Method

The Victorian Aboriginal Child Mortality Study, 1988-2008 will be undertaken over a period of five years commencing 2008.  This study has four distinct phases:

Phase 1: Record linkage

Phase 1 will commence in the second half of the first year and continue into the second year.  Phase 1 will consist of linking birth records in the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection (VPDC), the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM), and the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) with additional validation of Indigenous status from the Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer Collection (AHLOC).  This linkage will produce a complete and accurate account of births to Aboriginal (and non-Aboriginal) parent/s for the period 1988-2008 inclusive.  Analyses of linked data will include the estimated completeness of Indigenous identification in each dataset, a definitive count of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal births each year, and a review of disparities in maternal characteristics (maternal age and marital status) and birth outcomes (birth weight and gestational age), between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal births.

Phase 2: Coding and validation of coding for cause of death

Phase 2 will involve the review of autopsy records and case file pertaining to child deaths occurring in Victoria between 1988 and 2008. This review will involve documenting pertinent facts to inform the classification and coding of each death and the development and assigning of a preventability index to every death. Given the number of cases and the intense review process, this phase will continue over a number of years and will be completed in the fourth year.

Phase 3: Data analysis

Phase 3 will include in the first instance (year 2) the results of the capture/recapture method to determine the Indigenous status of births in Victoria and the analyses of the linked, total population dataset. The latter analyses will be undertaken predominately in the fifth year as will be dependent on the completion of the phase 2.

Phase 4: Dissemination of information and preparation of the major report 

Progress 

Written output will be disseminated throughout the life of this project in continual consultation with the Victorian Aboriginal community. A significant milestone will be the preparation of a major report: A mortality profile of Victoria’s Aboriginal (and non-Aboriginal) children: patterns and trends of mortality 1988-2008. This will be undertaken at the completion of the collection, coding, classification and validation of the causes of death and analyses of the data, which will occur in the last 6 months of the project (year 5).

The Victorian Aboriginal Child Mortality Study, 1988-2008 commenced in 2008 will be undertaken over a period of five years. 

The research will be conducted at the Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), and with the guidance of a team of investigators from the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.

Progress:

2008:

Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Awarded.

2009:

Consultation and negotiation with data custodians.

Submission of applications for ethics approval to conduct phase one of the study.

First meeting of the Investiagtors group.

Launch of the publication: An Overview of Statutory and Administrative Datasets: Describing the Health of Victoria's Aboriginal Infants, Children and Young People

Launch of this website.