It has been estimated that the Aboriginal population of Australia in January 1788 may have been as high as more than one million men, women and children.
By the time the 1921 national census was conducted only 72,000 people were identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
The August 2021 Census has revealed a guardedly happier story.....
Australian Bureau of Statistics, media release, 21 September 2022:
Source: Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2021
Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has reached 984,000 or 3.8 per cent of the total Australian population, according to the latest population figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Demography Director Emily Walter said that over the five years to June 2021, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased by 23.2 per cent, or 185,600 people.
"This is higher than the 5.5 per cent increase for the non-Indigenous population over the same period" said Ms Walter. “We have seen similar increases in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population between past Censuses, and they are partly explained by changing identification over time.”
While Victoria was the fastest growing state or territory for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait population with an increase of 36.2 per cent, it remains the jurisdiction with the lowest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (1.2 per cent). The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people relative to its total population size (30.8 per cent).
New South Wales had the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (339,500 people), followed by Queensland (273,200 people) and Western Australia (120,000 people). These three states comprised almost three-quarters of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population had a younger age structure than the non-Indigenous population. One-third (33.1 per cent) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were aged under 15 years, with just 5.4 per cent aged over 65 years. This compares to 17.9 per cent of the non-Indigenous population aged under 15 years and 17.2 per cent aged over 65 years.
“This younger age structure is the result of more babies being born and people dying younger in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population compared with that of the non-Indigenous population”, said Ms Walter.
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The preliminary estimates presented in this release are based on the 2021 Census counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, adjusted for net undercount as measured by the Post Enumeration Survey. They are different from statistics released in 2021 Census finds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander older population continues to grow | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au) which are based solely on the 2021 Census counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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