3238.0.55.001 - Experimental Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, Jun 2006 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/08/2008   
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MEDIA RELEASE
August 19, 2008
Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEST)
81/2008
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population tops half a million: ABS

Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has reached 517,000 or 2.5% of the total Australian population, according to new figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). These figures are final estimates of the Indigenous population as at 30 June 2006.

Of Australia's Indigenous peoples, 90% (463,700 people) identify as being of Aboriginal origin, 6% (33,300) of Torres Strait Islander origin and 4% (20,100) as being of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.

New South Wales (152,700) and Queensland (144,900) had the largest Indigenous populations while the Australian Capital Territory had the smallest (4,300). Indigenous people comprised 30% of the population of the Northern Territory.

At 30 June 2006, around one-third of all Indigenous Australians lived in Major Cities of Australia (32% or 165,800 people). A further 21% (110,600 people) lived in Inner Regional Australia and 22% (113,300 people) in Outer Regional Australia. The remainder lived in Remote Australia (9% or 47,900 people) or Very Remote Australia (15% or 79,500 people).

The Indigenous population has a younger age structure than the non-Indigenous population, with larger proportions of young people and smaller proportions of older people. The median age of the Indigenous population at 30 June 2006 was 21 years, compared to 37 years for the non-Indigenous population.

Further details, including the method of calculation, are available in Experimental Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006 (cat. no. 3238.0.55.001).

Media Note: The estimates of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) and non-Indigenous populations presented in this product are experimental. The inherent uncertainty in Indigenous census counts as well as the method of estimating net census undercount of the Indigenous population means the estimates should be interpreted with caution.