Births, Australia methodology

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Reference period
2020
Released
8/12/2021

Birth registrations

The ABS Birth Registrations collection includes all births that occurred and were registered in Australia, including births to mothers whose place of usual residence was overseas. Detailed information can be obtained from data cubes (in Microsoft Excel format) and Data Explorer datasets available electronically from Data downloads.

​​​​​​​Populations used in this release

Estimated resident populations (ERPs) are used as denominators to calculate fertility rates.

ERPs used in this release are based on the results of the 2016 Census and are as follows:

Scope and Coverage

Data sources

Classifications

State and Territory Data

Sub-state/territory fertility rates

Data Quality

Interval between occurrence and registration of births

There is usually an interval between the occurrence and registration of a birth (referred to as a registration 'lag') and as a result, some births occurring in one year are not registered until the following year or later. This can be caused by either a delay by the parent(s) in submitting a completed form to the registry, or a delay by the registry in processing the birth. Births which occur in November and December are also likely to be registered in the following year.

Of the 294,369 births registered in 2020, 87.4% (257,296) occurred in 2020, while 9.1% occurred in 2019 and the remainder occurred in 2018 or earlier years.

Births registered in 2020, by year of occurrence
State or territory of registration2013 and earlier (%)2014 (%)2015 (%)2016 (%)2017 (%)2018 (%)2019 (%)2020 (%)
New South Wales1.40.30.60.60.70.88.986.9
Victoria0.70.10.20.30.40.611.586.3
Queensland1.20.20.60.80.60.87.588.3
South Australia1.20.10.40.30.40.67.989.1
Western Australia1.40.10.30.50.50.79.587.0
Tasmania2.00.10.20.60.30.22.893.7
Northern Territory0.2____0.17.991.8
Australian Capital Territory0.40.10.20.40.30.58.389.8
Australia1.10.20.40.50.50.79.187.4

_ nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

Parity (previous children of mother)

Registration of multiple births

Data treatments

New South Wales birth registrations

Victoria birth registrations

Queensland birth registrations

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania birth registrations

Northern Territory birth registrations

Australian Capital Territory birth registrations

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

The ABS Birth Registrations collection records a birth as being an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth where at least one parent reported themselves as being an Aboriginal person, Torres Strait Islander, or both on the birth registration form. Therefore, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births may be attributed to:

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers, including births where both the mother and father are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians
  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander fathers and non-Indigenous mothers.

There are several data collection forms on which people are asked to state whether they are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian. The results are not always consistent. The likelihood that a person will report, or be recorded, as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian on a specific form is known as their propensity to identify.

Propensity to identify and be recorded as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian is determined by a range of factors, including:

  • how the information is collected (e.g. Census, survey, or administrative data)
  • who completes the form
  • the perception of why the information is required, and how it will be used
  • education programs about reporting as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian
  • cultural aspects and feelings associated with reporting as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian.

Data in this release may therefore underestimate the level of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births and the reliability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility in Australia. Lags in registrations may also affect reliability of measures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility. Caution should be exercised when interpreting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data in this release, especially with regard to annual change.

This release reports on the number and characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births and fertility rates in each state and territory, excluding the Australian Capital Territory and Other Territories. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data for the Australian Capital Territory and Other Territories are not analysed separately due to small numbers, but are included in totals for Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in 2020, by year of occurrence
 Year of occurrence
State or territory of registration2013 and earlier (%)2014 (%)2015 (%)2016 (%)2017 (%)2018 (%)2019 (%)2020 (%)
New South Wales6.81.41.92.22.42.710.671.9
Victoria5.10.61.11.91.63.015.371.4
Queensland5.01.02.12.11.82.510.075.5
South Australia6.80.51.01.21.52.212.874.0
Western Australia11.41.01.62.42.73.915.161.9
Tasmania3.8_0.31.50.70.43.290.0
Northern Territory0.3____0.210.389.1
Australia(a)6.21.01.61.91.92.611.273.6

_ nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
a. Includes the Australian Capital Territory.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander registered births, by year of registration
State or territory of registration20132014201520162017201820192020
New South Wales(a)5,8014,9315,9115,5775,9057,3397,1287,482
Victoria1,5021,4621,3701,6401,8371,8641,8661,847
Queensland(b)5,2055,3945,2485,4566,6156,4056,8826,445
South Australia9409259499521,0161,0681,0601,025
Western Australia2,7342,7952,9852,7502,7732,7042,6812,813
Tasmania526545515585612578619680
Northern Territory(c)1,4451,4861,3651,3731,4021,7111,3831,432
Australian Capital Territory215241194227240259306292
Australia18,36817,77918,53718,56020,40021,92821,92522,016

a. Some of the increases in 2018 and 2019 were due to a catch-up in processing lags. For more information, see New South Wales birth registrations and New South Wales Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations.
b. Some of the increases from 2017 were due to catch-up in registration processing lags while some of the increases in 2018 and 2019 were due to active engagement programs by the Queensland Registry to improve under registration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births. For more information, see Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations.
c. Some of the increases in 2018 were due to a catch-up in processing lags. For more information, see Northern Territory birth registrations.

New South Wales Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations

Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations

Populations used in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rate

Variability in annual data

Quality declaration - summary

Institutional environment

Relevance

Timeliness

Accuracy

Coherence

Interpretability

Accessibility

Glossary

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Abbreviations

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Additional Statistics Available

Birth Registrations compared to the Perinatal Data Collection

Acknowledgements

The ABS' releases draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. The ABS values the efforts of each state and territory's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to improve the data quality, coverage and timeliness of birth registration information, processes and systems. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated; without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905. 

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