The health of Indigenous Western Australians:
Population structure
Population structure
There were approximately 72,243 Indigenous people living in WA at 30 June 2006 according to ABS projections (based on the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people counted in the 2001 Census of Housing and Population) [1].
The WA Indigenous population represents 3.5% of the total WA population and 14.4% of the total Australian Indigenous population (which was estimated to be 501,479 at 30 June 2006). (Based on recent trends, the total population of WA will be almost 2.043 million at 30 June 2006). More than one-third of WA’s Indigenous people live in the Perth Metropolitan area, where they comprise 1.6% of the total population (Table 1) [2-4]. The next most populous Indigenous region is the Kimberley, where 23% of the State’s Indigenous population live and comprise 48% of the total population of that region.
Separate figures are not available for residence by remoteness for Indigenous people in WA, but nationally almost 18% of Indigenous people live in very remote areas and around 9% in remote areas [4]1. Nationally, only 2% of the non-Indigenous population live in remote or very remote areas.
Table 1 Estimated resident Western Australian Indigenous population by region (30 June 2004)
| Region | Indigenous population | Proportion of total Indigenous population (%) | Proportion of total population of jurisdiction (%) |
| South West / Great Southern | 6,501 | 9.0 | 2.9 |
| Perth Metropolitan | 26,013 | 36.0 | 1.6 |
| Midlands | 2,328 | 3.2 | 5.0 |
| Goldfields | 6,128 | 8.5 | 10.7 |
| Mid West / Gascoyne | 7,413 | 10.3 | 11.6 |
| Pilbara | 7,077 | 9.8 | 16.5 |
| Kimberley | 16,782 | 23.2 | 47.9 |
| Australia | 72,243 | 100.0 | 3.5 |
Source: Derived from ABS (2003) and ABS (2004)
Notes:
1. The estimates of the resident Indigenous population, based on the 2001 Census counts, make allowances for unknown Indigenous status and for net under-enumeration and make a back adjustment for natural increases between 30 June 2001 and 7 August 2001 (the date of the census).
2. The regional estimates have been calculated by extrapolating the census counts and estimated resident population estimates for the various Indigenous areas/districts that comprise the WA regions.
In Australian the Indigenous population is markedly younger than the non-Indigenous population – 40% of Indigenous people are aged less than 15 years, compared with 21% of non-Indigenous people. Only 2.6% of the Indigenous population are aged 65 years or over, compared with 12% of the non-Indigenous population (see Figure).
References
1 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004) Experimental estimates and projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics
2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2002) 2001 Census Indigenous profiles, main areas: Australia.
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003) Australian demographic statistics quarterly: March quarter 2003. (ABS catalogue no. 3101.0) Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics
4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003) Population characteristics: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 2001. (4713.0) Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Endnote
1 Based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), the five categories of remoteness used by the ABS are: ‘major cities’ (Census collection districts (CDs) with an average ARIA value of 0-0.2); ‘inner regional’ (average ARIA value > 0.2 and <= 2.4); ‘outer regional’ (average ARIA value > 2.4 and <= 5.92); ‘remote’ (average ARIA value > 5.92 and <= 10.53); and ‘very remote’ (average ARIA value > 10.53). The latter two categories are characterised by ‘very little or very restricted access to goods and services and opportunities for social interaction’.
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