Limited progress in closing the mortality gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians of the Northern Territory

Objectives: To assess whether progress is being made towards reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inequality in life expectancy and under-five mortality in the Northern Territory. Methods: Life tables for five-year periods from 1966-71 to 2011-16 were calculated using standard abridged life table methods with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths and population estimates as inputs. The latter were calculated using reverse cohort survival. Results: In 2011-16, life expectancy at birth for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was 68.2 years for females and 64.9 years for males. Limited progress in under-five mortality rates has been made in recent years. Conclusions: Although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy has increased in the long run, the gap with all-Australian life expectancy has not narrowed. The gap in under-five mortality rates is much lower than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, but progress has been limited over the past decade.