Cancer mortality

Published

30 Jun, 2020

Looking at how many people die and what caused their death can provide important information about the overall health status of a population.¹ Mortality rates provides a useful indication of the diseases that have a greater impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait population. Between 2011-2015 cancer was the second leading cause of death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, contributing to 21% of deaths across the New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.² Lung cancer was the most common cancer causing mortality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the period 2012 to 2016.³ About one-third of cancer deaths are preventable.⁴ Every year in Australia, more than 13,000 cancer deaths are due to tobacco smoking, sun exposure, unhealthy diet, risky drinking of alcohol, not enough exercise or being overweight.

All of Australia’s states and territories have legislation mandating the notification of cancer diagnoses. Currently, cancer mortality data are available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory for the years 2012 to 2016.⁵

Summary

Between 2012 and 2016 2,917 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deaths where attributed to cancerIn the period 2012–2016, there were 2,917 deaths from cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (1,518 males and 1,399 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for all cancers combined was 234.5 deaths per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

The age-standardised cancer mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is higher for males than femalesIn the period 2012-2016, the age-standardised mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 268.0 deaths per 100,000 for males compared to 209.0 deaths per 100,000 for females.

Data

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Age-specific mortality, by sex

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Cancer type

Notes

• Data sourced from AIHW
• Data shown for 'Indigenous' and 'Total' are for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only.
• 'Total' age group includes counts of deaths with unknown age. However, deaths with unknown age were excluded from calculations of rates.
• Rates are calculated using the sum of estimated resident populations at 30 June for 2012–2016. The rates given for age groups are age-specific rates per 100,000. The rates given for 'Total' are age-standardised rates per 100,000, standardised against the 2001 Australian Standard Population.
• Rates are not published where there were fewer than 5 people.

Age-specific mortality for all cancers combined and for selected cancers, by sex, 2012-2016

About this measure

The cancer mortality gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the broader Australian community is evident.⁶ Identifying strategies to address key risk factors that contribute to the mortality gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is crucial.⁷

Cancer mortality data refer to the number of deaths in a calendar year for which the underlying cause is cancer. This can be presented as absolute numbers of deaths or as rates per 100,000 people. Mortality rates are often age-standardised to enable comparisons across different populations that may have different age profiles, as the likelihood of death from cancer generally increases with age.⁵ Age-specific rates are used to compare cancer mortality between different age groups.

Age-standardised and age-specific data are released each year by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) for individual cancer types and cancer groupings. These tumour types and groupings are classified by ICD-10 code.⁵

For comparisons across the broader Australian population by cancer type, see the NCCI ‘Cancer mortality’.

Trends

Trend data are available for individual years over the period 1998 to 2015. Rates can vary from year to year, so caution is advised when comparing data between individual years. From 1998 to 2015, the age-standardised mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased from 194.8 to 245.5 deaths per 100,000 persons.

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, the age-standardised mortality rate increased from 209.4 in 1998 to 281.0 in 2015 per 100,000 males. Among females, the age-standardised mortality rate increased from 189.7 in 1998 to 218.4 in 2015 per 100,000 females.

About the data

Cancer mortality refers to the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was a primary cancer, during a specified time period (usually one year). The major source of cancer mortality data is the National Mortality Database (NMD), which is compiled by the AIHW from data provided by the state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the National Coronial Information System, and coded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Unlike the incidence data, the mortality data include basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin.

All Australian states and territories have legislation that makes cancer a notifiable disease. Various designated bodies, i.e., institutions such as hospitals, pathology laboratories and registries of births, deaths and marriages, are required to report cancer cases and deaths to their jurisdictional cancer registries.

Mortality data up to 2014 are based on the year of occurrence of the death, and data for 2015 are based on the year of registration of the death. The reason for using registrations rather than deaths for 2015 was to gain the best estimates in advance of all deaths being counted at the time of data extraction.

Reliable national data on cancer mortality for Indigenous Australians are not available nationally. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions the quality of Indigenous status data is regarded as insufficient for inclusion in national mortality analyses. Information on Indigenous status is considered to be sufficient for inclusion for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Data for these five jurisdictions therefore were used to examine the mortality from cancer by Indigenous status (i.e. Indigenous and non-Indigenous).5

Age standardisation

Australian mortality data are age-standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001 and are expressed per 100,000 population.

Data sources

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Mortality Database.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

References

Activity in this area

Policy

Cancer Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework. 2015 Available from: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/overlay-context=affected-cancer/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people/national-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cancer-framework

Cancer Australia. Optimal Care Pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer. 2018 Available from: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/optimal-care-pathway-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-cancer

Data

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Cancer Mortality and Mortality (ACIM) books provide mortality rates for other cancer types (http://www.aihw.gov.au/acim-books/).

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents

References

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. Deaths in Australia. Cat no. PHE 229. Canberra: AIHW.

2. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, 2017, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2017 Report, AHMAC, Canberra.

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. Cancer in Australia 2019. Cancer series no.119. Cat. no. CAN 123. Canberra: AIHW

4. Cancer Council Australia (2014). What is cancer?. [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/

5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. Canberra: AIHW. [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents

6. Cancer Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework. Sydney, 2015 [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/overlay-context=affected-cancer/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people/national-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cancer-framework

7. Department of Health, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023, Australian Government, Canberra, 2015 [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/natsih-plan

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Major

Version Number

1.0.0

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Summary

Between 2012 and 2016 2,917 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deaths where attributed to cancer

The age-standardised cancer mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is higher for males than females

Data