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.

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 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) regions 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.

• Where data was not published, "np" in the original data, the records have been set to null

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.

This dataset has been developed by the Australian Government as an authoritative source of indigenous location names across Australia. It is sponsored by the Spatial Policy Branch within the Department of Communications and managed solely by the Department of Human Services.

The dataset is designed to support the accurate positioning, consistent reporting, and effective delivery of Australian Government programs and services to indigenous locations.

The dataset contains Preferred and Alternate names for indigenous locations where Australian Government programs and services have been, are being, or may be provided. The Preferred name will always default to a State or Territory jurisdiction's gazetted name so the term 'preferred' does not infer that this is the locally known name for the location. Similarly, locational details are aligned, where possible, with those published in State and Territory registers.

This dataset is NOT a complete listing of all locations at which indigenous people reside. Town and city names are not included in the dataset. The dataset contains names that represent indigenous communities, outstations, defined indigenous areas within a town or city or locations where services have been provided.

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.

Indigenous status, area, gender, total, total 0 to 4 years old, 0 years old, 1 year old, 2 years old, 3 years old, 4 years old, total 5 to 9 years old, 5 years old, 6 years old, 7 years old, 8 years old, 9 years old, total 10 to 14 years old, 10 years old, 11 years old, 12 years old, 13 years old, 14 years old, total 15 to 19 years old, 15 years old, 16 years old, 17 years old, 18 years old, 19 years old, total 20 to 24 years old, 20 years old, 21 years old, 22 years old, 23 years old, 24 years old, total 25 to 29 years old, 25 years old, 26 years old, 27 years old, 28 years old, 29 years old, total 30 to 34 years old, 30 years old, 31 years old, 32 years old, 33 years old, 34 years old, total 35 to 39 years old, 35 years old, 36 years old, 37 years old, 38 years old, 39 years old, total 40 to 44 years old, 40 years old, 41 years old, 42 years old, 43 years old, 44 years old, total 45 to 49 years old, 45 years old, 46 years old, 47 years old, 48 years old, 49 years old, total 50 to 54 years old, 50 years old, 51 years old, 52 years old, 53 years old, 54 years old, total 55 to 59 years old, 55 years old, 56 years old, 57 years old, 58 years old, 59 years old, total 60 to 64 years old, 60 years old, 61 years old, 62 years old, 63 years old, 64 years old, total 65 to 69 years old, 65 years old, 66 years old, 67 years old, 68 years old, 69 years old, total 70 to 74 years old, 70 years old, 71 years old, 72 years old, 73 years old, 74 years old, total 75 to 79 years old, 75 years old, 76 years old, 77 years old, 78 years old, 79 years old, total 80 to 84 years old, 80 years old, 81 years old, 82 years old, 83 years old, 84 years old, total 85 to 89 years old, 85 years old, 86 years old, 87 years old, 88 years old, 89 years old, total 90 to 94 years old, 90 years old, 91 years old, 92 years old, 93 years old, 94 years old, total 95 to 99 years old, 95 years old, 96 years old, 97 years old, 98 years old, 99 years old, 100 years old and over

BackgroundThe Indigenous population of Australia suffers considerable disadvantage across a wide range of socio-economic indicators, and is therefore the focus of many policy initiatives attempting to ‘close the gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Unfortunately, past population estimates have proved unreliable as denominators for these indicators. The aim of the paper is to contribute more robust estimates for the Northern Territory Indigenous population for the period 1966–2011, and hence estimate one of the most important of socio-economic indicators, life expectancy at birth.MethodA consistent time series of population estimates from 1966 to 2011, based off the more reliable 2011 official population estimates, was created by a mix of reverse and forward cohort survival. Adjustments were made to ensure sensible sex ratios and consistency with recent birth registrations. Standard life table methods were employed to estimate life expectancy. Drawing on an approach from probabilistic forecasting, confidence intervals surrounding population numbers and life expectancies were estimated.ResultsThe Northern Territory Indigenous population in 1966 numbered between 23,800 and 26,100, compared to between 66,100 and 73,200 in 2011. In 1966–71 Indigenous life expectancy at birth lay between 49.1 and 56.9 years for males and between 49.7 and 57.9 years for females, whilst by 2006–11 it had increased to between 60.5 and 66.2 years for males and between 65.4 and 70.8 for females. Over the last 40 years the gap with all-Australian life expectancy has not narrowed, fluctuating at about 17 years for both males and females. Whilst considerable progress has been made in closing the gap in under-five mortality, at most other ages the mortality rate differential has increased.ConclusionsA huge public health challenge remains. Efforts need to be redoubled to reduce the large gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

In 2021, 24.3 percent of First Nations people aged 20 to 64 living in the Australian Capital Territory of Australia had a Bachelor degree in Australia. The national average for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders was 9.8 percent. Just four percent of First Nations people living in the Northern Territory had a bachelor degree as of 2021.

Total population of persons identiying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, per SA1.

Population symbolised via 5 quantiles (each quantile contains one fifth of the total number of SA1s, and each quantile is represented by a unique colour).

Sourced from ABS Geopackage: CLDA (Cultural Language and Diversity) - provided via SA1 boundaries.

(c) Commonwealth of Australia, licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.abs.gov.au)

(c) Commonwealth of Australia, licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.abs.gov.au)

Background: Population genomic studies of individuals of Indigenous ancestry have been extremely limited comprising

Sources: [17], [18], [22], [36], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51].

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)

The average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia is just one indicator of the gap in health outcomes that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. From 2015 to 2017, the average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island men and women in major cities in Australia was 72.1 and 76.5 years, respectively. By comparison, the non-Indigenous population lived around eight years longer on average. This divide is even more pronounced in rural and very remote areas where the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders drops to below 70 years.

Closing the gap

Over the past decade the federal, state and territory Governments of Australia have been working toward closing the gap of inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the Closing the Gap Framework, introduced in 2008. The Framework identified seven target areas for improving the health and wellbeing outcomes of Indigenous Australians. These target areas covered early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, healthy homes, safe communities, and governance and leadership. In 2020, school enrollment rates were steadily increasing and more Indigenous Australians were attaining a bachelor degree. As a result, the schooling target was considered to be ‘on track’ along with early childhood education participation.

More work to be done

Although two of the seven targets were ‘on track’ in 2020, the other five Closing the Gap targets were not. This indicated that Australia still has a long way to go in order to significantly reduce the gap of disadvantage faced by indigenous Australians. This is evident in the proportion of Aboriginal Australians who remain unemployed or not in the labor force and Indigenous youth incarceration rates, which have been increasing.

Background: Population genomic studies of individuals of Indigenous ancestry have been extremely limited comprising

This compendium presents a wide-ranging overview of more than 400 projects, case studies and research activities specifically related to climate change and Indigenous Peoples. It provides a sketch of the climate and environmental changes, local observations and impacts being felt by communities in different regions, and outlines various adaptation and mitigation strategies that are currently being implemented by Indigenous Peoples

This dataset contains an index of census returns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people compiled around 1915.

The number of people that identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as a percentage of the total population by SD, 2011