Summary

  • Death rates for the Australian Indigenous population are much higher than the non-Indigenous population across all age groups and for all major causes of death. However, there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of this difference because Indigenous status has not been reported accurately on death registrations.
  • A recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) sought to estimate the true number of Indigenous deaths by probabilistically linking registered deaths with 2006 Census records. The study estimated Indigenous life expectancy for 2005–07 to be 67.2 years for males, which was 11.5 years lower than for non-Indigenous males, and 72.9 years for females, which was 9.7 years lower than for non-Indigenous females.
  • Indigenous death rates are highest compared with non-Indigenous rates for ages 25–64 years.
  • The causes of death with the largest contribution to excess male Indigenous mortality are circulatory diseases (26%), external causes (20%), neoplasms (10%), respiratory diseases (10%) and endocrine, metabolic and nutritional disorders (9%).
  • The causes of death with the largest contribution to excess female Indigenous mortality are circulatory diseases (24%), endocrine, metabolic and nutritional disorders (18%), digestive diseases (10%), neoplasms (9%) and respiratory diseases (10%).
  • For males aged 35–54 years, the ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous death rates is highest for diabetes (18.9), chronic lower respiratory disease (11.4), and diseases of the liver (7.2).
  • For females aged 35–54 years, the ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous death rates is highest for diabetes (26.6), diseases of the liver (13.9) and ischaemic heart disease (10.6).
  • From 1991–2008, Indigenous death rates declined significantly, but not more than falls in death rates for other Australians.
  • There was also a decline in Indigenous death rates from circulatory diseases, and again this was matched by falls for other Australians.
  • Previous research has revealed that a range of risk factors contribute to excess Indigenous mortality, including tobacco smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, high overweight/obesity, poor nutrition and lower utilisation of health services.