The National Death Index

The National Death Index (NDI) is a database, housed at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which contains records of all deaths occurring in Australia since 1980.

The data is obtained from the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each State and Territory.

The Index is designed to facilitate the conduct of epidemiological studies and its use is strictly confined to medical research.

What does the NDI contain?

The NDI database is held in Oracle and comprises the following variables for each deceased person:

Name

Date of birth (or estimated year of birth)

Age at death

Sex

Date of death

State/Territory of registration &  registration number.

Cause of death

For records to 1996, only the code for underlying cause of death is available.

For records from 1997, the codes for the underlying cause of death and all other causes of death mentioned on the death certificate are available.

This information is derived by linking the National Death Index registration numbers for deaths with the National Mortality Database.