Deaths, Australia methodology

This release contains statistics for deaths and mortality. Detailed information can be obtained from data cubes (in Microsoft Excel format) and Data Explorer datasets available electronically, from the Data downloads tab.

The ABS will release Causes of Death data for 2021 in October 2022.

Estimated Resident Populations (ERP) used in this release are based on the results of the 2021 Census and are as follows:

• State, Territory and Australia level ERP for 2021 (preliminary status), released in National, state and territory population, December Quarter, 2021 issued on 28 June 2022

• Sub-state ERP for 2021 (revised status), released in Regional population by age and sex, 2021 issued on 30 August 2022

• Local Government Area ERP for 2012-2021 based on the 2021 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

• Country of Birth ERP for 2021 (preliminary status), released in Australia's Population by Country of Birth, 2021 issued on 26 April 2022

• Indigenous ERP for 2012-2021 published in Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006 to 2031 issued on 11 July 2019.

In compiling death statistics, the ABS employs a variety of measures to improve the quality of the death registrations collection. While every opportunity is taken to ensure that the highest quality of statistics are provided, the following are known issues associated with the statistics included in this release.

The number of deaths registered in 2021 (171,469) increased by 10,169 compared to the 2020 registrations. All jurisdictions recorded an increase in death registrations in 2021. This follows lower death counts in 2020, after the introduction of public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. 

Victorian death registrations

There were 1,864 deaths registered in Victoria between 2013 and 2016 that were not supplied to the ABS until the 2021 reference year. As these deaths occurred more than five years prior to the reference year, they are not considered to be representative of mortality in 2021 and therefore are excluded from the 2021 reference year counts. These 1,864 death registrations are included in tables that are disseminated by year of occurrence of death. 

For the most part, statistics in this release refer to deaths registered during the calendar year shown. There is usually an interval between the occurrence and registration of a death (referred to as a registration 'lag') and as a result, some deaths occurring in one year are not registered until the following year or later. This can be caused by either a delay in the submission of a completed form to the registry, or a delay by the registry in processing the death. Deaths which occur in November and December are also likely to be registered in the following year.

Of the 171,469 deaths registered in 2021, 93.8% (160,891) occurred in 2021, while 6.1% occurred in 2020 and the remainder occurred in 2019 or earlier years. Any instances where year of occurrence was recorded as unknown are included in the 2018 and earlier category.

For some infant deaths, only limited information for age at death is known. These deaths are included in the following categories:

• not stated minutes and not stated hours (i.e. age at death was under one day) are included in 'Under one day'
• not stated days (i.e. age at death was at least one day but under one month) are included in 'One week to under four weeks'
• not stated months (i.e. age at death was at least one month but under one year) are included in 'Four weeks to under one year'.

Registration of deaths is the responsibility of the state and territory RBDM. Information about the deceased is acquired from the DRF. All states and territories use information from the DRF to identify an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death. In addition, some states and territories also use the MCCD to identify an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death. In 2007, the MCCD was introduced in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. The Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages introduced the MCCD in 2015. This resulted in a noticeable decrease in the number of deaths for which the Indigenous status was 'not stated' and an increase in the number of deaths identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Queensland. If the Indigenous status reported in the DRF does not agree with that in the MCCD, an identification from either source that the deceased was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is given preference over non-Indigenous.

While it is considered likely that most deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are registered, a proportion of these deaths are not reported as such by the family, health worker or funeral director during the death registration process. That is, whilst data is provided to the ABS for the Indigenous status question (99.4% of all deaths registered in 2021), there are concerns regarding the accuracy of the data. The funeral director may not always directly ask the Indigenous status question of the deceased's relatives and friends.

The number of registered deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are included for all jurisdictions. However, due to the data quality issues outlined below, detailed disaggregations of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are provided only for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The 'total' variable in detailed disaggregations is an aggregation of the four states and the Northern Territory (Total five state/territory).

There are several data collection forms on which people are asked to state whether they or the persons for whom they are reporting are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. However, the results are not always consistent, the main reason being the changes in identification. Identification levels vary across datasets, jurisdictions and time.

People change their identification for a range of factors, including:

• how the information is collected (e.g. Census, survey, or administrative data)
• who provides the information (e.g. the person in question, a relative, a health professional, or an official)
• the perception of why the information is required, and how it will be used
• education programs about reporting as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• cultural aspects and feelings associated with reporting as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
   

In addition to those deaths recorded as either Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or non-Indigenous, a number of deaths occur each year where Indigenous status is not stated on the DRF. In 2021, there were 1,106 deaths registered in Australia for whom Indigenous status was not stated, representing 0.6% of all deaths registered.

Data presented in this release may therefore underestimate the level of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths and mortality in Australia. Lags in registrations may also affect the reliability of measures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mortality. Caution should be exercised when interpreting data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples presented in this release, especially with regard to year-to-year changes.

Due to the ongoing concern about the mortality rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples relative to the total population, a number of projects have been undertaken to investigate the quality of these data. These include:

• investigations by the ABS through the Indigenous Mortality Study as part of the Census Data Enhancement Project to investigate the consistency of Indigenous status reporting between death registrations and the Census. See Information Paper: Death registrations to Census linkage project - Key findings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 2011- 2012 released 15 November 2013.
• improvements undertaken by the Queensland RBDM in December quarter 2010 finalised death registrations where there was previously incomplete information. As part of the registration of outstanding deaths initiative, 374 deaths were registered, of which approximately 76% were deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. See Technical Note in the Explanatory Notes tab of Deaths, Australia, 2010 for more information.
• ABS investigations into the unusual volatility in the number of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples registered in Western Australia in the years 2007 to 2009.
• ongoing data integration projects undertaken by several state and territory government departments using health and death records.

The ABS Death Registrations collection identifies a death as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander where the deceased is recorded as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the Death Registration Form (DRF). The Indigenous status is also derived from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) for South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory from 2007. For 2015 data, the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages also used MCCD information for the first time to derive Indigenous status. This resulted in a noticeable decrease in the number of deaths for which the Indigenous status was 'not stated' and an increase in the number of deaths identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Queensland. For New South Wales and Victoria, the Indigenous status of the deceased is derived from the DRF only. If the Indigenous status reported in the DRF does not agree with that in the MCCD, an identification from either source that the deceased was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is given preference over non-Indigenous.

General: The age-specific death rate (ASDR) is the number of deaths (registered) during the calendar year, at a specified age, per 1,000 of the estimated resident population (ERP) 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.

Indigenous status: The age-specific death rate (ASDR) is the number of deaths (registered), by Indigenous status, during the calendar year, at a specified age, per 100,000 of the Indigenous status ERP 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. These rates are based on three year averages. They are calculated for each calendar year and then averaged.

The ASGS defines all the regions for which the ABS releases statistics within the one framework and is used by the ABS for the collection and dissemination of geographically classified statistics from 1 July 2016. It is the current framework for understanding and interpreting the geographical context of statistics released by the ABS.

For more information, please refer to Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

The delivery of a child, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, who, after being born, breathes or shows any evidence of life such as a heartbeat.

The classification of countries used is the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).

For more information, please refer to Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).

The crude death rate (CDR) is the number of deaths registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June.

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 Registrations collection, a death refers to any death which occurs in, or en route to Australia and is registered with a state or territory RBDM.

The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of usual residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality, citizenship or legal status, 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 over a 16 month period. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for less than 12 months over a 16 month period.

Australian external territories include Australian Antarctic Territory, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands.

Data is reported individually by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. These five jurisdictions have been included as they have sufficient levels of identification and sufficient numbers of deaths to support mortality analysis. The total therefore represents the total for these five jurisdictions.

Are medium sized geographical areas designed to facilitate the release of more detailed statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. IAREs provide a balance between spatial resolution and population size, which provides the ability to release more detailed socio-economic attribute data than is available on ILOCs. IAREs are aggregates of one or more ILOCs.

For more information, please refer to Indigenous Structure, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

Represent small Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (urban and rural) with a minimum population of 90 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander usual residents. An ILOC is an area designed to allow the release of statistics relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a high level of spatial accuracy whilst maintaining the confidentiality of individuals. ILOCs are aggregates of one or more SA1s.

For more information, please refer to Indigenous Structure, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

Are large geographical areas loosely based on the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission boundaries. The greater population of IREGs enables greater cross classification of variables when compared with IAREs and ILOCs. IREGs do not cross State or Territory borders and are aggregates of one or more IAREs.

For more information, please refer to Indigenous Structure, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

See Standardised death rate (SDR).

An infant death is the death of a live-born child who dies before reaching his/her first birthday.

The number of deaths of children under one year of age in a specified period per 1,000 live births in the same period.

An ABS approximation of the officially gazetted Local Government Areas (LGAs) as defined by each state and territory local government department. LGAs cover incorporated areas of Australia, which are legally designated areas for which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. The major areas of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are the northern parts of South Australia and all of the Australian Capital Territory and the Other Territories. These regions are identified as 'Unincorporated' in the ABS LGA structure.

For more information, please refer to Non ABS Structures, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

Two separate concepts of marital status 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'. Statistics included in this release are based on registered marital status and include the additional categories of separated but not divorced and not stated marital status in total deaths.

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.

see Death.

Excess of births over deaths.

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 was created, known as Other Territories. From 1 July 2016 the Australian Government assumed responsibility for Norfolk Island. Other Territories includes Jervis Bay Territory, previously included with the Australian Capital Territory, as well as Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island.

The ASGS defines RAs into 5 classes of relative remoteness across Australia. Each RA is created from the grouping of Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1) identifying a (non-contiguous) region in Australia having a particular degree of remoteness.

The 5 classes of remoteness are: Major Cities, Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote, and Very Remote.

For more information, please refer to Remoteness Structure, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

The number of males per 100 females.

The standard population is all persons in the Australian population at 30 June 2001. For specific data see National, state and territory population - select from the data download section, Data Cubes, Standard Population for Use in Age-Standardisation Table.

The standardised death rate (SDR) enables the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. 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.

Standardised death rates included in this release are based on the direct method.

The state or territory in which the event was registered.

The state or territory of usual residence of:

• the population (estimated resident population);
• the mother (birth collection);
• the deceased (death collection).

An area defined in the ASGS and designed as the smallest unit for the release of Census data. They generally have a population of 200 to 800 people, and an average population of about 400 people. SA1s in remote and regional areas generally have smaller populations than those in urban areas. There are 57,523 SA1s and they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. Deaths data is not available at this level of geography.

For more information, please refer to Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

A general-purpose medium-sized area defined in the ASGS and built from whole SA1s. They aim to represent communities that interact together socially and economically. SA2s are based on officially gazetted suburbs and localities. In urban areas, SA2s largely conform to one or more whole suburbs, while in rural areas they generally define the functional zone of a regional centre. SA2s generally have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 people, and an average population of about 10,000 people. There are 2,310 SA2s and they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. SA2s are the base unit for preparing sub-state mortality statistics.

For more information, please refer to Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

An area defined in the ASGS and built up from SA2s which provides a standardised regional breakup of Australia. SA3s aim to create a standard framework for the analysis of ABS data at the regional level through clustering groups of whole SA2s that have similar regional characteristics. Their boundaries reflect a combination of widely recognised informal regions as well as existing administrative regions such as State Government Regions in rural areas and Local Government Areas in urban areas. SA3s generally range in population from 30,000 to 130,000 people. There are 358 SA3s and they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps.

For more information, please refer to Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

An area defined in the ASGS and designed for the output of labour force data and to reflect labour markets. In rural areas, SA4s generally represent aggregations of multiple small labour markets with socioeconomic connections or similar industry characteristics. Large regional city labour markets are generally defined by a single SA4. Within major metropolitan labour markets SA4s represent sub-labour markets. SA4s are built from whole SA3s. They generally have a population over 100,000 people to enable accurate labour force survey data to be generated. There are 107 SA4s and they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps.

For more information, please refer to Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3

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.

The year the death occurred.

The year the death was registered.

More detailed death and mortality statistics can be obtained from Data Explorer datasets and data cubes (in Microsoft Excel format) available electronically, from the Data downloads tab of this release.

Data Cubes

• Median age at death, Year of occurrence, States, Territories and Australia, 2011 to 2021
• Deaths, Summary, Statistical Area Level 4, 2011 to 2021
• Deaths, Summary, Statistical Area Level 2, 2011 to 2021
• Deaths, Summary, Local Government Areas, 2011 to 2021
• Deaths, Summary, Remoteness Areas, 2011 to 2021

Data Explorer Datasets

• Deaths, Year of registration, Summary data, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 1971 onwards
• Deaths, Year of registration, Age at death, Age-specific death rates, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 1971 onwards
• Deaths, Year of registration, Age at death, Sex, Australia, 1971 onwards
• Deaths, Year of occurrence, Age at death, Age-specific death rates, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 1971 onwards
• Deaths, Year of registration, Marital status, Age at death, Sex, Australia, 1971 onwards
• Infant deaths and Infant mortality rates, Year of registration, Age at death, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 1975 onwards
• Deaths, Year of registration, Indigenous status, Summary data, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 2001 onwards
• Deaths and infant deaths, Year and month of occurrence, Sex, States, Territories and Australia, 2001 onwards
• Deaths, Year of registration, Indigenous status, Age at death, Sex, Five State/Territory, 2001 onwards
• Infant deaths, Year of occurrence, Age at death, Sex, Australia, 2001 onwards.

The ABS' releases draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. The efforts of each state and territory's RBDM to improve the data quality, coverage and timeliness of death registration information, processes and systems are noted and valued by the ABS. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.