At the 2021 Australian census, 278,043 people in New South Wales were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. New South Wales is Australia’s most populated state, also housing Australia’s largest city, Sydney. By comparison, Australia’s second largest state, Victoria, was home to around 66 thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

There are around 800,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, which represents just over three percent of the Australian population. Indigenous people are often referred to as Australia's first people or the traditional custodians of the land in recognition of their ancestors inhabiting Australia more than 60,000 years ago. Australia's Indigenous peoples are represented by two distinct groups. Aboriginal people come from the Australian mainland. Torres Strait Islander people inhabit the group of Islands between the northern tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea and represent less than 40,000 people.

Closing the gap

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience significantly poorer health and wellbeing outcomes when compared to their non-Indigenous Australian counterparts. The average life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is around eight years shorter than that of the non-Indigenous population. In education, Indigenous Australians are also underrepresented, but attendance rates are improving and in 2019, full-time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students numbered well over 200,000 people.

The share of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia in 2019 was highest in New South Wales with around 33 percent of the indigenous population in Australia living there. Comparatively, the Australian Capital Territory accounted for only one percent of the country's indigenous population in that year.

This dataset presents the estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations of Australia for the year ending at 30 June 2016, based on results of the 2016 Census of Population and Housing. The data is by Local Government Areas (LGA) following the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia comprises people who are of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin or both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. The Commonwealth definition of an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is: a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who; identifies as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin and who is; accepted as such by the community with which the person associates. This data is Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data (catalogue number: 3238.0.55.001) used with permission from the ABS. For more information please visit the ABS Explanatory Notes. Please note: AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resident population in Australia was forecasted to increase to close to 1.1 million by 2031, based on 2016 population estimates. The forecasted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resident population for 2023 was approximately 919 thousand people.

A body mass index (BMI) >22kg/m2 is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Aboriginal Australians. To identify loci associated with BMI and T2D we undertook a genome-wide association study using 1,075,436 quality-controlled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped (Illumina 2.5M Duo Beadchip) in 402 individuals in extended pedigrees from a Western Australian Aboriginal community. Imputation using the thousand genomes (1000G) reference panel extended the analysis to 6,724,284 post quality-control autosomal SNPs. No associations achieved genome-wide significance, commonly accepted as P45,000 years ago. The top hit (rs10868204 Pgenotyped = 1.50x10-6; rs11140653 Pimputed_1000G = 2.90x10-7) for BMI lies 5’ of NTRK2, the type 2 neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that regulates energy balance downstream of melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). PIK3C2G (rs12816270 Pgenotyped = 8.06x10-6; rs10841048 Pimputed_1000G = 6.28x10-7) was associated with BMI, but not with T2D as reported elsewhere. BMI also associated with CNTNAP2 (rs6960319 Pgenotyped = 4.65x10-5; rs13225016 Pimputed_1000G = 6.57x10-5), previously identified as the strongest gene-by-environment interaction for BMI in African-Americans. The top hit (rs11240074 Pgenotyped = 5.59x10-6, Pimputed_1000G = 5.73x10-6) for T2D lies 5’ of BCL9 that, along with TCF7L2, promotes beta-catenin’s transcriptional activity in the WNT signaling pathway. Additional hits occurred in genes affecting pancreatic (KCNJ6, KCNA1) and/or GABA (GABRR1, KCNA1) functions. Notable associations observed for genes previously identified at genome-wide significance in other populations included MC4R (Pgenotyped = 4.49x10-4) for BMI and IGF2BP2 Pimputed_1000G = 2.55x10-6) for T2D. Our results may provide novel functional leads in understanding disease pathogenesis in this Australian Aboriginal population.

In 2021, the total population of Aboriginal people in Australia was close to 743 thousand. By comparison, the total number of Torres Strait Islander people was just under 34 thousand. The Indigenous peoples of Australia are differentiated by the area of Australia their ancestors inhabited and their distinctive languages, cultural practices, and beliefs. There is much diversity within these two main indigenous groups however; Aboriginal people come from the Australian mainland and Tasmania, and Torres Strait Islander people are associated with the string of islands between northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia Dataset

The common occurrence of renal disease in Australian Aboriginal populations such as Tiwi Islanders may be determined by environmental and genetic factors. To explore genetic contributions, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of urinary albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) in a sample of 249 Tiwi individuals with genotype data from a 370K Affymetrix single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the 249 individual Tiwi cohort and samples from 11 populations included in phase III of the HapMap Project indicated that Tiwi Islanders are a relatively distinct and unique population with no close genetic relationships to the other ethnic groups. After adjusting for age and sex, the proportion of ACR variance explained by the 370K SNPs was estimated to be 37% (using the software GCTA.31; likelihood ratio = 8.06, p-value = 0.002). The GWAS identified eight SNPs that were nominally significantly associated with ACR (p < 0.0005). A replication study of these SNPs was performed in an independent cohort of 497 individuals on the eight SNPs. Four of these SNPs were significantly associated with ACR in the replication sample (p < 0.05), rs4016189 located near the CRIM1 gene (p = 0.000751), rs443816 located in the gene encoding UGT2B11 (p = 0.022), rs6461901 located near the NFE2L3 gene, and rs1535656 located in the RAB14 gene. The SNP rs4016189 was still significant after adjusting for multiple testing. A structural equation model (SEM) demonstrated that the rs4016189 SNP was not associated with other phenotypes such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), diabetes, and blood pressure.

This dataset presents a range of data items sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data is derived from the November 2024 release of Data by region. Individual data items present the latest reference year data available on Data by region. This layer presents data by Local Government Areas (LGA), 2021.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples theme is based on groupings of data within Data by region. Concepts, sources and methods for each dataset can be found on the Data by region methodology page.

Topics in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples theme include:

Estimated resident population Language (Census) Engagement in employment, education or training (Census) Labour force status (Census) Unpaid assistance to person with disability (Census) Unpaid childcare (Census) Voluntary work (Census) Tenure type (Census)

The Closing the Gap topics that are informed by Census data are included in the update:

Target 5: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20-24 years attaining Year 12 or an equivalent qualification to 96 per cent. Target 6: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) to 70 per cent. Target 7: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged 15-24 years who are in employment, education or training to 67 per cent. Target 8: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-64 years who are employed to 62 per cent. Target 9A: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in appropriately sized (not overcrowded) housing to 88 per cent.

When analysing these statistics:

Time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope, and coverage can differ across collections.
Some data values have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential data, this means

    some small cells have been randomly set to zero
    care should be taken when interpreting cells with small numbers or zeros.

Data and geography references

Source data publication: Data by region Geographic boundary information: Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Further information: Data by region methodology, reference period 2011-24 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

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Data analyzed in GenABEL using genotyped or 1000G imputed data for all individuals with doctor-diagnosed T2D. Results are for allele-wise tests under an additive model of inheritance. Bold indicates top hit for T2D based on both genotyped and imputed data. Full lists of the top 50 hits for genotyped SNPs, and the top 100 SNPs for imputed data, appear in S5 Table and S7 Table, respectively.* Genes separated by forward slash indicate nearest protein coding genes upstream/downstream of the SNP. NCBI37 = bp location on chromosome for NCBI Build 37. A1 = major allele; A2 = minor allele.Top GWAS SNP hits in genes of functional interest for T2D, organized by chromosome.

BackgroundPrehistoric human activities have contributed to the dispersal of many culturally important plants. The study of these traditional interactions can alter the way we perceive the natural distribution and dynamics of species and communities. Comprehensive research on native crops combining evolutionary and anthropological data is revealing how ancient human populations influenced their distribution. Although traditional diets also included a suite of non-cultivated plants that in some cases necessitated the development of culturally important technical advances such as the treatment of toxic seed, empirical evidence for their deliberate dispersal by prehistoric peoples remains limited. Here we integrate historic and biocultural research involving Aboriginal people, with chloroplast and nuclear genomic data to demonstrate Aboriginal-mediated dispersal of a non-cultivated rainforest tree.ResultsWe assembled new anthropological evidence of use and deliberate dispersal of Castanospermum australe (Fabaceae), a non-cultivated culturally important riparian tree that produces toxic but highly nutritious water-dispersed seed. We validated cultural evidence of recent human-mediated dispersal by revealing genomic homogeneity across extensively dissected habitat, multiple catchments and uneven topography in the southern range of this species. We excluded the potential contribution of other dispersal mechanisms based on the absence of suitable vectors and current distributional patterns at higher elevations and away from water courses, and by analyzing a comparative sample from northern Australia.ConclusionsInnovative studies integrating evolutionary and anthropological data will continue to reveal the unexpected impact that prehistoric people have had on current vegetation patterns. A better understanding of how traditional practices shaped species’ distribution and assembly will directly inform cultural heritage management strategies, challenge “natural” species distribution assumptions, and provide innovative baseline data for pro-active biodiversity management.

In 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people living in major cities in Australia amounted to 41.1 percent of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population. By comparison, 73.7 percent of the non-Indigenous population lived in major cities. Although the majority of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population lived in major cities and inner regional areas, almost one in ten lived in very remote communities.

The number of Aboriginal people and their proportion of the total Aboriginal population for 5 year age groups to 65+, 2015. Aboriginal as used in this workbook refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (all entries that were classified as not shown, not published or not applicable were assigned a null value; no data was provided for Maralinga Tjarutja LGA, in South Australia). The data is by LGA 2015 profile (based on the LGA 2011 geographic boundaries). For more information on Indigenous population estimates refer to: http://phidu.torrens.edu.au/. Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on data developed by Prometheus Information Pty Ltd, under a contract with the Australian Government Department of Health.

This dataset presents information from G07 – Indigenous status by age by sex in Australia based on the general community profile from the 2021 Census. It contains characteristics of persons, families, and dwellings by Local Government Areas (LGA), 2021, from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3.

This dataset is part of a set of web services based on the 2021 Census. It can be used as a tool for researching, planning, and analysis. The data is based on place of usual residence (that is, where people usually live, rather than where they were counted on Census night), unless otherwise stated.

Small random adjustments have been made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of respondents. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from table totals. For further information see the 2021 Census Privacy Statement, Confidentiality, and Introduced random error/perturbation.

Made possible by the Digital Atlas of Australia The Digital Atlas of Australia is an Australian Government initiative being led by Geoscience Australia. It will bring together trusted datasets from across government in an interactive, secure, and easy-to-use geospatial platform. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is working in partnership with Geoscience Australia to establish a set of web services to make ABS data available in the Digital Atlas.

Contact the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) If you have questions, feedback or would like to receive updates about this web service, please email geography@abs.gov.au. For information about how the ABS manages any personal information you provide view the ABS privacy policy.

Data and geography references Source data publication: G07 – Indigenous status by age by sex Geographic boundary information: Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Further information: About the Census, 2021 Census product release guide – Community Profiles, Understanding Census geography Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Results are for GWAS analysis in GenABEL using each individual BMI reading as a separate observation, modelling the correlation between readings via the estimated kinship and using the Genomic Control deflation factor to avoid inflation of the overall distribution of test statistics. Results are for allele-wise tests under an additive model of inheritance for genotyped SNPs and for imputed data. Bold indicates the top hit for BMI based on both genotyped and 1000G imputed data. Full lists of the top 50 hits for genotyped SNPs, and the top 100 SNPs for imputed data, appear in S3 Table and S6 Table, respectively.* Genes separated by forward slash indicate nearest protein coding genes upstream/downstream of the SNP. NCBI37 = bp location on chromosome for NCBI Build 37. A1 = major allele; A2 = minor allele.Top GWAS SNP hits in genes of functional relevance for BMI, organized by chromosome.

This paper describes the analysis of population data typed using the Promega PowerPlex 21 multiplex for the three major sub populations within Australia. Samples from 1427 declared Australian Aboriginal, 546 Pure Aboriginals from the Northern Territory, 990 Asian, and 1707 Caucasian individuals representing were analysed. Departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage equilibrium (LE) were assessed using exact tests. The Aboriginal populations were shown to display significant departures from equilibrium. All four subpopulation databases are of suitable size for the purpose of estimating allele frequencies.

The number of Aboriginal people and their proportion of the total Aboriginal population for 5 year age groups to 65+, 2015. Aboriginal as used in this workbook refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (all entries that were classified as not shown, not published or not applicable were assigned a null value; no data was provided for Maralinga Tjarutja LGA, in South Australia). The data is by LGA 2015 profile (based on the LGA 2011 geographic boundaries). For more information on Indigenous population estimates refer to: http://phidu.torrens.edu.au/. Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on data developed by Prometheus Information Pty Ltd, under a contract with the Australian Government Department of Health.

The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Social Health Atlas data presenting the latest Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Social Health Atlas indicators are available by Indigenous Areas, including totals for the Capital cities/ Rest of States/Territories, States/ Territories and Australia. Note: The Department of Health has approved for release a set of population estimates by Indigenous status for 2011, and projections to 2016 by Statistical Areas Level 2, Indigenous Region and Primary Health Network. To obtain these data, please contact us. Attribution: Torrens University Australia

Associations between anthropometric measures at birth and childhood with systolic and diastolic blood pressure measured at the childhood and adolescent visit for males using the multiply imputed data.

Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia Dataset