Perinatal National Minimum Data Set 
compliance evaluation 
2006 to 2009
Natasha Donnolley
Zhuoyang Li

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Suggested citation
Donnolley N & Li Z 2012. Perinatal National Minimum Data Set compliance evaluation 2006 to 2009. Perinatal statistics series no. 26. Cat. no. PER 54. Sydney: AIHW National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Board Chair
Dr Andrew Refshauge
Director
David Kalisch
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Summary
1	Introduction
The Perinatal National Minimum Data Set
The National Perinatal Data Development Committee
Previous evaluations
Purpose of this report
Evaluation method
2	Evaluation results
National overview
State and territory overview
3	Assessment of individual data  elements
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
List of tables
Acknowledgments
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU) is a formally affiliated institution of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and is co-located in the Perinatal and Reproductive Epidemiology Research Unit, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine. We would like to acknowledge the support of the NPESU by the School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW and the Sydney Children’s Hospital. 
The NPESU values the time, effort and expertise that all states and territories have contributed to the collection and provision of the data used in this report. We would like to acknowledge the staff members of the state and territory health authorities who provide data for the Perinatal National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) to the NPESU and members of the National Perinatal Data Development Committee (NPDDC) for reviewing the report. 
Abbreviations
ABS	Australian Bureau of Statistics	
ACT	Australian Capital Territory	
AHMAC	Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council 	
AIHW	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare	
ASCCSS	Australian Standard Classification of Countries for Social Statistics	
ASGC	Australian Standard Geographical Classification	
DSS	Data Set Specification	
HDSC	Health Data Standards Committee	
METeOR	Metadata Online Registry	
NHDD	National Health Data Dictionary	
NHIG	National Health Information Group	
NHISSC	National Health Information Standards and Statistics Committee	
NMDS	National Minimum Data Set	
NPDC	National Perinatal Data Collection	
NPDDC	National Perinatal Data Development Committee	
NPESU 	AIHW National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit	
NSW	New South Wales 	
NT	Northern Territory	
Qld	Queensland 	
SA	South Australia	
SACC	Standard Australian Classification of Countries	
SIMC	Statistical Information Management Committee	
Tas	Tasmania	
UNSW	University of New South Wales	
Vic	Victoria	
WA	Western Australia	
Summary
The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the extent to which the states and territories collected and provided data in accordance with the Perinatal NMDS specifications as published in the National health data dictionary (NHDD) for the period 2006 to 2009. 
The compliance evaluation involved a structured review of the data provided annually to the NPESU for records of births in the calendar years 2006 to 2009.  Three measures were used to assess compliance: correct definition; correct use of domain values; and correct use of scope (whether data were provided for greater than 99.5% of applicable records). 
Key findings
•	For 2006 to 2009 there were 11 data elements (out of a maximum of 19 for 2006 and 21 for later years) where all states and territories used the national standard definition and domain values and provided the item for greater than 99.5% of reported births or women who gave birth.
•	Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory were the only jurisdictions that were compliant with all three measures of definition, domain values and scope for all data elements.
•	Compliance with the correct NHDD definition by all states and territories ranged from 79% of data elements (15 of 19) in 2006 to 81% (17 of 21) for 2007, 2008 and 2009. The main reason for non-compliance with data definitions related to the use of confidentialised dates.
•	All jurisdictions used the national standard domain values for 79% of data elements (15 of 19) for 2006. This declined to 71% of data elements complying for the following two years (15 of 21), then improved for the final year to 76% (16 of 21). 
•	Non-compliance with domain values was generally related to the use of discontinued data values or the use of additional, state-specific data values.
•	Compliance with scope was variable from year to year with 74% of data elements compliant in the 2006 reference year (14 of 19), 71% in 2007 (15 of 21 elements), 76% in 2008 (16 of 21) and 67% in 2009 (14 of 21). 
Conclusions
There was an overall minor improvement in compliance with the NMDS specifications since the previous evaluation for 2001 to 2005. There were legislative barriers in some jurisdictions preventing compliance with definition, domain values and scope for data items that involved the provision of dates. In particular, South Australia and New South Wales provided confidentialised dates for several data items which resulted in non-compliance. The use of discontinued domain values following changes to the NHDD resulted in some jurisdictions being non-compliant for some data items. Most jurisdictions can improve compliance with the specifications of the Perinatal NMDS, with currently only two having full compliance with all data elements―Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
1	Introduction
This report presents a comprehensive review of the extent to which the states and territories collected and/or provided data for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 for the Perinatal National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU), in accordance with the NMDS specifications as published in the National health data dictionary (NHDD) (HDSC 2006; HDSC 2008). This report provides information that can be used to improve data reporting and to develop and refine the NMDS specifications.
The Perinatal National Minimum Data Set
An NMDS is a set of agreed specified data elements (discrete items of information or variables) including the scope of the application of those data elements and supporting data element concepts, as well as the statistical units for collection.  An NMDS is endorsed by the National Health Information Standards and Statistics Committee (NHISSC) and mandated for collection under the National Health Information Agreements between the Commonwealth and each state and territory (Commonwealth of Australia 2011). The key function of standardised national data is to ensure that comparable data are available from each state and territory. The standards also make data collection activities more efficient by reducing duplication of effort by standardising core data items; more effective by ensuring that information to be collected is relevant and appropriate to its purpose; and more comparable and consistent for reporting purposes. 
The Perinatal NMDS was first specified in 1997 for data that are collected on all births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community. It includes both live and stillbirths, of at least 20 weeks gestation or at least 400 grams birthweight. The NMDS includes data items relating to the mother, including demographic characteristics and factors relating to the pregnancy, labour and birth, and data items relating to the baby, including birth status, sex and birthweight.  Some data elements in the NMDS are collected for all women who gave birth (for example ‘Onset of labour’), or apply only to women who gave birth in a hospital or birth centre (for example  ‘Separation date’), while others are collected for babies (for example ‘Sex’). Midwives or other birth attendants collect data using administrative and clinical records and these data are forwarded to the relevant state or territory health authority on a regular basis. Data for each year ending 31 December are provided to the AIHW National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU) for national collation, on an annual basis.
The NMDS undergoes regular review by the NPESU in consultation with the National Perinatal Data Development Committee (NPDDC) resulting in items being added, removed or updated to reflect changes in maternity care and data collection practices. Revisions endorsed by the NPDDC are referred to the NHISSC, which is responsible for the National health data dictionary (NHDD).  Changes to the NMDS during the evaluation period 2006 to 2009 included the addition of two data elements and changes to the classification system used for geographical location. Past and current definitions for all NMDS collections and nationally agreed standards for data items are available in the AIHW’s Metadata Registry (METeOR) at <www.meteor.aihw.gov.au>.

The National Perinatal Data Development Committee
The primary role of the NPDDC is to provide expert advice to the NPESU regarding perinatal health data. The NPESU in consultation with the NPDDC review existing data items and develop new items to ensure that the NMDS is nationally consistent and current. New data items and changes to existing items that are endorsed by the Committee are submitted to NHISSC for endorsement for inclusion in the NHDD and the Perinatal NMDS. The NPDDC seeks expert clinical advice from professional bodies such as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the Australian College of Midwives as required. 
The Committee comprises representatives from each state and territory health authority, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), AIHW and NPESU, with temporary members invited on a transitory basis as their expertise is required. Membership of the committee is set out in Appendix A. The committee meets 3 to 4 times annually.  The AIHW has provided the Secretariat for the NPDDC since March 2010. 
Previous evaluations
The NPESU undertook the first evaluation of the Perinatal NMDS in 2003 in consultation with the National Perinatal Data Development Committee (NPDDC). The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) funded this evaluation, through the then National Health Information Group (NHIG). The Report on the evaluation of the Perinatal National Minimum Data Set was published in 2004 and included a compliance evaluation of 2000 data, a review of utility based on consultations with data providers and users, and recommendations for future data development (Laws & Sullivan 2004). 
After publication of the first evaluation report, a program of perinatal data development was implemented. In 2005, AHMAC, through a cost-shared budget with the then Statistical Information Management Committee (SIMC), provided the then NPSU with funding to assist with undertaking data development work to further develop the Perinatal NMDS.  Three data items were added to the Perinatal NMDS in 2007 and 16 perinatal data items were added to the NHDD.
The current program of data development followed a review in 2010 of existing perinatal NHDD items in which 10 data items were identified as candidates for inclusion in the Perinatal NMDS. The work program has included data development based on the recommendations of the evaluation.
A second compliance review of the Perinatal NMDS was conducted in 2008 (Laws 2008). The methodology for the current and previous compliance evaluations is based on an enhanced methodology for NMDS reviews used for the compliance section of the first evaluation report (Laws & Sullivan 2004) and for the more recent report evaluating the NMDS for Admitted Patient Care (AIHW 2006).

Purpose of this report
The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the quality and consistency of the Perinatal NMDS data; that is the extent to which the states and territories collected and/or provided data in accordance with NMDS specifications as published in the NHDD. The NMDS is contingent upon national agreements to collect and supply uniform data to the national collection. This means that data elements should be collected to support reporting using three measures: standard definitions; domain values; and reported for all births within scope. 
Through assessing compliance with the NMDS specifications (data definitions, domain values and scope), actions can be taken to improve data quality and consistency. Evaluation results also inform revisions and further development of the NMDS. 
Evaluation method 
The data evaluated were for records provided for births from 2006 to 2009.  These were evaluated against the specifications in the version of the NHDD current in each year of data collection, that is, Version 13 for 2006 and 2007 data (HDSC 2006) and Version 14 for 2008 and 2009 data (HDSC 2008). Assessments of compliance have been made according to the specifications in these NHDD versions, not against the most recent version, Version 15 (AIHW 2010). 
This compliance evaluation was based on the data that the states and territories provided to the NPESU for each year; the documentation provided with the data; and communications between the NPESU and the jurisdictions during compilation of the National Perinatal Data Collection for 2006 to 2009, and during the preparation of this report.
The compliance evaluation involved assessing for each data element in the 2006 to 2009 data:
•	whether states and territories had provided it 
•	whether it was provided in accordance with the NMDS specifications as published in the NHDD (that is whether the NHDD definition and domain values were used) 
•	whether it was reported for every applicable birth or woman who gave birth (scope).
The overall scope of data that the states and territories provided was also assessed, that is whether data were provided for all births.
2	Evaluation results
National overview
Scope
This evaluation examined the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 data from the Perinatal NMDS that the states and territories provided for inclusion in the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), as it compares to the NHDD version current at the beginning of each data collection period. 
Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope
This is a national overview of the information presented in more detail for each jurisdiction on the following pages. Table 2.1 presents a summary of the compliance with the NHDD definitions, domain values and scope. The data elements are presented in alphabetical order using their METeOR short name. 
In Table 2.1, ‘’ indicates that all states and territories complied with the NHDD definition, domain values or scope for the data element for that collection year and ‘’ indicates that at least one state or territory did not comply with the NHDD definition, domain values or scope for the data element. For the purposes of this evaluation, compliance is established for a state or territory if the NHDD definition was used and if the NHDD domain values were reported for at least 99.5% of separations within scope for the data element for the collection year. 
The measure of whether the data element was provided for all reported births has been reported as ‘’ in the tables summarising this information in this section of the report and in the sections on each data element, if the data were missing or inadequate for no more than 0.5% of separations. The text presented in the sections on the data elements details situations in which the data were missing for more than 0.5% of records.
For the figures presented below, certain data items, which were not requested by the NPESU have been excluded from the totals: ‘Establishment identifier—Australian state/territory identifier’ and ‘Establishment identifier—Region code’.
For the 2006 collection year all states and territories used the national standard definition for 78.9% of data elements (15 of 19) in the NMDS. This level of compliance remained fairly constant over the following three collection periods (17 of 21 in 2007, 2008 and 2009).
All jurisdictions used the national standard domain values for 15 data elements (78.9%) for 2006. The following year saw a small decline in the adherence to NHDD domain values with 71.4% of data elements complying for 2007 and 2008 (15 of 21), with an increase to 76.2% in the final year (16 of 21).
For the 2006 collection year data were provided for more than 99.5% of births or women who gave birth for 14 data elements (73.7%). Compliance decreased in 2007 (71.4% or 15 of 21 elements), increasing to 16 in 2008 (76.2%) and then dropped significantly to 14 elements in 2009 (66.7%). Across the 4-year evaluation period, there were 11 data elements where all states and territories used the national standard definition and domain values and provided the item for all reported births or women who gave birth.

Table 2.1: National overview of the use of the National health data dictionary definition and domain values and NMDS scope, 2006 to 2009
Data element (short name)	
NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all* reported births/women who gave birth?	
	2006	2007	2008	2009	2006	2007	2008	2009	2006	2007	2008	2009	
Actual place of birth													
Apgar score at 5 minutes	(a)				(a)				(a)				
Area of usual residence	. .	(a)			. .	(a)			. .	(a)			
Birth order													
Birth plurality													
Country of birth													
Date of birth (mother)													
Date of birth (baby)													
Establishment identifier—Australian state/territory identifier	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	
Establishment identifier—number													
Establishment identifier—sector													
Establishment identifier—region code	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	
Gestational age													
Indigenous status													
Infant weight, neonate, stillborn													
Method of birth													
Onset of labour													
Person identifier													
Presentation at birth	. .	(a)			. .	(a)			. .	(a)			
Separation date (mother)													
Sex													
State/territory of birth													
Status of the baby													
* More than 99.5% of relevant births or women who gave birth.
. .	 Not applicable; that is, the data element was not requested by the NPESU or was requested incorrectly. 
(a)	Data element introduced into the NMDS on 1 July; that is, only six months data supplied for that year. 
Note:  indicates compliance by all jurisdictions and  indicates that not all jurisdictions were compliant.
Compliance with NMDS scope
Table 2.1 shows that the majority of data elements were provided for all reported births or women who gave birth. There are some issues surrounding records which meet the scope but are not provided to the NPESU for inclusion in the Perinatal NMDS, and differences in data collection periods among the states and territories. These are outlined below.

Terminations of pregnancy
Terminations of pregnancy are within the scope of the Perinatal NMDS if they occur at 
20 weeks gestation or more or are 400 grams birthweight or more. Inclusion of these records is inconsistent among the states and territories and this affects counts of fetal deaths. This reflects inconsistencies among the states and territories in the identification and recording of births that result from termination of pregnancy due to congenital anomalies or other reasons. 
In South Australia, only terminations of pregnancy performed for congenital anomalies at 
20 weeks or more gestation or 400 grams or more birthweight are included in birth data provided to the NPESU for the NPDC. Terminations for psychosocial reasons are not performed in hospitals with obstetric units, and South Australian legislation states that a ‘stillborn child does not include the product of a procedure for the termination of pregnancy’. Therefore, these records are not provided to the NPESU for national collation. South Australia has indicated that they could provide summary data for these records (that is the number) but not unit record data.
Fetus papyraceous and fetus compressus
There has been some inconsistency between jurisdictions in relation to the inclusion or exclusion in their data collections of births greater than 20 weeks gestation affected by fetus papyraceous or fetus compressus. Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory include fetus papyraceous and fetus compressus in their scope for the data items ‘Birth order’ and ‘Birth plurality’ while New South Wales excludes them. In the case of ‘Birth plurality’ the Guide for use in the NHDD specifies that ‘…fetuses compressed in the placenta at 20 or more weeks are excluded’. On that basis there is an issue with compliance with the Guide for use for scope of records included for ‘Birth plurality’ for those jurisdictions including them. There is no such exclusion criterion for the data item ‘Birth order’. The NPDDC will undertake a revision of these two data items to ensure consistency.
Data collection periods
The current Perinatal NMDS specification states that the period for which data are to be collected and nationally collated is financial years, ending 30 June each year, despite the longstanding and ongoing practice of calendar year reporting of national perinatal data. By common agreement across all jurisdictions, definitional changes to the Perinatal NMDS apply to financial years, ending 30 June each year so that there is consistency between the Perinatal NMDS and other NMDSs. This results in some data elements being introduced to jurisdictional perinatal data collections on 1 July rather than for the whole calendar year. This has been identified in the relevant evaluation tables in this report.

State and territory overview
The state and territory overview provides information on the number and percentage of data elements for which the National health data dictionary definition and domain values were used and the number and percentage of data elements which were reported for all births. Items which the NPESU did not request are excluded from Table 2.2. Therefore, the total number of items assessed is 19 for 2006 and 21 for 2007, 2008 and 2009. 
Overall, compliance with NHDD definitions improved over the time period from an average of 96.1% of data elements for 2006 data to 96.4% for 2009. Compliance with value domains and scope decreased slightly over the same time period with the average percentage of data elements in 2006 complying with domain values and scope being 97.4 and 94.7 respectively, decreasing to 95.2 and 94.6 by 2009.
Out of the states and territories, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory provided more than 99.5% of records in scope as well as using the National health data dictionary definitions and domain values for all data elements. Tasmania also provided data for all reported women who gave birth or all reported births for all data elements in 2006 in addition to using the correct definition and domain values for each data element. New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia did not use the correct NHDD definition for 100% of data elements for 2006 to 2009. Overall, Tasmania and the Northern Territory showed the most improvement between the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005 and that covered by this report. 

Table 2.2: State and territory overview of the use of the National health data dictionary definition and domain values and NMDS scope, 2006 to 2009

NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all* 
reported births/women 
who gave birth?	
State/territory	Number 	Per cent	Number 	Per cent	Number 	Per cent	
2006	
NSW	18	94.7	18	94.7	15	78.9	
Vic	19	100.0	18	94.7	19	100.0	
Qld	19	100.0	19	100.0	19	100.0	
WA	18	94.7	19	100.0	18	94.7	
SA	15	78.9	17	89.5	18	94.7	
Tas	19	100.0	19	100.0	19	100.0	
ACT	19	100.0	19	100.0	19	100.0	
NT	19	100.0	19	100.0	17	89.5	
2007	
NSW	20	95.2	18	85.7	18	85.7	
Vic	21	100.0	19	90.5	21	100.0	
Qld	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
WA	20	95.2	20	95.2	20	95.2	
SA	17	81.0	19	90.5	20	95.2	
Tas	21	100.0	21	100.0	20	95.2	
ACT	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
NT	21	100.0	20	95.2	19	90.5	
2008	
NSW	20	95.2	18	85.7	19	90.5	
Vic	21	100.0	19	90.5	21	100.0	
Qld	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
WA	20	95.2	20	95.2	20	95.2	
SA	17	81.0	19	90.5	20	95.2	
Tas	21	100.0	20	95.2	20	95.2	
ACT	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
NT	21	100.0	20	95.2	21	100.0	
2009	
NSW	20	95.2	18	85.7	19	90.5	
Vic	21	100.0	20	95.2	18	85.7	
Qld	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
WA	20	95.2	20	95.2	20	95.2	
SA	17	81.0	19	90.5	20	95.2	
Tas	21	100.0	21	100.0	19	90.5	
ACT	21	100.0	21	100.0	21	100.0	
NT	21	100.0	20	95.2	21	100.0	
 * More than 99.5% of reported births.
Note: The following data items, which were not requested by the NPESU or were requested incorrectly, have been excluded from the totals: ‘Establishment identifier—Australian state/territory identifier’ and ‘Establishment identifier—region code’.
3	Assessment of individual data 	elements
This chapter reports on the assessment of compliance for each data element in the Perinatal NMDS that the states and territories reported for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 collection periods. 
It presents information on the use of the national standard definitions, domain values and scope by states and territories. The national standard definitions are specified for each collection period according to the relevant version of the NHDD (HDSC 2006; HDSC 2008). Information is provided on the use of non-standard definitions and domain values and the non-standard use of scope. Information is also provided on any mapping required from the state and territory data provided to the NPESU in order to comply with the national standard domain values. The assessment of each data element includes a commentary on the trend in data quality over the 4-year collection period and additional information from states and territories regarding the collection of each data element. The data elements are presented below in alphabetical order of their METeOR short name.
Information on the total number of women who gave birth and births for each of the collection years by state and territory is presented in Appendix B. 
Data element short name: Actual place of birth
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269937	
METeOR name: Birth event—setting of birth (actual), code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth. For multiple births the actual place of birth of the first born baby is reported.	
Definition:
The actual place where the birth occurred, as represented by a code.	

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
‘Actual place of birth’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period as all jurisdictions provided the data. This is an overall improvement from the previous reporting period 2001–2005, when the correct domain values were not used by Tasmania or the Northern Territory in the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 collection periods.
Additional information
None.
Data element short name: Apgar score at 5 minutes
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006*, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 289360	
METeOR name: Birth —Apgar score (at 5 minutes), code NN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All births.	
Definition:
Numerical score used to indicate the baby’s condition at 5 minutes after birth.	
* This item was introduced into the NMDS on 1 July 2006. Assessment of compliance for 2006 is based on 6 months’ data for the second half of the year only.

Table 3.1: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Apgar score at 5 minutes’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported birth events?	
2006*	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
* This item was introduced into the NMDS on 1 July 2006. Assessment of compliance for 2006 is based on 6 months’ data for the second half of the year only.

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition. South Australia recorded a domain value of ‘98’ for all stillbirths during the period 2006 to 2009 which required mapping by the NPESU to the value of 0.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Apgar score at 5 minutes’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
For this compliance evaluation, data for this element from South Australia for all stillbirths were mapped to the correct domain value.
Trend analysis
All jurisdictions except South Australia were compliant with this data element for the reporting period 2006 to 2009.
Additional information
South Australia has indicated that it will adhere to the NHDD domain value of 0 for all stillbirths in future data collections.
Data element short name: Area of usual residence*
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Community mental health care NMDS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2007(a), 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID:   341800 Superseded 5/2/2008
METeOR ID:   362291
	
METeOR name: Person—area of usual residence, geographical location code (ASGC 2006) NNNNN (Superseded 5/2/2008)
METeOR name: Person—area of usual residence, geographical location code (ASGC 2007) NNNNN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
Geographical location of usual residence of the person, as represented by a code.	
* 	This data item superseded the 2007 data item ‘Area of usual residence’ METeOR ID = 341800 with a change in the Australian Standard  Geographical Classification system from ASGC 2006 to ASGC 2007 used to code locations. All other aspects of the item remained the same.
(a)	This item was introduced into the NMDS on 1 July 2007. Assessment of compliance for 2007 is based on 6 months’ data for the second half of the year only.
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition. New South Wales used an additional domain value for women who usually resided interstate. This ‘interstate unspecified’ value was not in the NHDD domain values resulting in New South Wales being non-compliant for 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
Table 3.2 shows that in 2007 New South Wales and the Northern Territory reported greater than 0.5% of data values as missing or unstated and in 2009 Tasmania was also 
non-compliant with scope. 
Table 3.2: Women who gave birth in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Area of usual residence’, 2007 to 2009
	2007	2008	2009	
NSW	
Number	357	. .	. .	
Per cent	0.8	. .	. .	
Tas	
Number	. .	. .	53	
Per cent	. .	. .	0.8	
NT	
Number	77	. .	. .	
Per cent	4.2	. .	. .	
. .	 Not applicable as less than 0.5% of records had a ‘Not stated’ ‘Area of usual residence’.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.
Trend analysis
New South Wales and the Northern Territory improved their provision of this data element for 2008 and 2009. There was little other change in the provision of this data element as most jurisdictions provided data for all reported women who gave birth during the period. 
Additional information
The classification system used for coding geographical location was changed from the ASGC 2006 to ASGC 2007 in 2008. This did not impact on the results of the evaluation.
A data-set-specific change to allow confirmation of interstate usual residence should be considered.

Data element short name: Birth order
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Health care client identification DSS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269992	
METeOR name: Birth—Birth order, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All births.	
Definition:
The sequential order of each baby of a multiple birth, as represented by a code.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Birth order’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. All states and territories were also compliant in provision of this data element in the previous evaluation period.
Additional information
Data development was undertaken on this data element since the last evaluation report to seek agreement with the NPDDC regarding inclusion of intrauterine fetal deaths and compressed fetuses in the scope. All jurisdictions agreed to this inclusion from 2006 onwards, however this has not yet been reflected in the NHDD definition. New South Wales and South Australia exclude fetus papyraceous/compressus from their scope for this data item.

Data element short name: Birth plurality
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Health care client identification DSS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269994	
METeOR name: Birth event—Birth plurality, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
The number of babies resulting from a single pregnancy, as represented by a code.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Birth plurality’ was provided for all reported women who gave birth in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period.
Additional information
The NHDD Guide for use for this item specifies that fetuses compressed in the placenta should be excluded from the scope for this data element. Further data development is being undertaken to review this data item and the Guide for use to ensure consistency between this and other data items such as ‘Birth order’. Only New South Wales currently excludes fetus papyraceous/compressus when born at greater than 20 weeks gestation and South Australia includes them only if recognisable as a fetus. Other jurisdictions are not complying with the Guide for use by inclusion of these into the scope.

Data element short name: Country of birth
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview demographic module DSS
Health care client identification DSS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 270277	
METeOR name: Person—country of birth, code (SACC 1998) NNNN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
The country in which the person was born, as represented by a code.	

Table 3.3: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Country of birth’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
The NHDD definition of ‘Country of birth’ was used by all states and territories.  However, Victoria provided domain values to the NPESU using the Australian Standard Classification of Countries for Social Statistics (ASCCSS) for 2006 to 2008 data. The ASCCSS was in use prior to 1 July 2001 when the NMDS domain values were changed to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).
A data domain value of 9999 was reported by some jurisdictions each year. This code is not valid in ASCCSS or SACC. However, it is a value the NPESU requests where ‘Country of birth’ is unknown.  In addition, for a small number of records, 1-digit supplementary codes for inadequate data, including 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, were recorded in some jurisdictions during the 4-year period.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory reported greater than 0.5% not stated or inadequate data for ‘Country of birth’ for women who gave birth during the reporting period as shown in Table 3.4.
Table 3.4: Women who gave birth in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Country of birth’, 2006 to 2009
	2006	2007	2008	2009	
NSW	
Number	462	. .	. .	. .	
Per cent	0.5	. .	. .	. .	
Vic	
Number	. .	. .	. .	1,293*	
Per cent	. .	. .	. .	1.8	
WA	
Number	638	645	903	757	
Per cent	2.3	2.2	3.0	2.5	
NT	
Number	540	662	. .	. .	
Per cent	14.6	17.6	. .	. .	
* 2009 data for Victoria was not finalised at the time of publication and this figure may be subject to change.
. .	Not applicable as less than 0.5% of records had a ‘Not stated’ or missing ‘Country of birth’.

Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
ASCCSS data from Victoria were mapped from SACC using the ABS concordance (ABS 1998).
Trend analysis
For most states and territories there has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. While all jurisdictions followed the NHDD definition during the evaluation period, Victoria provided data for 2006 to 2008 using a different set of domain values, requiring mapping for each year. This was also the case in the previous evaluation period 2001 to 2005. Victoria moved to the correct SACC codes for 2009. The percentage of missing or inadequate data for Western Australia continued to be greater than 0.5 for each year, however this was an overall improvement on the results from 2001 to 2005. The Northern Territory showed significant improvement in the provision of this data item after 2007.
Additional information
Western Australia has indicated that data for this item are derived through data linkage with their hospital morbidity data collection. As a result data may be missing for women who gave birth at home or before arrival at hospital. Procedures have been put in place to improve the compliance for this data item for future collection periods.
At the time of publication, Victoria had not finalised their data for 2009. As a result the percentage of missing or inadequate data for this item may change.

Data element short name: Date of birth (mother)
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cancer (clinical) DSS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview demographic module DSS
Diabetes (clinical) DSS
Health care client identification DSS
Health care provider identification DSS
Health labour force NMDS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Prison clinic contact DSS
Prison entrants DSS
Prisoners in custody repeat medications DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 287007	
METeOR name: Person—date of birth, DDMMYYYY	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
The date of birth of the person.	

Table 3.5: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Date of birth (mother)’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic		*		
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
* Full date provided, however, mapping to NHDD date format was required.
(a) 	Confidentialised dates were provided.

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories except New South Wales provided full dates of birth for mothers for 2006 to 2009. New South Wales provided year of birth only. South Australia adjusted mother’s date of birth for 2006 to 2009 based on the baby’s date of birth, in order to confidentialise the data. In South Australia for these years baby’s date of birth was provided as the first of every month and the mother’s date of birth adjusted by the same number of days as subtracted from the baby’s date of birth. On this basis South Australia was not compliant with the definition for this data item.
All states and territories which provided maternal date of birth used the NHDD date format or a format which could easily be transformed into the correct format.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
Although New South Wales provided the year of birth for all mothers who gave birth during this period, the dates were incomplete.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
All dates not in DDMMYYYY format were changed to this format. 
Trend analysis
For most states and territories there has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. For 2007 to 2009 Victoria corrected the date format used for this item so that mapping was only required for 2006.
Additional information
South Australian legislation prevents the release of potentially identifiable data from its perinatal collection. For 2006 to 2009, South Australia provided data in a confidentialised format.
New South Wales did not provide full maternal dates of birth for any year. New South Wales reported that this data element was not provided as it would be used by the NPESU to calculate maternal ages in conjunction with the baby’s date of birth. This results in some different figures compared to those in the New South Wales data collection and state reports. The NPESU calculates maternal ages to ensure a consistent method is used across jurisdictions.

Data element short name: Date of birth (baby)
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cancer (clinical) DSS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview demographic module DSS
Diabetes (clinical) DSS
Health care client identification DSS
Health care provider identification DSS
Health labour force NMDS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Prison clinic contact DSS
Prison entrants DSS
Prisoners in custody repeat medications DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 287007	
METeOR name: Person—date of birth, DDMMYYYY	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All births.	
Definition:
The date of birth of the person.	

Table 3.6: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Date of birth (baby)’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported births?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(a) 	Confidentialised dates were provided.

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories were recorded as using the NHDD definition for ‘Date of birth’ of the baby except where confidentialised dates were provided. Most states and territories used the NHDD date format or a format which could easily be transformed into the correct format.  South Australia provided date of birth of the baby as the first day of each month for purposes of confidentialising the data so are therefore recorded as non-compliant for definition.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Date of birth’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory during the period 2006 to 2009. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
All dates not in DDMMYYYY format were changed to NHDD date format. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period but some improvement since the last report. In the previous reporting period Queensland provided confidentialised dates for 2001 to 2003, and full dates for 2004 and 2005. South Australia provided month and year of birth for 2001, missing data for 2002 to 2004, and confidentialised dates for 2005.
Additional information
South Australian legislation prevents the release of potentially identifiable data from its perinatal collection. For 2006 to 2009, South Australia provided data in a confidentialised format. The date of birth of the baby is provided to the NPESU as the first day of the month in which they were born. The difference in this date from the actual date of birth is then used by South Australia to calculate a confidentialised date of birth for the mother by subtracting this from the mother’s date of birth.

Data element short name: Establishment identifier—Australian state/territory identifier (establishment)
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Admitted patient care NMDS
Community mental health care NMDS
Mental health establishments NMDS
Prison entrants DSS
Prison establishments DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: none	
		METeOR ID: 269941	
METeOR name: Establishment—Australian state/territory identifier, code N	
NMDS scope:
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres.	
Definition:
An identifier of the Australian state or territory in which an establishment is located, as represented by a code.	
Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope
The NPESU did not request ‘Australian state/territory identifier (establishment)’ for any of the years 2006 to 2009, therefore, none of the states or territories provided data for this item. 
Additional information
‘Australian state/territory identifier (establishment)’ was not requested nor provided, however, ‘State/territory of birth’ was provided. These two items should be the same for all women who gave birth in a hospital or birth centre. This data element is not relevant for births occurring at home or in other locations. ‘Australian state/territory identifier (establishment)’ was not provided separately.

Data element short name: Establishment identifier—Establishment number
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Admitted patient care NMDS
Cancer (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Health care client identification DSS
Mental health establishments NMDS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 	
METeOR name: Establishment—organisation identifier (state/territory), NNNNN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres.	
Definition:
An identifier for an establishment, unique within the state or territory.	
Table 3.7: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Establishment identifier—establishment number’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA(a)				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(continued)

Table 3.7 (continued): Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Establishment identifier—establishment number’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA(a)				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA(a)				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA(a)				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(a)	 Private hospitals were confidentialised, that is one code was provided for all private hospitals.
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories, excluding South Australia, provided hospital codes for ‘Establishment number’ for 2006 to 2009 data. Western Australia coded all private hospitals to one numerical code for confidentiality reasons. Therefore, individual private hospitals cannot be identified separately for this state. 
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
Apart from South Australia, all jurisdictions provided an ‘Establishment number’ (or private hospital code) for all women who gave birth in hospital or a birth centre. 

Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.
Trend analysis
There was no change in the provision of this data element for 2006 to 2009. There was an improvement since the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005 when Tasmania had also coded all private hospitals to a single identifier for confidentialisation of data.
Additional information
South Australia does not provide data for ‘Establishment number’ for reasons of confidentiality, however, data on hospital size according to the number of births per annum are provided. Western Australia did not provide site identifiers for private hospitals for birth data in the evaluation period as the Western Australia Department of Health does not have permission from private hospitals to provide data at private site level. For this reason Western Australia has indicated they will continue to report the code 6666 for all records of births occurring at private hospitals in that state.
Data element short name: Establishment identifier—Establishment sector
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Admitted patient care NMDS
Community mental health care NMDS
Health care client identification DSS
Mental health establishments NMDS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269977	
METeOR name: Establishment—sector, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres.	
Definition:
A section of the health-care industry with which a health-care establishment can identify, as represented by a code.	

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Establishment sector’ was provided for all reported women who gave birth in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. There has been improvement since the last reporting period 2001 to 2005 when Tasmania did not provide this data item to the NPESU for 2001 to 2004.
Additional information
None.
Data element short name: Establishment identifier—Region code
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Admitted patient care NMDS
Community mental health care NMDS
Health care client identification DSS
Mental health establishments NMDS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: none	
		METeOR ID: 269940	
METeOR name: Establishment—region identifier, X[X]	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres.	
Definition:
An alphanumeric identifier for the location of health services in a defined geographic or administrative area.	
Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope
The NPESU did not request ‘Region code’ for any of the years 2006 to 2009, therefore, none of the states or territories provided data for this item. According to the NHDD, domain values for this data element are as specified by the individual states and territories and there are no standard categories that have to be reported. 

Additional information
‘Region code’ of the establishment was not requested nor provided. The only information known about the location of establishments in the Perinatal NMDS is the state or territory of the birth. This data element is not relevant for births occurring at home or in other locations. 
Data element short name: Gestational age
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269965	
METeOR name: Female (pregnant)—estimated gestational age, total weeks NN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The estimated gestational age of the baby in completed weeks as determined by clinical assessment.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Gestational age’ was provided for all births in each state and territory.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There was no change in the provision of this data element for 2006 to 2009.  This item was also fully compliant by all states and territories in the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005.
Additional information
None.

Data element short name: Indigenous status
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview demographic module DSS
Diabetes (clinical) DSS
Health care client identification DSS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Prison clinic contact DSS
Prison entrants DSS
Prisoners in custody repeat medications DSS
Registered chiropractic labour force DSS
Registered dental and allied dental health professional labour force DSS 
Registered medical professional labour force DSS 
Registered midwifery labour force DSS 
Registered nursing professional labour force DSS
Registered optometry labour force DSS
Registered osteopathy labour force DSS 
Registered pharmacy labour force DSS 
Registered physiotherapy labour force DSS 
Registered podiatry labour force DSS 
Registered psychology labour force DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 291036	
METeOR name: Person—Indigenous status, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
Whether a person identifies as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, as represented by a code. This is in accord with the first two of three components of the Commonwealth definition.	
Table 3.8: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Indigenous status’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(continued)

Table 3.8 (continued): Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Indigenous status’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.  
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
Table 3.9 shows the number and percentage of missing values where these were greater than 0.5% of women who gave birth. The percentage of missing or inadequate data for New South Wales and the Northern Territory has improved since 2006 (0.6 and 0.9 respectively) and was less than 0.5 for 2007 to 2009. ‘Indigenous status’ data was available in all jurisdictions for at least 99.5% of cases for 2007 and 2008. The data from Victoria for 2009 showed 1.5% missing or inadequate data for this item, however the data collection for that year was not finalised at the time of publication of this report and this number may be revised at a later date. 

Table 3.9: Women who gave birth in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Victoria, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Indigenous status’, 2006 to 2009
	2006	2007	2008	2009	
NSW	
Number	528	. .	. .	. .	
Per cent	0.6	. .	. .	. .	
NT	
Number	35	. .	. .	. .	
Per cent	0.9	. .	. .	. .	
VIC	
Number	. .	. .	. .	1,079	
Per cent	. .	. .	. .	1.5	
. .	Not applicable as less than 0.5% of records had a ‘Not stated’ ‘Indigenous status’.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There was no change in the provision of this data element for 2006 to 2009 for most states and territories. New South Wales and the Northern Territory showed some improvement in compliance with the scope for this item after 2006.
Compared to the previous reporting period 2001–2005 there has been a significant improvement in reporting the Indigenous status of mothers to the NPESU. In 2001 Tasmania had missing or inadequate data for Indigenous status for 99.2% of women who gave birth in that state.
Additional information
Hospital morbidity data can be used to report Indigenous status for women who gave birth in hospital, these data would not be available for women who gave birth at home or in other non-hospital locations. 
Further information about the collection and quality of Indigenous status data in the state and territory perinatal collections (and the National Perinatal Data Collection) is available in the report Indigenous mothers and their babies, Australia 2001–2004 (Leeds et al. 2007).
Additional data development has been undertaken by the NPDDC with the Indigenous status of the baby being included in the NMDS for all births from 1 January 2012.

Data element short name: Infant weight, neonate, stillborn
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269938	
METeOR name: Birth—birth weight, total grams NNNN	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The first weight, in grams, of the live-born or stillborn baby obtained after birth, or the weight of the neonate or infant on the date admitted if this is different from the date of birth.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Infant weight, neonate, stillborn’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period.
Additional information
None. 

Data element short name: Method of birth
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 295349*	
METeOR name: Birth event—birth method, code N	
NMDS Scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The method of complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception in a birth event, as represented by a code.	
* This item superseded METeOR ID 270035 in 2006. Data from 2006 used the domain values from the earlier item which included an additional two domain values.
Table 3.10: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Method of birth’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(continued)

Table 3.10 (continued): Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Method of birth’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition.  
All states and territories provided all of the NHDD data domain values, however some jurisdictions provided data with an additional value. The data domain values used in 2006 included 3–Vaginal breech and 8–Other which were removed from the NHDD in the revised data item for 2007 to 2009. New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory continued to use a value of 3–Vaginal breech in 2007, 2008 and 2009, Victoria in 2007 and 2008, and Tasmania in 2008. This resulted in their non-compliance with the NHDD domain values in those years.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Method of birth’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.

Trend analysis
There has been little change in the provision of this data item for the period 2006-2009 for most jurisdictions. Some states and territories continued to use domain values that were removed from the NHDD specifications which was also the case in the previous reporting period 2001-2005. 
Additional information
 Western Australia has indicated that all vaginal breech births will be reported as spontaneous non-instrumental births for 2010 and subsequent data to ensure compliance with the NHDD domain values.
Data element short name: Onset of labour
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269942	
METeOR name: Birth event—labour onset type, code N	
Scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All women who gave birth.	
Definition:
The manner in which labour started in a birth event, as represented by a code.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
‘Onset of labour’ was provided for all reported women who gave birth in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. During the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005, Tasmania had greater than 0.5% missing or inadequate data for the first four years. By 2005 this had been reduced and Tasmania has continued to be compliant in the provision of this data item for all reported women who gave birth.
Additional information
None.
Data element short name: Person identifier
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cancer (clinical) DSS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Health care client identification DSS
Health care provider identification DSS
Non-admitted patient DSS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Prison clinic contact DSS
Prison entrants DSS
Prisoners in custody repeat medications DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 290046	
METeOR name: Person—person identifier, XXXXXX[X(14)]	
Scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
Person identifier unique within an establishment or agency.	

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
‘Person identifier’ was provided for all reported women who gave birth in each state and territory. All records reported to the NPESU require an identifier, therefore, it is not possible for data to be reported as ‘Not stated’ for this data element.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period or since the last reporting period 2001–2005.
Additional information
Prior to 2009 NPESU requested a mother identifier and used this together with baby birth order as the baby identifier.  In 2009 the data requested from states and territories included unique identifiers for both the mother and the baby.  Further, a data-set-specific attribute was added to the NHDD items to indicate that this item is collected twice, once for the mother and once for the baby.
For the reference years 2006 to 2008 Victoria and New South Wales provided unique birth identifiers rather than unique person identifiers for the mother which required some data modification by NPESU to identify babies from multiple pregnancies.
Data element short name: Presentation at birth
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2007*, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 299992	
METeOR name: Birth event—birth presentation, code N	
Scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The presenting part of the fetus at birth, as represented by a code.	
* This item was introduced into the NMDS on 1 July 2007. Assessment of compliance for 2007 is based on 6 months’ data for the second half of the year only.
Table 3.11: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Presentation at birth’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2007*	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas(a)				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas(a)				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA				
Tas(a)				
ACT				
NT				
* This item was introduced into the NMDS on 1 July 2007. Assessment of compliance for 2007 is based on 6 months’ data for the second half of the year only.
(a)	Tasmania reported the ‘Presentation at birth’ for all babies delivered by caesarean section as ‘Not stated’ rather than their actual presentation.

Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
‘Presentation at birth’ was provided for all reported women who gave birth in each state and territory except Victoria in 2009 and Tasmania for 2007 to 2009. Tasmania had a missing value for ‘Presentation at birth’ for almost 30.0% of mothers for each of these years (Table 3.12). This was because all babies delivered by caesarean section in Tasmania were reported with a missing or ‘Not stated’ value for this data item rather than coded with their actual presentation at birth. The scope of this data item is for all births and does not exclude those babies born by caesarean section. 
Victoria provided preliminary data for 2009 and had not provided final data at the time of this report. As a result the percentage for missing values for Victorian births may decrease to below 0.5. 
Table 3.12: Babies born in Victoria and Tasmania, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Presentation at birth’, 2008 and 2009
	2007	2008	2009	
Vic	
Number	. .	. .	469	
Per cent	. .	. .	0.6	
Tas	
Number	922	1,893	1,864	
Per cent	28.5	29.3	29.3	
. .	 Not applicable as less than 0.5% of records had a ‘Not stated’ ‘Presentation at birth’.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been little change in the provision of this data element and most jurisdictions were compliant during the reporting period.
Additional information
None.

Data element short name: Separation date (mother)
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 270025	
METeOR name: Episode of admitted patient care—separation date, DDMMYYYY	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope:
All women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres. 	
Definition:
Date on which an admitted patient completes an episode of care.	
Table 3.13: Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Separation date (mother)’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2006	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
(continued)

Table 3.13 (continued): Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Separation date (mother)’
State/ territory	NHDD definition used?	NHDD domain values used?	Provided for all reported women who gave birth?	
2007	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2008	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
2009	
NSW				
Vic				
Qld				
WA				
SA(a)				
Tas				
ACT				
NT				
Confidentialised dates were provided.
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories were recorded as using the NHDD definition for ‘Separation date’ of the mother except South Australia where confidentialised dates were provided. Most states and territories used the NHDD date format or a format which could easily be transformed into the correct format. South Australia adjusted mother’s ‘Separation date’ for 2006 to 2009 based on the baby’s date of birth, in order to confidentialise the data.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
All states and territories except for New South Wales provided ‘Separation date’ for all women who gave birth in hospitals and birth centres over the 2006–2009 period. Dates from South Australia were confidentialised for each year.
Table 3.14 shows the number and proportions of missing ‘Separation date’ of women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres in New South Wales. 

Table 3.14: Women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres in New South Wales, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Separation date’, 2006 to 2009
	2006	2007	2008	2009	
NSW	
Number	2,495	1,424	2,608	1,996	
Per cent	2.8	1.5	2.8	2.1	
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
Dates not in the format of DDMMYYYY were put into NHDD date format.
Trend analysis
For most states and territories there has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. 
For states where there has been greater than 0.5% missing data, there appears to have been no improvement in data quality during the reporting period. There has been some improvement since the previous evaluation for 2001 to 2005 with Tasmania reducing the percentage of missing data for this item to below 0.5 (for 2001 and 2002 Tasmania was not compliant) and both New South Wales and Western Australia improving their compliance, although New South Wales still has greater than 0.5% missing data.
Additional information
Western Australia reported that ‘Separation date’ is not collected on the Notification of Case Attended form in the Midwives’ Notification System; it is obtained via linkage with the Hospital Morbidity Data System. Since 2005, improvements in linkage procedures and frequency have led to a reduction in the proportion of missing separation dates so that this item is now compliant.
South Australian legislation prevents the release of potentially identifiable data from its perinatal collection. For 2006 to 2009 South Australia provided data in a confidentialised format which results in non-compliance for the NHDD definition for this item.

Data element short name: Sex
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Acute coronary syndrome (clinical) DSS
Admitted patient care NMDS
Admitted patient mental health care NMDS
Admitted patient palliative care NMDS
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS
Cancer (clinical) DSS
Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS
Community mental health care NMDS
Computer Assisted Telephone Interview demographic module DSS
Diabetes (clinical) DSS
Health care client identification DSS
Health care provider identification DSS
Non-admitted patient DSS
Non-admitted patient emergency department care NMDS
Prison clinic contact DSS
Prison entrants DSS
Prisoners in custody repeat medications DSS
Registered chiropractic labour force DSS
Registered dental and allied dental health professional labour force DSS
Registered medical professional labour force DSS
Registered midwifery labour force DSS
Registered nursing professional labour force DSS
Registered optometry labour force DSS
Registered osteopathy labour force DSS
Registered pharmacy labour force DSS
Registered physiotherapy labour force DSS
Registered podiatry labour force DSS
Registered psychology labour force DSS
Residential mental health care NMDS
Sex of prison entrants cluster	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 287316	
METeOR name: Person—sex, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
Sex is the biological distinction between male and female. Where there is an inconsistency between anatomical and chromosomal characteristics, sex is based on anatomical characteristics.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Sex’ was provided for all reported babies born in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. All states and territories provided this data element in the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005.
Additional information
None.

Data element short name: State/territory of birth 
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
Health care client identification DSS
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 270151	
METeOR name: Birth event—state/territory of birth, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The state/territory in which the baby was delivered, as represented by a code.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
‘State/territory of birth’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory. As these data are supplied to the NPESU by the state or territory in which the birth occurred, it is not possible for data to be reported as ‘Not stated’ for this data element.
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No. 
Trend analysis
There has been no change in the provision of this data element over the 4-year period. All states and territories provided this data element in the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005.
Additional information
None.

Data element short name: Status of the baby 
Evaluation NMDS:
Perinatal	Other health DSSs:
	Collection year/s: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009	
		METeOR ID: 269949	
METeOR name: Birth—birth status, code N	
NMDS scope: 
All births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community, both live and stillborn, of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams birthweight.	
Data element scope: 
All births.	
Definition:
The status of the baby at birth as represented by a code.	
Details of use of non-standard NHDD definition and domain values
All states and territories used the NHDD definition and domain values.
Details of use of non-standard NMDS scope
 ‘Status of the baby’ was provided for all reported births in each state and territory. 
Was mapping required from state and territory data sets?
No.
Trend analysis
There was no change in the provision of this data element for 2006 to 2009. In the first four years of the previous reporting period 2001 to 2005, Tasmania did not provide data using the correct domain values and mapping was required at the NPESU. From 2005 all jurisdictions provided the correct domain values for all reported births. 
Additional information
The NPESU in consultation with the NPDDC is currently undertaking data development of this element. It is rare that data would be reported as ‘Not stated’ for this data element. However, given that stillbirth is also rare, if these babies do not have their status reported this could be a problem.
Appendix A
List of members of the National Perinatal Data Development Committee (NPDDC) during the reference period of this compliance report.
State and territory representatives	
New South Wales
•	Dr Lee Taylor
Manager, Surveillance Methods
Centre for Epidemiology & Research
NSW Department of Health
•	Mr Elvis Maio
Project Officer, Demand & Performance Evaluation Branch
NSW Department of Health
Victoria
•	Ms Anna Cooper
Data Manager, Clinical Councils Unit
Department of Human Services
•	Ms Sonia Palma
Health Information Manager, Clinical Councils Unit
Department of Human Services
•	Ms Diana Stubbs
Liaison Midwife, Clinical Councils Unit
Department of Human Services
•	Ms Carla Read (no longer committee member)
Health Information Manager, Clinical Councils Unit
Department of Human Services
•	Ms Merilyn Riley (no longer committee member)
Senior Research Officer, Perinatal Data Development Unit
Department of Human Services
Queensland
•	Ms Sue Cornes (Chair)
Executive Director, Health Statistics Centre
Queensland Health
•	Ms Joanne Bunney
Principal Data Collections Officer, Data Collections Unit
Queensland Health
Western Australia
•	Mr Max Le (no longer committee member)
Manager, Maternal & Child Health Unit
Data Collection & Analysis, Information Management & Reporting
Department of Health
•	Mr Tony Satti
Program Manager, Data Collection & Analysis, Performance Activity & Quality Division
Department of Health
•	Mr Alan Joyce (no longer committee member)
Acting Manager, Maternal Child & Health Unit, Data Collection & Analysis, Information Management & Reporting
WA Department of Health	South Australia
•	Acting Professor Annabelle Chan (no longer committee member)
Head, Pregnancy Outcome Statistics Unit
Department of Health to August 2010
•	Dr Wendy Scheil
Acting Head, Pregnancy Outcome Statistics Unit
Department of Health from August 2010
•	Ms Joan Scott
Liaison Midwife, Pregnancy Outcome Statistics Unit
Department of Health
Tasmania
•	Mr Peter Mansfield
Manager, Clinical Data Services, Resources & Health System Performance, Health Services
Department of Health & Human Services
Australian Capital Territory
•	Ms Louise Freebairn
Senior Research Officer, Epidemiology Branch
ACT Health
•	Ms Rosalind Sexton
Senior Research Officer, Epidemiology Branch
ACT Health
•	Ms Maureen Bourne (no longer committee member)
Data Manager, Population Health Research Centre, Population Health
ACT Health
Northern Territory
•	Ms Leanne O’Neill
Perinatal Data Business Analyst, Acute Care Information Systems
Department of Health & Families
•	Ms Cheryl McCullough (no longer committee member)
Perinatal Data Business Analyst, Acute Care Information Systems
Department of Health & Families
National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU) / AIHW
•	Professor Elizabeth Sullivan (Deputy Chair)
Director, National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (AIHW)/ Perinatal & Reproductive Epidemiology Research Unit (UNSW)	
Appendix B
Table A1: Women who gave birth and births, by state and territory, 2006 to 2009
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
2006	
Women who gave birth	91,303	68,547	55,719	28,253	18,518	6,053	5,354	3,689	277,436	
All births	92,768	69,856	56,708	28,664	18,802	6,143	5,485	3,743	282,169	
2007	
Women who gave birth	94,588	71,189	59,228	29,630	19,467	6,216	5,420	3,759	289,497	
All births	96,016	72,472	60,244	30,074	19,751	6,312	5,536	3,801	294,206	
2008	
Women who gave birth	94,857	71,324	60,326	30,237	19,671	6,349	5,589	3,803	292,156	
All births	96,336	72,546	61,400	30,674	19,969	6,455	5,705	3,840	296,925	
2009	
Women who gave birth	95,038	72,245	61,021	30,760	19,601	6,280	5,736	3,859	294,540	
All births	96,434	73,488	62,048	31,219	19,898	6,369	5,851	3,913	299,220	
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 1998. Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). ABS cat. no. 1269.0. Canberra: ABS. 
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2006. National Minimum Data Set for Admitted Patient Care: compliance evaluation 2001–02 to 2003–04. Health Services Series no. 28. Cat. no. HSE 44. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2010. National health data dictionary, Version 15. Cat. no. HWI 107. Canberra: AIHW.
Commonwealth of Australia 2011. National Health Information Agreement. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Viewed 5 April 2012,  <http://www.ahmac.gov.au/cms_documents/National%20Health%20Information%20Agreement%20-%20Final.pdf>.
HDSC (Health Data Standards Committee) 2006. National health data dictionary, Version 13. Cat. no. HWI 88. Canberra: AIHW.
HDSC 2008. National health data dictionary, Version 14. Cat. no. HWI 101. Canberra: AIHW.
Laws PJ 2008. Perinatal National Minimum Data Set compliance evaluation 2001 to 2005. Perinatal statistics series no. 21. Cat. no. PER 44. Sydney: AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit.
Laws PJ & Sullivan EA 2004. Report on the evaluation of the Perinatal National Minimum Data Set. Perinatal statistics series no. 14. Cat. no. PER 27. Sydney: AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit.
Leeds KL, Gourley M, Laws PJ, Zhang J, Al-Yaman F & Sullivan EA 2007. Indigenous mothers and their babies, Australia 2001–2004. Perinatal statistics series no. 19. Cat. no. PER 38. Canberra: AIHW.
List of tables
Table 2.1: 	National overview of the use of the National health data dictionary definition and domain values and NMDS scope, 2006 to 2009
Table 2.2: 	State and territory overview of the use of the National health data dictionary definition and domain values and NMDS scope, 2006 to 2009
Table 3.1: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Apgar score at 5 minutes’
Table 3.2: 	Women who gave birth in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Area of usual residence’, 2007 to 2009
Table 3.3: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Country of birth’
Table 3.4: 	Women who gave birth in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Country of birth’, 2006 to 2009
Table 3.5: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Date of birth (mother)’
Table 3.6: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Date of birth (baby)’
Table 3.7: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Establishment identifier—establishment number’
Table 3.8: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Indigenous status’
Table 3.9: 	Women who gave birth in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Victoria, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Indigenous status’, 2006 to 2009
Table 3.10: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Method of birth’
Table 3.11: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Presentation at birth’
Table 3.12: 	Babies born in Victoria and Tasmania, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Presentation at birth’, 2008 and 2009
Table 3.13: 	Use of national standard definition, domain values and NMDS scope for ‘Separation date (mother)’
Table 3.14: 	Women who gave birth in hospitals or birth centres in New South Wales, number and percentage of not stated or inadequate data for ‘Separation date’, 2006 to 2009
Table A1: 	Women who gave birth and births, by state and territory, 2006 to 2009