CONCLUSION
As discussed above, the required inputs for compiling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life tables (that is, numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths and estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population) are subject to a range of data quality issues.
In the main, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ERP compiled from the five-yearly Census provide a sound foundation. However, improvements in methodologies for the Post Enumeration Survey and changing propensities to identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander make interpretation of changes over time in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population difficult.
In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death statistics, the non-reporting and/or incorrect reporting of a person's Indigenous status on the death registration form means that death rates calculated using the number of registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths are underestimates of the true death rates prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Application of these death rates in a standard life table would result in an overestimate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy, see table A3.1 in Appendix 3.
For the purposes of compiling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life tables, some method of adjustment is therefore required to adjust the registered number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths for potential underidentification in registration data. The method used by ABS to do so for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life tables is described in detail in Chapter 3: Data linkage to derive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths identification rates.
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