For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

Death statistics are sourced from death registrations systems administered by the various State and Territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages. It is a legal requirement of each State and Territory that all deaths are registered. Information about the deceased is supplied by a relative or other person acquainted with the deceased, or by an official of the institution where the death occurred.

ABS estimates of life expectancy at birth are calculated for a 3-year period and published on an annual basis.

ABS life expectancy estimates are published on the ABS website www.abs.gov.au (see Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2010-2013 (Cat. no. 3302.0.55.001)).

Life tables based on assumed improvements in mortality are produced by the ABS using assumptions on future life expectancy at birth, based on recent trends in life expectancy. These life tables are not published by the ABS, they are used as inputs into ABS population projections.

The life tables are current or period life tables, based on death rates for a short period of time during which mortality has remained much the same. Mortality rates for the Australian and state and territory life tables are based on death registrations and estimated resident population for the period 2011–2013. The life tables do not take into account future assumed improvements in mortality.

Life tables are presented separately for males and females. The life table depicts the mortality experience of a hypothetical group of newborn babies throughout their entire lifetime. It is based on the assumption that this group is subject to the age-specific mortality rates of the reference period. Typically this hypothetical group is 100 000 in size.

Compilation of life tables requires complete and accurate data on deaths that occur in a period, and reliable estimates of the population exposed to the risk of dying during that period. These data are required by age and sex so as to calculate age-sex specific death rates.

Information on deaths is obtained from a complete enumeration of deaths registered during a specified period and are not subject to sampling error. However, deaths data sources are subject to non-sampling error which can arise from inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data.

Sources of non-sample error include:

• completeness of an individual record at a given point in time;
• completeness of the dataset (eg impact of registration lags, processing lags and duplicate records);
• extent of coverage of the population (whilst all deaths are legally required to be registered, some cases may not be registered for an extended time, if at all); and 
• lack of consistency in the application of questions or forms used by data providers, both through time and between different jurisdictions.

In November 2010, the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages registered 374 previously unregistered deaths which occurred between 1992 and 2006 (including a few for which a date of death was unknown). The ABS life tables are based on deaths by year of occurrence, and are therefore unaffected by this late registration of deaths.

Every effort is made to minimise error by working closely with data providers, the careful design of forms, training of processing staff, and efficient data processing procedures.

Estimated Resident Population (ERP) is based on Census counts by place of usual residence, adjusted for net Census undercount and the number of Australian residents temporarily overseas on Census night, and backdated from the Census date to 30 June. For post-censal years, ERP is obtained by adding postcensal births, deaths and migrations to the Census ERP.

The methods used to construct the indicator are consistent and comparable with other collections and with international practice.