In Australia, official collection of death data began in the mid 1800s, but around the world it has been collected for centuries. It is collected for use in legal processes, public health research and planning, and genealogical research.
The AIHW has two databases containing deaths data
The AIHW also publishes the GRIM (General Record of Incidence of Mortality) books, interactive Excel workbooks that contain comprehensive long-term mortality data on selected causes of death by age and sex for each year since the beginning of the 20th Century. The GRIM Books are updated annually.
Death data are statistics on
- Cause of death
- Age at death, place of death and country of birth
- The circumstances of their death where applicable.
The Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each State and Territory in Australia collects death data and then pass it to the Australian Bureau of Statistics who compiles and codes them nationally according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) .
These data help us
- In the measurement of health and disease
- To understand diseases and deaths in populations
- Plan for health care services
This subject provides information about deaths for use in public health research and planning. It summarises the latest data and long term trends, and discusses how death data are measured and what they are used for.
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