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Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Community Insights
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Target 1

Target 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enjoy long and healthy lives

Close the gap in life expectancy withing a generation, by 2031.

Description



  • Life expectancy at birth for First Nations and non-Indigenous males.

  • Life expectancy at birth for First Nations and non-Indigenous females.


Data period



  • 2020-2022

  • 2015-2017

  • 2010-2012

  • 2005-2007


Data source


ABS Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, via the Australian Government Productivity Commission website < https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area1>.


Region types reported



  • Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: States and Territories, Australia (which includes all states and territories)

  • Sub-national life expectancy estimates by Indigenous status are produced for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only.


Suppression rules


Measure based on publicly available data. No further suppression rules applied.


Notes



  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous life tables are based on ERP (based on the Census of Population and Housing and the Census Post Enumeration Survey) and death registration information provided by the State/Territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages,.

  • Life expectancy estimates by Indigenous status are produced for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. These estimates are calculated without taking age-specific identification rates into account. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy estimates are not produced for Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory due to the small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths reported in these jurisdictions. Caution is required when interpreting trends in life expectancy estimates, because of changes in Indigenous identification across data collection and over time, and variation across geographies and socioeconomic groups.

  • All states and territories use information acquired from the Death registration form (DRF) to identify an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander death. Over time, jurisdictions have supplemented information from the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) to improve the identification of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander deaths in the data. New South Wales started using information on the MCCD for identifying Indigenous status from 2022, and the deceased was identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person when recorded as such on either the DRF or the MCCD. If the two sources did not agree, identification on either source was given preference over recording the deceased as non-Indigenous. This change aligns deaths records for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales with most other jurisdictions (with the exception of Victoria), where both the DRF and the MCCD have been used for a number of years. This change in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths were identified means that life expectancy estimates for 2020–2022 cannot be compared with previous life expectancy estimates for New South Wales.


Reference material


Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2023 Life tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS website, accessed 13 November 2023.


Productivity Commission (PC) (2023) Socioeconomic outcome area 1, PC website, accessed 30 October 2023.

Description



  • Gap in life expectancy at birth between First Nations and non-Indigenous males (years).

  • Gap in life expectancy at birth between First Nations and non-Indigenous females (years).


Data period



  • 2020-2022

  • 2015-2017

  • 2010-2012

  • 2005-2007


Data source


ABS Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, via the Australian Government Productivity Commission website < https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area1>.


Region types reported



  • Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: States and Territories, Australia

  • Sub-national life expectancy estimates by Indigenous status are produced for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only.


Suppression rules


Measure based on publicly available data. No further suppression rules applied.


Notes



  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous life tables are based on ERP (based on the Census of Population and Housing and the Census Post Enumeration Survey) and death registration information provided by the State/Territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages,.

  • Life expectancy estimates by Indigenous status are produced for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. These estimates are calculated without taking age-specific identification rates into account. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy estimates are not produced for Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory due to the small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths reported in these jurisdictions.

  • Caution is required when interpreting trends in life expectancy estimates, because of changes in Indigenous identification across data collection and over time, and variation across geographies and socioeconomic groups.

  • All states and territories use information acquired from the Death registration form (DRF) to identify an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander death. Over time, jurisdictions have supplemented information from the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) to improve the identification of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander deaths in the data. New South Wales started using information on the MCCD for identifying Indigenous status from 2022, and the deceased was identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person when recorded as such on either the DRF or the MCCD. If the two sources did not agree, identification on either source was given preference over recording the deceased as non-Indigenous. This change aligns deaths records for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales with most other jurisdictions (with the exception of Victoria), where both the DRF and the MCCD have been used for a number of years. This change in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths were identified means that life expectancy estimates for 2020–2022 cannot be compared with previous life expectancy estimates for New South Wales.


Reference material


Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2023) Life tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS website, accessed 13 November 2023.


Productivity Commission (PC) (2023) Socioeconomic outcome area 1, PC website, accessed 30 October 2023.

Description



  • Top 5 underlying cause of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous males.

  • Top 5 underlying cause of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous females.


Data period



  • 2022


Data source


Cause of Death, Australia as published on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ website < https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release >.


Region types reported



  • Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: Australia

  • Australia values are a combination of NSW, Qld, SA, WA and NT.


Suppression rules


Measure based on publicly available data. No further suppression rules applied.


Notes



  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of a deceased person is captured through the death registration process. It is noted on the Death Registration Form (DRF) and the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). However it is recognised that not all such deaths are captured through these processes, which may lead to under-identification. While data is provided to the ABS for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of the deceased for around 99% of all deaths, there are sometimes concerns regarding the accuracy of the data.

  • Additionally, a number of deaths occur each year for which the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is not stated on the death registration form. In 2022, there were 975 deaths registered in Australia for whom the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin was not stated, representing 0.5% of all deaths registered, a slight decrease from 2021 (0.6%). This difference was largely driven by fewer deaths with a not stated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin registered in New South Wales (from 463 in 2021 to 175 in 2022). 

  • Data presented may underestimate the number of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people due to factors relating to form completion and propensity for an informant to identify the deceased as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Additionally, a higher proportion of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to a coroner. Coroner referred deaths can take longer to register which may cause some disparities in annual registration data.


Reference material


Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2023) Cause of Death, Australia, ABS website, accessed 17 October 2023.


ABS (2023) Cause of Death, Australia methodology, ABS website, accessed 17 October 2023.

Description



  • Top 5 underlying cause of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous males.

  • Top 5 underlying cause of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous females.


Data period



  • 2018-2022


Data source


ABS Cause of Death, Australia as published on the ABS website < https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release >.


Region types reported



  • Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2021 Main Structure regions: States and Territories

  • Sub-national data only available for NSW, Qld, WA and NT


Suppression rules


Measure based on publicly available data. No further suppression rules applied.


Notes



  • Limited data is presented for all states and territories, with more detailed data reported by jurisdiction of usual residence for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. These jurisdictions have been found to have a higher quality of identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin allowing more robust analysis of data. Data for those with a usual residence in Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory has been excluded from the more detailed analysis. This is in line with national reporting guidelines. 

  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of a deceased person is captured through the death registration process. It is noted on the Death Registration Form (DRF) and the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). However it is recognised that not all such deaths are captured through these processes, which may lead to under-identification. While data is provided to the ABS for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin of the deceased for around 99% of all deaths, there are sometimes concerns regarding the accuracy of the data.

  • Additionally, a number of deaths occur each year for which the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is not stated on the death registration form. In 2022, there were 975 deaths registered in Australia for whom the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin was not stated, representing 0.5% of all deaths registered, a slight decrease from 2021 (0.6%). This difference was largely driven by fewer deaths with a not stated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin registered in New South Wales (from 463 in 2021 to 175 in 2022). 

  • Data presented may underestimate the number of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people due to factors relating to form completion and propensity for an informant to identify the deceased as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Additionally, a higher proportion of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to a coroner. Coroner referred deaths can take longer to register which may cause some disparities in annual registration data.


Reference material


Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2023) Cause of Death, Australia, ABS website, accessed 17 October 2023.


ABS (2023) Cause of Death, Australia methodology, ABS website, accessed 17 October 2023.