"The paper examines the post-1971 reduction in Australian mortality in light of data on causes of death.  Multiple-decrement life tables for eleven leading causes of death by sex are calculated and the incidence of each cause of death is presented in terms of the values of the life table functions.  The study found that in the overall decline in mortality over the last 20 years significant changes occurred in the contribution of the various causes to total mortality.... The sex-age-cause-specific incidence of mortality changed and the median age at death increased for all causes except for deaths due to motor-vehicle accidents for both sexes and suicide for males. The paper also deciphers the gains in the expectation of life at birth over various time periods and the sex-differentials in the expectation of life at birth at a point in time in terms of the contributions made by the various sex-age-cause-specific mortality rates."