Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people

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Leading causes of death Potentially avoidable causes of death Comparisons with non-Indigenous Australians

In 2024 there were 5,603 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people registered in Australia.

Data on deaths for First Nations people in the remainder of this section relate to:

  • the 5 jurisdictions in which the quality of Indigenous status identification is sufficient for reporting – New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory; and
  • the 3 years combined 2022 to 2024.

In 2022–2024, there were 14,164 deaths of First Nations people in these 5 jurisdictions combined – a crude rate of 528 deaths per 100,000 population (Table S7.1).

Updates to the derivation of Indigenous status in mortality statistics – effects on time series data

Demographic and cause of death data are coded and processed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Since 2022 the ABS has progressively enhanced the way Indigenous status is derived. Information from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and coronial information is now available as a secondary source to identify the Indigenous status of the deceased, bringing New South Wales and Victoria in line with the other jurisdictions used for reporting First Nations death data (Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory).

This enhancement has improved the identification of First Nations people in cause of death data, and decreased the number of deaths where Indigenous status was not stated. Due to the increased identification of First Nations people, there is a break in the time series from 2022. As a result, time series analysis is not presented in this report.

For more information see: Technical Note: The impact of using two sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in NSW in 2022, ABS (2023) and Technical Note: The impact of using multiple sources for deriving the Indigenous status of deaths in 2023 – changes for Victoria and coroner referred deaths, ABS (2024)

Leading causes of death

In 2022–2024 coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death for First Nations people, responsible for 1 in 9 deaths (1,522 deaths). Diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer were also leading causes of death for First Nations people (Figure 7.1).

There were some differences between First Nations males and females in the leading causes:

  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for First Nations males and the 8th for First Nations females.
  • Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease was the 5th leading cause of death for First Nations females and the 11th leading cause of death for First Nations males (Table S7.1).

Figure 7.1: Leading underlying causes of death in Australia, by Indigenous status and sex, 2022–2024

Among First Nations people, coronary heart disease ranks highest for persons and males, while diabetes ranks highest for females. Other leading causes, including COPD, lung cancer and suicide, vary by sex.

Among First Nations people, coronary heart disease ranks highest for persons and males, while diabetes ranks highest for females. Other leading causes, including COPD, lung cancer and suicide, vary by sex.

Potentially avoidable causes of death

More than half of the deaths of First Nations people aged under 75 years were from potentially avoidable causes. For First Nations people who died from potentially avoidable causes in 2022–2024:

  • 11% of deaths were due to coronary heart disease
  • 7% of deaths were due to diabetes
  • 7% were due to suicide (Table S7.3).

While the proportion of deaths of male and female First Nations people who died by potentially avoidable causes were similar, the age-standardised death rate was 1.4 times as high overall for First Nations males (277 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 males and 193 potentially avoidable deaths per 100,000 females).

Comparisons with non-Indigenous Australians

In the same 5 jurisdictions, there were 384,009 deaths of non-Indigenous Australians – a crude rate of 718 deaths per 100,000 population.

The leading causes of death for non-Indigenous Australians are similar to the total population, with dementia including Alzheimer’s disease and coronary heart disease the leading causes (Figure 7.1).

The age-standardised death rate for First Nations people is generally higher than for non-Indigenous Australians. In 2022–2024, the age-standardised death rate for First Nations people was:

  • 1.9 times as high for all causes of death (990 and 529 deaths per 100,000 population)
  • 4.6 times as high for diabetes (74 and 16 deaths per 100,000 population)
  • 3.3 times as high for COPD (71 and 21 deaths per 100,000 population)
  • 2.2 times as high for coronary heart disease (109 and 49 deaths per 100,000 population)
  • 3.5 times as high for potentially avoidable causes (327 and 93 per 100,000).

When considering the differences by sex:

  • the age-standardised death rate was 1.8 times as high for First Nations males than non-Indigenous males
  • coronary heart disease contributed 24% of the gap (rate difference) in avoidable mortality between First Nations males and non-Indigenous males
  • the age-standardised death rate was 1.9 times as high for First Nations females than non-Indigenous females
  • diabetes contributed 20% of the gap (rate difference) in avoidable mortality between First Nations females and non-Indigenous females.

Data for the leading 20 causes of death for First Nations and non-Indigenous people are in tables S7.1 and S7.2.

For more information on life expectancy for First Nations peoples, see Health and wellbeing of First Nations people.

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