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• Nationally on 30 June 2005, the rate of Indigenous females in juvenile detentionwas 34.6 times higher than the rate of non-Indigenous females in juveniledetention. Indigenous males were 22.2 times as likely to be in juvenile detentionas non-Indigenous males (figure 3.12.5). The ACT and NT had no Indigenousfemales in detention on 30 June 2005 (table 3A.12.18).To accompany figure 3.12.5, tables 3A.12.18 and 3A.12.19 present the numbers andrates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous juveniles (aged 10–17 years) in detentionfrom 2001 to 2005 by State and Territory and sex.The numbers and rates of juveniles in detention, by age category, are shown intables 3A.12.20 and 3A.12.21, respectively. Data on the proportion of juveniles whowere in detention and under sentence (as opposed to being on remand) on30 June 2005 are available in table 3A.12.22, while data on the number of people injuvenile detention (all ages) are available from table 3A.12.23.3.13 Future directions in data3.1 Life expectancy at birthThe ABS is working with registrars in each State and Territory to progressivelyimprove the quality of mortality data for Indigenous people by improving thequality of Indigenous identification in death registrations. Indigenous mortality dataprovide the basis for calculating Indigenous life expectancy estimates. A furtherenhancement of Indigenous life expectancy estimates would be the development ofhealth adjusted life expectancy, where healthy life expectancy is estimated (bysubtracting later years of life affected by disability and the burden of disease).3.2 Disability and chronic diseaseThe ABS included a disability related ‘core activity need for assistance’ question inthe 2006 Census, which will provide a useful source of both national and small areadata on Indigenous and non-Indigenous people with a need for assistance in coreactivities.A new Indigenous disability network has been proposed, to promote betterunderstanding of disability among Indigenous peoples, consultation among thoseresponsible for service design and delivery, and cross-border coordination in someareas of Australia. The new network should provide advice to the AIHW and theABS on Indigenous disability data collection.133