is contained in
Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Statistical Subdivision (SSD)
In aggregate, Statistical Subdivisions (SSD) cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. They are defined as socially and economically homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable links between the inhabitants. In the non-urban areas an SSD is characterised by identifiable links between the economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Further information concerning SSDs is contained in
Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Usual residence
Usual residence within Australia refers to that address at which the person has lived or intends to live for a total of six months or more in a given reference year.
Year of occurrence
Data presented on year of occurrence basis relate to the date the death occurred.
Year of registration
Data presented on year of registration basis relate to the date the death was registered.
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