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Trend indicator key:    Favourable    Unfavourable    No change    No trend data    No data

Life expectancy

There is a favourable trend for this indicator

Life expectancy is a measure of how long, on average, a person is expected to live. It can be used as a summary measure of the health and wellbeing of the population. It varies between population groups and over time, and can be used to highlight inequalities.

Life expectancy in Australia has increased dramatically over the past century and continues to be among the best in the world: a boy born in 2005–2007 could expect to live 79.2 years and a girl 83.7 years.

Gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous

There is no clear trend for this indicator  

Life expectancy is not the same for all Australians. It is much lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than for non-Indigenous Australians: 12 years lower for males and 10 years lower for females. Closing this gap is a national priority.

Deaths from leading potentially preventable chronic diseases

There is a favourable trend for this indicator  

In 2007, there were over 18,000 deaths among people aged 75 or younger from these potentially preventable chronic diseases:

  • ischaemic heart disease
  • lung cancer
  • stroke
  • breast cancer
  • bowel cancer
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • dementia
  • prostate cancer
  • Type 2 diabetes.

Using 1997 as the reference year, premature deaths from chronic disease have decreased over time. In 2007, a person was 17% less likely to die prematurely from a chronic disease than in 2007.

Deaths from leading chronic conditions

There is a favourable trend for this indicator

Chronic conditions are among the leading causes of death in Australia, but the number of people dying from chronic conditions declined by 41% between 1997 and 2007.

Common chronic conditions include heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, breast cancer, bowel cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, end-stage kidney failure, Type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, asthma, and prostate cancer.

In 2007, more than 34,500 males and more than 34,600 females died from these chronic conditions. This equates to almost half (49%) of all male deaths and more than half (52%) of all female deaths in that year.

Deaths from suicide

There is a favourable trend for this indicator  

The overall trend is favourable as the average annual suicide rate dropped by 4.4% between 1997 and 2007.

In 2007, there were 1,880 people who committed suicide. Most of these were males (1,453 compared to 427 females).

There was no discernable pattern in suicide rates by socioeconomic status, with both ends of the spectrum reporting similar suicide rates, but they did differ by geographic region. People who lived in Remote/Very remote areas of Australia had three times the suicide rate of those living in Major cities.