Graph 9 Infant mortality rate, 1904-2004

Graph 9

Infant mortality rate, 1904-2004

37. In 2002, Australia’s overall infant mortality rate ranked 14^th lowest amongst the 30 other OECD countries, placing Australia in the middle third behind countries such as Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Japan (OECD, OECD Health Data 2006 ).

38. Although the infant mortality in Australia is low and declining, the low level of infant mortality is not consistent for all population groups. Indigenous infant mortality rates during the period 1999-2003 were around three times the rates of non-Indigenous infants in Queensland, Western Australia, SA and the NT (the coverage of Indigenous peoples in deaths data in these jurisdictions is considered of sufficient completeness for statistical reporting) (ABS/AIHW, The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2005, Cat.
No. 4704.0). Nevertheless, between 1993 and 2003, Indigenous infant mortality decreased by approximately 3.3 per cent per year in Queensland, WA, SA and the NT (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, A Picture of Australia’s Children, 2005).

39. A reliable assessment of trends in Indigenous foetal and infant mortality is not possible because of uncertainties about changes in the extent to which women are identified as Indigenous in perinatal data collections.

Maternal mortality

40. The 1997-1999, Australian maternal mortality ratio was 8.2 per 100 000 confinements, compared with the 1994-1996 ratio of 9.1 per 100 000 confinements (AIHW, Maternal Deaths in Australia 1997-1999).

41. In the 1997-1999 triennium, there were 62 maternal deaths, of which 34 (55 per cent) were direct deaths and 28 (45 per cent) were indirect. There were also 28 incidental maternal deaths (which the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for exclusion from the definition of the maternal mortality ratio). This represented a decrease of 6 per cent in the number of deaths compared with the 1994-1996 triennium (when there were 66 maternal deaths).

42. The principal causes of direct maternal deaths were obstetric haemorrhage (eight deaths [24 per cent]), amniotic fluid embolism (seven deaths [21 per cent]), pulmonary thromboembolism (6 deaths [18 per cent]) and deaths due to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (6 deaths [18 per cent]). The main causes of indirect death were deaths from psychiatric causes (eight deaths [29 per cent]) and deaths due to cardiac disease (seven deaths [25 per cent]).

43. The Indigenous maternal mortality ratio in 1997-1999 (23.5 deaths per 100,000 confinements, excluding incidental maternal deaths) remains about three times that of the non Indigenous maternal mortality ratio (6.7 deaths per 100,000 confinements).

Causes of death - general population

44. Malignant neoplasms (cancer) and ischaemic heart diseases were the leading underlying causes of death in 2004, accounting for 29 per cent and 19 per cent respectively of total deaths registered.

Table 7

Leading causes of death - 2004

Cause of death (ICD-10 code)	Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of total deaths
	No.	No.	No.	%
All causes	68 395	64 113	132 508	100.0
Malignant neoplasms (cancer) (C00 C97) (a)	21 383	16 606	37 989	28.7
Trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	4 733	2 531	7 264
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20 I25)	13 152	11 424	24 576	18.5
Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) (I60 I69)	4 826	7 215	12 041	9.1
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (incl. asthma, emphysema and bronchitis) (J40-J47)	3 187	2 598	5 785	4.4
Accidents (V01-X59)	3 245	1 964	5 209	3.9
Transport accidents (V01 V99)	1 236	453	1 689
Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)	1 869	1 730	3 599	2.7
Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries (incl. atherosclerosis and aoritic aneurysm) (I70-I79)	1 263	1 214	2 477	1.9
Intentional self-harm (X60 X84)	1 661	437	2 098	1.6
Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders (F00-F09)	904	1 975	2 879	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia (J10 J18)	1 498	1 883	33 816	2.6
All other causes	15 407	17 067	32 474	24.5

Source: ABS Causes of Death 2004 (Cat. No. 3303.0).

(a) Includes deaths from non-melanocytic skin cancer.

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