GLOSSARY
Age-specific death rate
Age-specific death rates (ASDRs) are the number of deaths (occurred or registered) during the reference year at a specified age per 100,000 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. ASDR for deaths under 1 year of age are calculated based on 1,000 live births for that year.
Associated causes
All causes listed on a death certificate other than the underlying cause.
Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC)
The ASGC provides a common framework of statistical geography and thereby enables the production of statistics which are comparable and can be spatially integrated. See Explanatory Notes 24-25 for more information.
Cause of death
The causes of death to be entered on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death are all those diseases, morbid conditions or injuries which either resulted in or contributed to death and the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced any such injuries.
Certifier type
Deaths may be certified by either a medical practitioner, using the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, or a coroner. Natural causes are predominantly certified by doctors, whereas External and Unknown causes are usually certified by a coroner. However, some deaths for natural causes are referred to coroners for investigation, for example unaccompanied deaths.
Confidentialised
From 2007 data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect confidentiality. As a result some totals will not equal the sum of their components. It is important to note that cells with 0 values have not been affected by confidentialisation.
Coroner certified deaths
Deaths which were certified by a coroner. Approximately 10-15% of deaths each year are certified by a coroner. Coroner cases remain 'open' while cause of death investigations are undertaken, and are closed when coronial investigations are complete. Following completion, causes of death information is passed to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, as well as to the National Coroners Information System (NCIS). All coroner certified deaths registered after 1 January 2007 are subject to a revisions process. For more information see Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process and Technical Note 3: 2007 Revisions.
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 reference year per 100,000 estimated resident population at 30 June.
Data cubes
Are a series of spreadsheets which present Causes of Death data. Causes of Death data cubes can be found on the web page under the Downloads tab. See iNote for Data cubes for more information on Causes of Death data cubes.
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 Deaths and Causes of Death collections of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 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.
Doctor certified deaths
Deaths which were certified by a doctor or medical practitioner, which were not required to be referred on to a coroner. Approximately 85-90% of deaths each year are certified by a doctor. Doctor certified deaths are not subject to the revisions process.
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 usual residents who are overseas for less than 12 months. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for less than 12 months.
External causes of death
Deaths due to causes external to the body (for example Suicide, transport accidents, falls, poisoning etc). ICD-10 codes V01-Y98.
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.
ICD
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. The purpose of the ICD is to permit the systematic recording, analysis, interpretation and comparison of mortality and morbidity data collected in different countries or areas and at different times. The ICD, which is endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is primarily designed for the classification of diseases and injuries with a formal diagnosis. The ICD-10 is the current classification system, which is structured using an alphanumeric coding scheme. Each disease or health problem is assigned a 3-digit identification code, which is assigned to the deceased by a doctor or coroner. Cause of death statistics can be produced for aggregates of these, for example, chapter level (letter), 2-digit code (first two numbers of the assigned code), and 3-digit code (three numbers of the assigned code). See Explanatory Notes 29-33 for more information on ICD. Further information also is available from the WHO website .
Indigenous
Persons who identify themselves as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.
Indigenous death
The death of a person who is identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) origin on the Death Registration Form (DRF). From 2007, Indigenous origin 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).
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.
Intent
The manner or 'intent' of an injury which leads to death, is determined by whether the injury was inflicted purposefully or not (in some cases, intent cannot be determined). The determination of 'intent' for each death is essential for determining the appropriate ICD-10 code to use for a death and is particularly pertinent to the coding of external causes.
Leading causes of death
Ranking causes of death is a useful method of describing patterns of mortality in a population and allows comparison over time and between populations. The ranking of leading causes of death in this publication are based on research presented in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, Volume 84, Number 4, April 2006, 257-336 (see Explanatory Notes 40-42 for further information).
Mechanism of death
Mechanism of external cause of death by which a person may die include: poisoning; hanging and other threats to breathing; drowning and submersion; firearms; contact with sharp object; and falls.
Median age at death
This refers to the age at death at the 50th percentile for the relevant demographic group.
Morbid train of events
The events and diseases which lead to death.
Mortality
The condition of being mortal or subject to death.
Multiple causes of death
All morbid conditions, diseases and injuries entered on the death certificate. These include those involved in the morbid train of events leading to death which were classified as either the underlying cause, the immediate cause, or any intervening causes and those conditions which contributed to death, but were not related to the disease or condition causing death. For deaths where the underlying cause was identified as an external cause (for example, injury or poisoning, etc) multiple causes include circumstances of injury, the nature of injury, as well as any other conditions reported on the death certificate.
National Coroners Information System (NCIS)
The NCIS is a national data storage system which contains information about all deaths referred to a coroner since July 2000 (January 2001 for Queensland).
National Health Priority Area (NHPA)
Australia's National Health Priority Areas are diseases and conditions given focused attention because of their significant contribution to the burden of illness and injury in the Australian community. The eight priority areas are Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, Asthma, Cancer control, Cardiovascular health, Diabetes mellitus, Injury prevention and control, Mental health and Obesity. For more information see Chapter 2 National Health Priority Area (NHPAs).
Natural cause of death
Deaths due to diseases (for example diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc) which are not external or unknown.
Neonatal period
The neonatal period commences at birth and ends 28 completed days after birth.
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.
Perinatal death
A perinatal death that is either a fetal death (i.e. a death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother as a product of conception of 20 completed weeks of gestation or with a birth weight of at least 400 grams), or a neonatal death (i.e. death of a live born baby within 28 completed days of birth).
Rate ratio
Rate ratio is calculated by dividing the standardised death rate for one group (such as all persons with a usual residence of Queensland) by the standardised death rate for the total relevant population (such as all persons with a usual residence of Australia).
Reference year
The year that presented data refers to. For example, this publication presents data for the 2008 reference year, as well as some historical data for the 1999 to 2007 reference years. From 2007, data for a particular reference year includes all deaths registered in Australia for the reference year that are received by the ABS by the end of the March quarter of the subsequent year. For example, data for the 2008 reference year includes all deaths registered in Australia for 2008 that were received by the ABS by the end of March 2009. See Explanatory Notes 9-16 for more information about scope and coverage.
Registration year
See 'Year of registration'.
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
Each state and territory has a Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. It is a legal requirement that all deaths are recorded by the relevant Registry for the state in which the death occurred.
Reportable deaths
Deaths which are reported to a coroner. See Explanatory Note 2 for further information on what constitutes a reportable death.
Revisions process
When additional information about an 'open' coroner certified death is received by the ABS, either 12 or 24 months after initial processing, a more specific ICD-10 code may be applied. This results in a 'revision' to the cause of death. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process and Technical Note 3: 2007 Revisions for further information on the revisions process and the impact on 2007 revised data.
Sex ratio
The number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio is defined for total population, at birth, at death and among age groups by appropriately selecting the numerator and denominator of the ratio.
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.
SDRs throughout this publication have been calculated using the direct method, except for SDRs presented for leading causes of death in the Migrant datacube, which were calculated using the indirect method.
State or territory of registration
State or territory of registration refers to the state or territory in which the death was registered. It is the state in which the death occurred, but is not necessarily the deceased's state or territory of usual residence.
State or territory of usual residence
State or territory of usual residence refers to the state or territory in which the person has lived or intended to live for a total of six months or more in a given reference year.
Underlying cause of death
The disease or injury which 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 which produced the fatal injury rather than to the nature of the injury.
Unknown cause of death
Deaths where it is unable to be determined whether the cause was natural or external.
Usual residence
Usual residence within Australia refers to that address at which the person has lived or intended 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 rather than when it was registered with the relevant state or territory Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. See Explanatory Notes 15-16 for more information.
Year of registration
Data presented on year of registration basis relate to the date the death was registered with the relevant state or territory Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. In most cases the year of registration and year of occurrence for a particular death will be the same, but in some cases there may be a delay between occurrence and registration of death.
Years of potential life lost (YPLL)
YPLL measures the extent of 'premature' mortality, where 'premature' mortality is assumed to be any death at ages of 1-78 years inclusive. By estimating YPLL for deaths of people aged 1-78 years it is possible to assess the significance of specific diseases or trauma as a cause of premature death. See Explanatory Notes 43-45 for an explanation of the calculation of YPLL.
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