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Mortality Data

Every request for Mortality data will be evaluated separately on its merit by the Data Custodian. To prevent potential delays it is strongly recommended applicants spend time discussing their needs with the Mortality Data CustodianTom Eitelhuber ()before submitting an application for data.

It is imperative applicants have referred to the online summary of Mortality data fields before requesting data. See this document online at:

Request variables below by checking boxes

Request / Variable / Description
Registration year / Year of the record
Sex
Subset date of birth / MMYYYY
Subset date of birth / YYYY
Age of the person / When requesting Age of the person, also request Age text (below)
Age text / Context in which the age can be quantified
ATI status / Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent
ATSI status (doctor) / Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent as indicated by doctor
Post mortem / Whether a post mortem was/was not/is yet to be carried out
Marital status
Date of death 1 / YYYYMMDD
When requesting Date of death 1, also request Date of death 2 and Date of death code (below)
Date of death 2 / 1983 onwards
Date of death code
Occupation text / 1984 onwards
Occupation of the father of the deceased
Occupation of the mother of the deceased
Country of birth / 2002 onwards
Born overseas flag / 2002 onwards
Time resident in Australia (years and/or months) / 2002 onwards
Total time residency in Australian states / 1984–2001
Time of occupancy in Western Australia / 1984–2001
State unknown / State of residence unknown
State of residence / Up to 8 fields
1984–2001
Period of occupancy in state
Deceased pregnant within 6 weeks of death / These variables can be unreliable.
Deceased pregnant between 6 weeks and 12 months of death

Australian Bureau of Statistics Variables

Coded fields are provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) via the Australian Coordinating Registry (ACR). Unless otherwise stated, ABS coded variables are available from 1969 – 2015.

*Please note that projects receiving coded cause of death data are required to submit all publications to the Australian Coordinating Registry (ACR) for approval, prior to publishing. When coded cause of death data is destroyed, the ACR must also be notified. All outputs and publications must acknowledge the Victorian Department of Justice and the National Coronial Investigation System as joint-Custodians of the Cause of Death Unit Record File. Please note that all applications for linked ABS death data must be approved by the ACR, which may impact overall timeframes.

Aboriginal flag / When requesting Aboriginal flag, also request Registration year (top)
Post mortem code / 1999–2006
Occupation code / 1969–2007
Country of Birth code
Cause of death code / *Requires additional ACR form. See note below.
Multiple cause of death codes
Entity Axis data / ICD codes as they appear on medical certificate
1997–2015.
Record Axis data / ICD codes as they appear on medical certificate- cleaned data 1997–2015.
When requesting these also required is Cause of Death code (ABS).
Multi cause of death format type / Added by DLB. Indicates which format the multiple cases of death data is in.
Place of occurrence code / 1999–2002. Set for deaths due to or involving external causes W00-Y34.
Activity code / 1999–2002. Set for deaths due to external causes V01-Y34.
Type of firearm used / 1999–2002

Telethon Kids Institute cause of death code

Cause of death information is available from the WA Infant, Child and Youth Mortality Database (WAICYMDB). This database is managed by the Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) and is an accurate and complete source of information on the cause of all infant, child and youth deaths (up to 25 years), incorporating information on the circumstances of deaths that are subject to coronial investigation. Deaths are coded using a modified version of the PSANZ (Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand) classification; details can be found in the publication:

Shepherd CCJ, Langridge A, Freemantle J, Alpers K, Read A, de Klerk N. 2013. Patterns and trends in mortality of Western Australian infants, children and young people 1980-2008. Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia under contract with the Department for Child Protection and Family Support, Government of Western Australia.

ICYMDB_COD / Cause of death code as recorded in the WAICYDB
1980 - 2013

Geocoding

Geocoding
Census year(s) requested:
1996 2001 2006 2011
Postcode
RA / Remoteness Area
Local Government Area (ABS) / 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
Statistical Local Area (ABS) / 1996, 2001, 2006 census
SA2 (ABS) / 2011 census
SEIFA / Socioeconomic status consisting of four indices by CD, LGA, SLA and SA2:
  • Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD)
  • Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD)
  • Index of Education and Occupation (IEO)
  • Index of Economic Resources (IER).

Geocoding Information:

The Data Linkage Branch routinely processes address data from the Death Registry, to match each record’s address to a longitude and latitude. DLB also provides a “Match Quality”, a coded field describing the method and specificity of the match. Information on interpreting the match score will be provided with your data. The geocoding process is dependent upon the quality of the address data, and in some cases an address may be difficult or impossible to geocode accurately, or at all.

While the latitude and longitude are not normally provided to researchers for reasons of confidentiality, corresponding geocodes are available, including Statistical Area (SA1 and SA2), Collection District (CD), Statistical Local Area (SLA) and Local Government Area (LGA). Some of these are realigned from one census to the next. The geocodes available are CD, SLA and LGA for the 1996, 2001 and 2006 censes, while SA1, SA2 and LGA are available for 2011. Additionally, for each geocode/census combination, the Data Linkage Branch can assign Socio-Economic Indices for Area (SEIFA) and/or Remoteness Areas (RA). Please note that records with poor Match Quality will be assigned a region (e.g. an SA1) based on the centroid of a potentially large match area. This area may not overlap entirely with the assigned region. Therefore, some regions may be assigned in error. This limitation should be noted for any spatial analysis.

The boundaries, SEIFAs and RAs are developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and the Data Linkage Branch uses mapping files available through the ABS website to attach them to the data. Queries about their interpretation and use should be directed to the ABS. For further information, please visit the ABS website at

Please note that, due to their small coverage, CD and SA1 are not usually included. Should you require these on your extract please provide written justification in the Sensitive Variables section of this document.

Sensitive Variables

All of the variables below have been determined as sensitive by the Data Custodian and therefore require written justification. Please provide this in the space in the table below.

All Items require DOHWA HREC approval.

Request / Variable / Description
Full date of birth / DDMMYYYY
Enter justification here
Cause of Death text / May be provided where coded COD is not available. Contains multiple fields- see data dictionary for details.
Enter justification here
Place of death suburb / 1984 onwards
Not necessarily a residential address—may be the suburb of a hospital.
Enter justification here
Place of death postcode / Not necessarily a residential address—may be the postcode of a hospital.
Enter justification here
Place of death hospital / This variable can be unreliable and will require approvals from the CEOs of the Area Health Services.
Enter justification here
Collection District (ABS) / Refer to geocoding information above (1996, 2001 and 2006 census)
Enter justification here
SA1 (ABS) / Refer to geocoding information above (2011 census)
Enter justification here
Place of birth text / This variable can be unreliable and will require approvals from the CEOs of the Area Health Services.
Enter justification here

Comments:

Enter any extra comments here

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Last updated 21 February 2018 Module 3 Variable lists