**6. Mortality**

Each Australian state requires registration of deaths that occur in that state, using a standard death certificate that is aligned with international requirements set by the World Health Organization. Data on causes of death have been recorded in line with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) since 1907, with over 100 years of causes of death available for analysis.

In 2006, the AIHW published *Mortality over the twentieth century in Australia* [23]. This publication showed the path of key diseases over the 20th century. For example, the female death rate for cancer did not vary much over the century, at 150 deaths per 100,000 population, although the composition changed, with lung cancer rising sharply, while cancers of the stomach, cervix, and uterus fell. The male cancer death rate increased from 166 deaths per 100,000 population in 1907 to 287 in 1985 and then fell to 247 by the year 2000, with lung cancer being the major varying cause of death. The male death rate for circulatory diseases increased from 437 deaths per 100,000 population in 1907 to 1020 in 1968, before falling to 319 in 2000.

Cause-of-death coding for Australia is centralised at the ABS in Brisbane (using internationally developed automated software), facilitating the development of specialist skills. For the past 15 years, the ABS has worked closely with State registrars and the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), which collates causes of death for all deaths referred to coroners across Australia and New Zealand. One particular result of this collaboration is much more complete data on deaths by suicide. The ABS now revises causes of death where updated information becomes available from coronial investigations which can take several years, and deaths can be coded as suicides based on the information in the NCIS.

The paper by Eynstone-Hinkins and Moran [24] in this issue provides up-to-date information on Australian mortality statistics, including COVID-19 deaths.
