The legal requirements regarding notification of death mean that the fact that a death has occurred is generally very accurately recorded. The centralised nature of vital statistics reporting means that such information is relatively easy to collate and analyse. Even for death statistics, however, it is difficult to obtain a truly national picture because of incomplete identification of Indigenous people in the death records of some States. The information from these States and Territories has been combined to produce quasi-national mortality statistics, which form the basis of this report. Deaths from infectious and parasitic diseases have become uncommon among non-Indigenous Australians, with lifestyle disorders now becoming the major contributors to death.
Most deaths now occur in the later years of life.
The decline in death rates in Australia during the last three decades has been due largely to a reduction in deaths from cardiovascular diseases. This report examines the mortality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from 1985 to 1994. Death rates are examined in both absolute and relative terms. Absolute change is indicated in the presentation of trends over time. Both absolute and relative changes are important, but they measure different aspects of mortality.