Life expectancy for total population is calculated for a rolling 3-year period and reported annually.

Life expectancy for Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations is calculated for a rolling 3-year period and reported every 5 years.

Presented as:

• number of years
• confidence intervals/variability bands (Indigenous life expectancy only)
• difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancies at birth
• difference between male and female life expectancies at birth (total population).

Calculated by direct estimation of life expectancy for all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians using the average number of deaths in the 3-year period and the estimated resident population at the mid-point of that period.

The indicator does not have a numerator or denominator. The average number of years a person could expect to live from the day they are born if they experienced mortality rates at each age that are currently experienced by the relevant population.

2016–18—State and territory, by:

• sex
• Statistical Area level 2 (SA2)
• Indigenous status and sex (not reported)

2016–18—Nationally, by (all not reported):

• Indigenous status and sex
• Sex by remoteness (Major City and Inner Regional combined; Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote combined)

Most recent data available for 2020 National Healthcare Agreement performance reporting: 2016–18 (total population only); 2015–17 (Indigenous population, non-Indigenous population).

The Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia (cat. no. 3302.0.55.001) publication is produced annually, for life expectancy for the total Australian population only. Estimates in this publication are not to be used to compare with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy estimates published in Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003). The reference year for 2020 national reporting of life expectancy estimates for the total population is 2016–18 (to be published on 30 October 2019).

The Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003) publication is produced every 5 years. Non-Indigenous estimates in this publication are to be used as a comparator to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy estimates. The reference year for 2020 national reporting of life expectancy estimates for the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations is 2015–17 (published on 29 November 2018). This source is to be used until the next issue (for the reference year 2020–2022) is released in 2023.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander estimates of life expectancy are not produced for Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania or the Australian Capital Territory due to the small number of Indigenous deaths reported in these jurisdictions.

NN.N

National Healthcare Agreement

Australian Bureau of Statistics

PB a–Better health: close the life expectancy gap for Indigenous Australians within a generation, 2020

Specification: Final, the measure meets the intention of the indicator.