The leading specific cause of death for Indigenous Australians overall in 2018 was Ischaemic heart disease, accounting for 390 deaths (12.1% of all deaths). Diabetes was the second leading specific cause of death, accounting for 232 deaths (7.2% of all deaths) at a rate of 72.1 deaths per 100,000 in 2018 (ABS 2019a).
Across Indigenous males and females, four of the top five leading specific causes of death are the same, but they have different rankings. However, there are some larger differences—for example when looking individually by sex, for Indigenous males intentional self-harm is the second leading specific cause, but is ranked seventh for Indigenous females (see box ‘A focus on suicide’). Dementia, including Alzheimer disease is the fifth ranked specific cause among Indigenous females, but is ranked 12th for Indigenous males (ABS 2019a).
A focus on suicide
In 2018, 169 Indigenous Australians died by suicide. Age-standardised rates of Indigenous deaths by suicide have increased over time from 20.2 per 100,000 persons in 2009–2013 to 23.7 per 100,000 persons in 2014–2018, which is almost double that of non-Indigenous Australians in 2014–18 (12.3 per 100,000 persons). Suicide is also a pronounced issue for Indigenous youth—in the five years from 2014 to 2018, suicide rates were highest for those aged 25–34 years (47.1 per 100,000) and 15–24 (40.5 per 100,000) but then declined with age to less than 10 per 100,000 for those aged 65 and over (ABS 2019a).
For more information on Indigenous life expectancy and deaths, see:
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References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2018. Life tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2015–2017. ABS cat. no. 3302.0.55.003. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019a. Causes of death, Australia, 2018. ABS cat. no. 3303.0. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019b. Deaths, Australia, 2018. ABS cat. no. 3302.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2018. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF) report 2017. Cat. no. IHW 194. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019. Deaths in Australia. Cat. no. PHE 229. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2020, forthcoming. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF) report 2020. Canberra: AIHW.
PM&C (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) 2019. Closing the Gap Prime Minister’s report. Canberra: PM&C.