Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (AIHW 2024b).
Reliable national data on the diagnosis of cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are not available. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions, the quality of the data is insufficient for analysis. Information in the ACD on Indigenous status is considered to be of sufficient completeness for reporting for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory.
While the majority (91%) of Australian Indigenous people live in these 6 jurisdictions, the degree to which data for these jurisdictions are representative of data for all Indigenous people is unknown (ABS 2023).
The incidence counts and rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians presented are underestimates due to the relatively large proportion of people whose Indigenous status is not stated, or not available. Also, it is likely that some Indigenous people are misclassified as non-Indigenous. Therefore, the estimates presented should be interpreted with caution. In addition, age-standardised incidence rates should be used to compare the incidence of breast cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and non-Indigenous Australian women to account for the different age structures of Indigenous populations and non-Indigenous populations.
Analysis of data from these jurisdictions showed that, over the 5 years 2017–2021, there were 1,306 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women diagnosed with breast cancer. This equates to 60.5 new cases per 100,000 women in the population.
Of the 1,306 breast cancers diagnosed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, 820 (62.8%) were diagnosed in women aged 50–74, equating to 236.7 new cases per 100,000 women in the population.
After adjusting for age, in 2017–2021, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women aged 50–74 had a lower age-standardised incidence rate of breast cancer than non-Indigenous women at 245.1 compared to 303.2 new cases per 100,000 women, respectively (Figure 10.3).
