On this page

  1. Overview
  2. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers and estimated level of reporting by year of birth and local health district of residence, NSW 2019–2021
  3. Babies born to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers and estimated level of reporting by year of birth and local health district of residence, NSW 2019–2021
  4. Estimated level of reporting of births to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers by local health district of residence, NSW 2021
  5. Downloads
  6. Notes
  7. Related links

Overview

Aboriginal mothers who give birth in NSW and Aboriginal babies born in NSW are under-reported on the Perinatal Data Collection. One method of assessing the extent of under-reporting and monitoring changes over time is to compare the reporting of Aboriginal mothers on the Perinatal Data Collection (PDC) with reporting on other data collections. We used Enhanced Reporting of Aboriginality information on the Maternal and Child Health Register (see Data sources) to give a “best estimate" of the true numbers of Aboriginal mothers who gave birth in NSW and Aboriginal babies born in NSW. We compared this estimate with the actual numbers of Aboriginal mothers who gave birth in NSW and Aboriginal babies born in NSW to Aboriginal mothers reported on the Perinatal Data Collection and calculated the level of reporting of Aboriginal mothers who gave birth in NSW and Aboriginal babies born in NSW and for each local health district.

The estimated percentage of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers who gave birth in NSW that were reported to the Perinatal Data Collection was 81.3% in 2019, 83.5% in 2020 and 87.3% in 2021. In 2021, reporting varied between local health districts, ranging from 75.0% in Northern Sydney Local Health District to 92.5% in Mid North Coast Local Health District.

The estimated percentage of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander babies born in NSW that were reported to the Perinatal Data Collection was 65.9% in 2021. Reporting ranged from 57.0% in Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District to 80.5% in Mid North Coast Local Health District. There are therefore a substantial number of Aboriginal babies born in NSW with non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers who are not represented in the numbers reported in this chapter.

Numbers of Aboriginal mothers who give birth and babies born to Aboriginal mothers shown in the tables and figures in this web report are based on the actual numbers reported to the Perinatal Data Collection. The true numbers of Aboriginal mothers who give birth in NSW and Aboriginal babies who are born in NSW are likely to be higher than shown and should therefore be interpreted with caution.

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers and estimated level of reporting by year of birth and local health district of residence, NSW 2019–2021

Born in 2019

Local Health DistrictPDC mothers1Estimated Aboriginal mothers2Level of reporting (%)
Sydney10713479.9
South Western Sydney30143768.9
South Eastern Sydney13216381.0
Illawarra Shoalhaven26433279.5
Western Sydney27537373.7
Nepean Blue Mountains28137075.9
Northern Sydney516183.6
Central Coast220292
75.3
Hunter New England1144136783.7
Northern NSW27531288.1
Mid North Coast31735489.5
Southern NSW9811585.2
Murrumbidgee22327481.4
Western NSW64875086.4
Far West435086.0
Other–not stated313979.5
NSW4416543181.3

Born in 2020

Local Health DistrictPDC mothers1Estimated Aboriginal mothers2Level of reporting (%)
Sydney11613387.2
South Western Sydney36945581.1
South Eastern Sydney13716483.5
Illawarra Shoalhaven30838779.6
Western Sydney291377
77.2
Nepean Blue Mountains28735680.6
Northern Sydney465879.3
Central Coast25531880.2
Hunter New England1182137486.0
Northern NSW22326683.8
Mid North Coast26831086.5
Southern NSW10312383.7
Murrumbidgee22628379.9
Western NSW62971188.5
Far West364580.0
Other–not stated263476.5
NSW4506539883.5

Born in 2021

Local Health DistrictPDC mothers1Estimated Aboriginal mothers2Level of reporting (%)
Sydney12013887.0
South Western Sydney41247986.0
South Eastern Sydney13216878.6
Illawarra Shoalhaven31337084.6
Western Sydney32641478.7
Nepean Blue Mountains
31537484.2
Northern Sydney516875.0
Central Coast28033284.3
Hunter New England1335147590.5
Northern NSW26930588.2
Mid North Coast33436192.5
Southern NSW9811089.1
Murrumbidgee23126387.8
Western NSW74181790.7
Far West404687.0
Other–not stated202580.0
NSW5023575187.3

Babies born to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander mothers and estimated level of reporting by year of birth and local health district of residence, NSW 2019–2021

Born in 2019

Local Health DistrictPDC babies3Estimated Aboriginal babies4Level of reporting (%)
Sydney10914376.2
South Western Sydney30856055.0
South Eastern Sydney13522460.3
Illawarra Shoalhaven26647356.2
Western Sydney27845461.2
Nepean Blue Mountains28445862.0
Northern Sydney527371.2
Central Coast22344550.1
Hunter New England1159188761.4
Northern NSW27836676.0
Mid North Coast32242276.3
Southern NSW9816160.9
Murrumbidgee22332069.7
Western NSW66495169.8
Far West436467.2
Other–not stated314963.3
NSW4479706163.4

Born in 2020

Local Health DistrictPDC babies3Estimated Aboriginal babies4Level of reporting (%)
Sydney12014881.1
South Western Sydney37761761.1
South Eastern Sydney14120568.8
Illawarra Shoalhaven312551
56.6
Western Sydney29649559.8
Nepean Blue Mountains29545165.4
Northern Sydney478456.0
Central Coast25847554.3
Hunter New England1195197460.5
Northern NSW22531471.7
Mid North Coast27136474.5
Southern NSW10315765.6
Murrumbidgee22936662.6
Western NSW64487873.3
Far West365466.7
Other–not stated264163.4
NSW4579718063.8

Born in 2021

Local Health DistrictPDC babies3Estimated Aboriginal babies4Level of reporting (%)
Sydney12315778.3
South Western Sydney42165364.5
South Eastern Sydney13221262.3
Illawarra Shoalhaven31855857.0
Western Sydney32952562.7
Nepean Blue Mountains32350464.1
Northern Sydney518460.7
Central Coast28549657.5
Hunter New England13542167
62.5
Northern NSW27134977.7
Mid North Coast33541680.5
Southern NSW9815662.8
Murrumbidgee23735367.1
Western NSW757102074.2
Far West415475.9
Other–not stated203066.7
NSW5101774265.9

Downloads

Notes

Source: Maternal and Child Health Register (SAPHaRI). Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health.

  1. PDC mothers: mothers recorded on the PDC as being Aboriginal.
  2. Estimated Aboriginal mothers: mothers in NSW according to Enhanced Reporting of Aboriginality information on the Maternal and Child Health Register.
  3. PDC babies: babies recorded on the PDC as being born to Aboriginal mothers.
  4. Estimated Aboriginal babies: babies born in NSW according to Enhanced Reporting of Aboriginality information on the Maternal and Child Health Register.
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Current as at: Wednesday 31 July 2024
Contact page owner: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence