Bulletin 14 - Available national data
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Available national data
Deaths data are produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from
information supplied by coroners and death certificates. Injury-related deaths
are coded according to ICD9 external causes codes[3] but there is no coding of
the anatomical nature of injury. ABS reports these data in aggregated tables in
Deaths Australia (ABS Cat No. 3302.0) and in more detail in Causes of Death
Australia (ABS Cat No. 3303.0). These tables do not include specific
information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths. The summary data
is aggregated based on year of registration of the death and is released
approximately nine months into the following year.
Unit record level deaths data is provided to a number of agencies across
Australia with strict confidentiality controls. These agencies, including NISU,
undertake more detailed analyses. For example, Harrison and Moller[1] reported
on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander injury deaths data for 1990-1992. At
the time of writing, numbers of injury deaths among Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples were available for subsequent years to 1994.
Each state and territory collects data on episodes of hospitalisation according
to definitions in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's
National Health Data Dictionary. These data are forwarded to the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare. The latest injury-related data available to
NISU is for the financial year 1992/93. All states and territories identify
Aboriginality. The reliability of this variable is known to vary from state to
state. While the extent of under-identification of Aboriginality is unknown, it
is likely to be higher in states with a low Aboriginal population. Detailed
injury data have not been available from the Northern Territory because of
difficulties in extracting fourth digit level external causes codes. Given the
high number of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the
Northern Territory and the predominance of more traditional lifestyles, this
represents an important gap in the data.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is determined at each
Census. Post enumeration surveys have indicated that the Census underestimates
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. In 1994, ABS published
experimental estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population
which updated 1991 population figures[5]. Data were presented for each state
and territory by five year age-groups and sex. Table 2 shows the extent and
patterns of underestimation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
population by the 1991 Census.
Since that time, projections for subsequent years have been published and
provide estimates to the year 2001[6]. Three scenarios are used based on
different assumptions of fertility and mortality and estimates are made for
each state and territory either by five year age-groups or sex but not both at
once. The most recent population data at finer than state level is based on
unadjusted 1991 Census figures.
Table 2: Percentages by which the 1991 Census counts of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander population are less than the more accurate experimental
estimates published by ABS in 1994
| Age group |
Males |
Females |
Persons |
| 0-4 |
4.5 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
| 5-9 |
4.5 |
4.2 |
4.4 |
| 10-14 |
3.3 |
3 |
3.2 |
| 15-19 |
8.1 |
6.3 |
7.2 |
| 20-24 |
13.6 |
5.2 |
9.5 |
| 25-29 |
14.3 |
5.8 |
10.1 |
| 30-34 |
10.1 |
3.6 |
6.8 |
| 35-39 |
11.2 |
3.9 |
7.5 |
| 40-44 |
4.9 |
2.5 |
3.7 |
| 45-49 |
4.2 |
5.2 |
4.7 |
| 50-54 |
3.9 |
1.8 |
2.8 |
| 55-59 |
4.3 |
6.1 |
5.2 |
| 60-64 |
5.3 |
2.7 |
3.9 |
| 65+ |
2.4 |
4 |
3.3 |
| Total |
7.4 |
4.4 |
5.9 |
1. Harrison J, Moller J. Injury mortality amongst Aboriginal Australians.
Australian Injury Prevention Bulletin 7. Adelaide: Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare National Injury Surveillance Unit, 1994
3. World Health Organization. International classification of diseases (1975
revision), Geneva: WHO, 1977.
5. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Experimental estimates of the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander population, 1986 to 1991. Catalogue No.3230.0.
Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1994.
6. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Experimental projections of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander populations. Catalogue No. 3231.0. Canberra: Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 1996.
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