INTRODUCTION
Deaths in Australia can be categorised as either deaths which are certified by a medical practitioner (doctor certified) or coroner. Doctor certified deaths are predominantly due to natural causes, whilst coroner certified deaths are typically due to external or unknown causes.
This publication contains summary information on causes of death for all doctor certified deaths for Australia.
Doctor certified deaths accounted for 86.7% of all deaths registered in 2009. The remainder were reported to, and certified by, a coroner.
Causes of death for all deaths in 2009, whether doctor or coroner certified, will be published in Causes of Death, Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 3303.0), due to be released in 2011.
The proportion of deaths certified by a doctor varies according to cause of death. For example, deaths classified to Chapter II Cancer (C00-D48) and Chapter IX Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) have a higher proportion of deaths certified by doctors. In 2009, doctor certified deaths classified to these chapters accounted for 29.2% and 28.0% of total 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 2009, doctor certified deaths classified to these chapters accounted for only 0.2% and 1.1% of total deaths, respectively (see Table 1 in the ' Underlying Causes of Death' section). Given the low number of doctor certified deaths for these particular causes, they are not presented in detail in this publication. However, the information will be available in the 2011 release of Causes of Death, Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 3303.0) which will provide causes of death for all deaths in 2009.
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All