Cancer data in Australia

First Nations cancer data

Cancer incidence, mortality and survival data by Indigenous Status is provided on this page. An overview of cancer in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) populations is available here. A cancer data commentary is available to help understand some of the concepts used for First Nations cancer statistics (Cancer data commentary – Help understanding the First Nations cancer data). 

First Nations cancer incidence

The following data visualisation provides cancer incidence statistics from 2011 to 2025. Actual data is provided for 2011 to 2021 and projections are provided for 2022 to 2025. The data excludes South Australia and Tasmania but national estimates of First Nations cancer cases are available within the data visualisation.

In general, it is recommended that the ‘Imputed incidence (excludes South Australia and Tasmania) and the ‘Census adjusted for changing identification’ are used to consider First Nations cancer incidence over time. More information about these is available in the abovementioned Cancer data commentary.

Cancer incidence by Indigenous status data are available as supplementary tables. 

First Nations cancer mortality

The following data visualisation provides cancer mortality statistics from 2011 to 2025. Actual data is provided for 2011 to 2021 and projections are used for 2022 to 2025. The data excludes South Australia and Tasmania but national estimates of First Nations cancer deaths are available within the data visualisation.

In general, it is recommended that the ‘Imputed mortality (excludes South Australia and Tasmania) and the ‘Census adjusted for changing identification’ are used to consider First Nations cancer mortality over time. More information about these is available in the abovementioned Cancer data commentary.

Cancer mortality by Indigenous status data are available as supplementary tables.

First Nations cancer survival

The following data visualisation provides cancer survival statistics for the 2017–2021 period. The data includes all records within the 2021 Australian Cancer Database with known Indigenous status. Developmental life tables by Indigenous status have been used and these are based on mortality data from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. More information about the life tables is available within the Methods section. 

When comparing the First Nations and non-Indigenous survival for the respective populations, the First Nations survival is best compared with the non-Indigenous age-adjusted survival. The non-Indigenous age-adjusted survival rate represents the survival rate that would be provided if the non-Indigenous age-structure was the same as the First Nations population diagnosed with cancer. The age-adjustment differs by cancer type in line with the age-structure of the First Nations population diagnosed with the respective cancer and these survival rates are accordingly not directly comparable across cancer types. 

Help is available within the data visualisation and also within Cancer data commentary 13. 

Cancer survival by Indigenous status data are available as supplementary tables.