Mortality from breast cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
The source of mortality data is the AIHW National Mortality Database. Only mortality data from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are considered adequate for reporting by Indigenous status. Other jurisdictions have a small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths, and the identification of these in their death registration systems is relatively poor, making the data less reliable. Note that these jurisdictions differ from those used to calculate incidence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians. See Box 10.2 for information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rates calculated using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates from the 2021 Census.
Analysis of data from these jurisdictions showed that, over the 5 years 2019–2023, there were 248 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who died from breast cancer in Australia. This equates to 11.5 deaths per 100,000 women in the population.
Of the 248 breast cancer deaths in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, 160 (64.5%) were aged 50–74. This was a crude rate of 44.3 deaths from breast cancer per 100,000 women aged 50–74.
After adjusting for age, mortality among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory was 1.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous women over the 5 years 2019–2023 for women aged 50–74 (48.1 and 38.0 deaths per 100,000 women in the population, respectively) (Figure 10.4).
Figure 10.4: Mortality from breast cancer in women aged 50–74 (New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory), by Indigenous status, 2019–2023
This vertical bar chart shows that Indigenous participants had a higher mortality rate than non-Indigenous women (48.1 and 38.0, respectively).
Indigenous status | Number | Crude rate | AS rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Indigenous | 31,329 | 35.9 | 36.1 |
Non-Indigenous | 1,858,823 | 51.7 | 51.2 |
Australia | 1,901,090 | 51.7 | 51.2 |
Notes:
- Indigenous status is self‑reported; therefore, accuracy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation rates will be affected if participants choose not to identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander at the time of screening.
- Crude rate is the number of participants screened in 2022–2023 as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population; age‑standardised (AS) rate is the number of participants screened in 2022–2023 as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population, age‑standardised to the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
- COVID-19 affected these results. Services had to reduce capacity due to the need to implement COVID-19 safety measures.
- Australia includes 10,938 (0.6%) participants whose Indigenous status is not stated.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are respectfully referred to as Indigenous women in this table.
Source: AIHW analysis of BreastScreen Australia data.
Reporting period | Number | Crude rate | AS rate |
|---|---|---|---|
2016–2017 | 22,218 | 32.4 | 32.6 |
2017–2018 | 24,001 | 33.5 | 33.8 |
2018–2019 | 25,544 | 34.2 | 34.4 |
2019–2020(a) | 24,918 | 32.0 | 32.3 |
2020–2021(a) | 25,338 | 31.3 | 31.5 |
2021–2022(a) | 28,002 | 33.2 | 33.4 |
2022–2023(a) | 31,329 | 35.9 | 36.1 |
(a) COVID-19 affected these results. Services had to reduce capacity due to the need to implement COVID-19 safety measures.
Notes:
- Indigenous status is self‑reported; therefore, accuracy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation rates will be affected if participants choose not to identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander at the time of screening.
- Crude rate is the number of participants screened as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population; age‑standardised (AS) rate is the number of participants screened as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population, age‑standardised to the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
- The reporting periods cover 1 January of the initial year to 31 December of the latter year indicated.
- The participation data from 2016–2017 have been updated. Therefore, these data may differ from previously published data.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are respectfully referred to as Indigenous women in this table.
Source: AIHW analysis of BreastScreen Australia data.
Reporting period | Number | Crude rate | AS rate |
|---|---|---|---|
2016–2017 | 1,776,275 | 55.0 | 54.5 |
2017–2018 | 1,810,553 | 55.0 | 54.5 |
2018–2019 | 1,844,216 | 54.9 | 54.4 |
2019–2020(a) | 1,719,784 | 50.0 | 49.5 |
2020–2021(a) | 1,673,388 | 47.7 | 47.1 |
2021–2022(a) | 1,784,128 | 50.2 | 49.7 |
2022–2023(a) | 1,858,823 | 51.7 | 51.2 |
(a) COVID-19 affected these results. Services had to reduce capacity due to the need to implement COVID-19 safety measures.
Notes:
- Crude rate is the number of participants screened as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population; age‑standardised (AS) rate is the number of participants screened as a percentage of the ABS estimated resident population, age‑standardised to the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
- The reporting periods cover 1 January of the initial year to 31 December of the latter year indicated.
- The participation data from 2016–2017 have been updated. Therefore, these data may differ from previously published data.
Source: AIHW analysis of BreastScreen Australia data.
Indigenous status | New cases | Crude rate | AS rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Indigenous | 820 | 236.7 | 245.1 |
Non-Indigenous | 47,262 | 310.1 | 303.2 |
Total | 50,095 | 321.4 | 314.6 |
Notes:
- Data shown for ‘Indigenous’, ‘Non Indigenous’ and ‘Total’ are for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory only; data from these jurisdictions were considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification in cancer registration data at the time that this report was prepared.
- Crude rate is the number of new cases of breast cancer per 100,000 women; age‑standardised (AS) rate is the number of breast cancers per 100,000 women, age‑standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are respectfully referred to as Indigenous women in this table.
Source: AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2021.
Indigenous status | Deaths (Australia) | Deaths | Crude rate | AS rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Indigenous | 179 | 160 | 44.3 | 48.1 |
Non-Indigenous | 7,081 | 4,951 | 39.9 | 38.0 |
Total | 7,295 | 5,125 | 40.2 | 38.3 |
Notes:
- Data shown for ‘Deaths (Australia)’ are for all states and territories combined; all other data are for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory only; data from these jurisdictions were considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification in cancer mortality data at the time this report was prepared.
- Deaths from 2019 to 2022 were derived by year of death; deaths in 2023 were derived by year of registration of death. Deaths registered in 2020 and earlier are based on the final version of cause-of-death data; deaths registered in 2021 are based on revised versions; and deaths registered in 2022 and 2023 are based on preliminary version. Revised and preliminary versions are subject to further revision by the ABS.
- Crude rate is the number of deaths from breast cancer per 100,000 women; age‑standardised (AS) rates are the number of deaths from breast cancers per 100,000 women, age‑standardised to the Australian population at 30 June 2001.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are respectfully referred to as Indigenous women in this table.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.