Causes of death
Between 2015 and 2019, the leading broad causes of death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were cancer and circulatory diseases (23% of deaths respectively).
Among Indigenous males, circulatory diseases were the most common cause of death (23% of deaths). Cancer caused the most deaths among Indigenous females (24% of deaths) (Figure LM 6).
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Accounting for year-to-year variability, long-term trends in selected causes of death spanning 2008 to 2019 showed that rates of death among Indigenous Australians decreased for:
- kidney diseases (40% lower)
- diabetes (28% lower)
- circulatory diseases (20% lower).
Over the same period, rates of death among Indigenous Australians increased for:
- cancer (9% higher)
- respiratory diseases (35% higher) (Figure LM 7).
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