Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

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Preliminary 2021 Census-based estimated resident population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians

Reference period
June 2021
Released
21/09/2022

Key statistics

  • As at 30 June 2021 there were 984,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total Australian population.
  • This is an increase of 185,600 people (23.2%) since 30 June 2016. 
  • One-third (33.1%) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was under 15 years of age.

This publication presents preliminary estimates of resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians.  Final estimates will be released in August 2023 with further disaggregation (including sub-state estimates).

The increase in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is not wholly explained by demographic factors. Further explanation of the change in Census counts between 2016 and 2021 is planned to be published in early 2023.

Time series data will be released in 2024 in Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011 to 2036.

The preliminary estimated resident populations released in this publication are based on 2021 Census counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, adjusted for net undercount as measured by Post Enumeration Survey. Details of the estimation methodology are provided in Methodology

States and territories

  • 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 (732,800 people or 74.5%).
  • The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people relative to its total population size (30.8%), while Victoria had the lowest (1.2%).
Preliminary population estimates, Indigenous status by state and territory – 30 June 2021
State or territory of usual residenceAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderNon-IndigenousTotal
New South Wales339,5467,754,2698,093,815
Victoria78,6986,469,3426,548,040
Queensland273,2244,944,4295,217,653
South Australia52,0831,751,1091,803,192
Western Australia120,0372,629,8272,749,864
Tasmania33,894534,015567,909
Northern Territory76,736172,464249,200
Australian Capital Territory9,544444,014453,558
Australia(a)984,00224,704,07725,688,079

a. Includes Other Territories.

Age and sex structure

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population had a younger age structure than the non-Indigenous population, with both larger proportions of young people and smaller proportions of older people. This reflects higher birth rates and lower life expectancy in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population compared with that in the non-Indigenous population.

  • One-third (33.1%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were aged under 15 years compared with 17.9% of non-Indigenous people in the same age group.
  • People aged 65 years and over comprised 5.4% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population compared with 17.2% of the non-Indigenous population.
  • The age structures of the male and female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations were similar.
  • Overall, there were slightly more males than females (a sex ratio of 101 males to every 100 females), but females outnumbered males in age groups over 35 years.

Estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population are based on Census counts which are a self-identified population. It is therefore possible for the population age distribution to change between Censuses for reasons other than the usual demographic ones (i.e., population ageing etc.). To determine if the age distribution of the 2016 and 2021 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations have changed because of non-demographic factors (such as changing identification over time), the index of dissimilarity is calculated, which measures the overall difference between the two age distributions (Shyrock et al., 1976:131).

The index of dissimilarity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations over the two successive Census years showed low values within the theoretical range of 0 to 100. The smaller the index of dissimilarity values are, the more similar the two age distributions are. This suggests that changing identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people between the two Censuses is not having a large effect on the age structure of this population.

  • The index value for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was 3.5 for males and 3.6 for females, compared with 2.9 for males and 3.1 for females in the total Australian population.
  • The index values for most states and territories were less than 5.0 for both sexes.
  • Tasmania and the ACT had higher index values than other states and territories which may in part reflect the small size of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in these jurisdictions.

Index of dissimilarity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age structures – 30 June 2016 and 30 June 2021
MalesFemales
State or territoryindexindex
New South Wales3.23.7
Victoria4.83.8
Queensland4.23.8
South Australia4.14.3
Western Australia3.73.3
Tasmania5.25.3
Northern Territory2.63.5
Australian Capital Territory6.94.4
Australia(a)3.53.6

a. Includes Other Territories.

Data downloads

Table 1: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, by sex and age groups, states and territories – 2021

Table 2: Estimated resident Australian non-Indigenous population, by sex and age groups, states and territories – 2021

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3238.0.55.001.

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