Frequently asked questions
- What do we know about Indigenous population characteristics and identification issues? (November 2007)
- For more detailed information about Indigenous population characteristics and identification issues:
| Please reference this document as: Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet (2007) Frequently asked questions: what do we know about Indigenous population characteristics and identification issues? Retrieved [access date] from http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/html/html_keyfacts/faq/faq_population/faq_population.htm |
What do we know about Indigenous population characteristics and identification issues?
How are people identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?
The 'definition' used by the Commonwealth is:
An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community
in which he or she is associated. [1]
It is not always practical to collect information on ‘community
acceptance’ in general purpose statistical and administrative
collections, so standard questions on Indigenous status relate to
descent and self-identification only [1].
In an attempt to obtain consistent information the Australian Bureau
of Statistics has endorsed the following question:
Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
(For persons of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin,
mark both 'Yes' boxes.)
( ) No
( ) Yes, Aboriginal
( ) Yes, Torres Strait Islander
The exact form of the question differs for different situations
[1]. For example, if the question is answered
on someone's behalf (such as a parent for a child), the question
is 'Is the person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?').
How many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are there?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has estimated that there were 517,200 Indigenous people living in Australia on 30 June 2006 (based on the 2006 Census of Housing and Population) (Table 1) [2].
New South Wales (NSW) had the largest Indigenous population with
148,200, followed by Queensland (146,400), WA (77,900), and the
NT (66,600) (Table 1) [2]. The NT had the
highest proportion of Indigenous people among its population (31.6%)
and Victoria the lowest (0.6%).
Table 1: Estimated resident Indigenous population, 30 June 2004
| State/Territory | Indigenous population | Proportion of Indigenous population(%) | Proportion of total State/Territory population(%) |
| New South Wales |
|
|
|
| Victoria |
|
|
|
| Queensland |
|
|
|
| Western Australia |
|
|
|
| South Australia |
|
|
|
| Tasmania |
|
|
|
| Australian Capital Territory |
|
|
|
| Northern Territory |
|
|
|
| Australia |
|
|
|
Source: ABS, 2007 [2]
Note: Australian population includes Jervis Bay Territory, Cocos
(Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island
What do we know about the age of the Indigenous population?
The Indigenous population is much younger overall than the non-Indigenous population [2]. Based on information collected in the 2006 Australian census, about 40 out of 100 Indigenous people are aged less than 15 years, compared with 20 out of 100 non-Indigenous people. About 3 out of 100 Indigenous people are aged 65 years or over, compared with 10 out of 100 non-Indigenous people. The younger age structure of the Indigenous population is due to high levels of fertility and mortality compared with the non-Indigenous population.
The Figure below is called a population pyramid and reflects these differences. The bars show the percentage of the total population that falls within each age group. The 75+ years bars appear out of proportion to the other bars because they represent all the people aged 75 years or more. The general shapes of the Indigenous and the non-Indigenous pyramids differ. The Indigenous pyramid is wide is at the bottom (younger age groups) and tapers off at the top (older age groups). The non-Indigenous pyramid has a more even spread of ages through the population.
References
1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(2003) National health data dictionary. Canberra: Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare
2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007)
Population distribution, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Australians, Australia . Canberra: Australian Bureau of
Statistics
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