Life expectancy
In 2010–2012, estimated life expectancy at birth was:
- 69.1 years for Indigenous males—10.6 years lower than for non-Indigenous males (79.7 years)
- 73.7 years for Indigenous females—9.5 years lower than for non-Indigenous females (83.1 years).
Between 2005–2007 and 2010–2012, the life expectancy gap narrowed by 0.8 years for males and 0.1 years for females.
Mortality rates
In the 5 year period 2008–2012:
- two-thirds (65%) of deaths among Indigenous people occurred before the age of 65, compared with 19% of deaths among non-Indigenous people
- the mortality rate for Indigenous people was 1.6 times that of non-Indigenous people (age-standardised rates of 981 and 596 deaths per 100,000 population, respectively)
- the largest difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mortality rates was for people aged 35–44, with male and female Indigenous death rates 3.9 and 4.5 times the non-Indigenous rates, respectively.
Causes of death
The most common broad cause of death among Indigenous Australians was cardiovascular disease (25% of deaths), with Indigenous people dying from this condition at 1.5 times the rate of non-Indigenous people in 2008–2012. Almost one-quarter (24%) of the mortality gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people was due to this disease.
The next most common causes of death among Indigenous people in 2008–2012 were:
- cancer (20%), with lung cancer being the most common cause of such deaths (4.9% of all deaths)
- external causes of injury and poisoning (15%)
- endocrine, metabolic and nutritional disorders (including diabetes) (9.1%)
- respiratory diseases (7.6%)
- digestive diseases (5.6%).
Mortality trends
Between 1998 and 2012, there was a significant decline (16%) in the age-standardised mortality rate for Indigenous Australians, with the mortality gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people narrowing significantly (by 17%). During this period, there was a significant decline in age-standardised mortality rates for Indigenous people for cardiovascular disease (40%) and respiratory diseases (26%), but an increase in rates for cancer (16%) and no significant change in rates for external causes.
Infant deaths represented 4.2% of deaths of Indigenous people compared with 0.8% of deaths of non-Indigenous people in 2008–2012. The mortality rate for Indigenous infants fell by 64% between 1998 and 2012 (from 13.5 to 5.0 deaths per 1,000 live births), while it fell by 25% for non-Indigenous infants (from 4.4 to 3.3 per 1,000 live births); over this period, the gap narrowed by 83%.