This report updates and builds on findings from the 1998 AIHW report, Health in Rural and Remote Australia, which identified higher death rates outside major metropolitan areas. However, it has been unclear how much of these higher death rates are due to rural health issues, or Indigenous health issues.This report largely resolves this uncertainty by controlling for Indigenous status and describing for each region: differences in death rates; trends in mortality over time; and how many more deaths occurred than were expected (if lower major cities rates had applied in each region).