Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Latest release

Final 2021 Census-based estimated resident population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians for various geographies

Reference period

30 June 2021

Released

31/08/2023

Next release Unknown

Key statistics

At 30 June 2021, there were 983,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total Australian population:

One-third (33.1%) were under 15 years of age.
The median age was 24.0 years.
Three-quarters (74.5%) lived in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia combined.

This publication presents final 2021 Census-based estimates of the resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. These estimates use finalised component data for births, deaths and migration. Preliminary estimates were released on 21 September 2022.

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

The increase in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is not wholly explained by demographic factors. The change in Census counts between 2016 and 2021 is explained in Understanding change in counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: Census.

Difference between preliminary and final estimates

	Preliminary (no.)	Final (no.)	Difference between preliminary and final (no.)
New South Wales	339,546	339,710	164
Victoria	78,698	78,696	-2
Queensland	273,224	273,119	-105
South Australia	52,083	52,069	-14
Western Australia	120,037	120,006	-31
Tasmania	33,894	33,857	-37
Northern Territory	76,736	76,487	-249
Australian Capital Territory	9,544	9,525	-19
Australia	984,002	983,709	-293

Indigenous status (individual categories)

Among the 983,700 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in 2021:

91.7% identified as Aboriginal
4.0% identified as Torres Strait Islander
4.3% identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Estimated resident population, Indigenous status – 30 June 2021
	Aboriginal only (no.)	Torres Strait Islander only (no.)	Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (no.)	Total Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (no.)	Non-Indigenous (no.)	Total (no.)
NSW	326,927	5,971	6,812	339,710	7,757,352	8,097,062
Vic.	74,263	2,463	1,970	78,696	6,469,126	6,547,822
Qld	222,309	25,169	25,641	273,119	4,942,695	5,215,814
SA	49,721	1,195	1,153	52,069	1,750,532	1,802,601
WA	114,995	2,213	2,798	120,006	2,629,359	2,749,365
Tas.	31,140	1,361	1,356	33,857	533,382	567,239
NT	73,101	917	2,469	76,487	171,664	248,151
ACT	8,971	241	313	9,525	442,983	452,508
Aust.(a)	901,655	39,538	42,516	983,709	24,701,703	25,685,412

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.

The median age of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was 24.0 years.
One-third (33.1%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 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.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous populations by age groups – 30 June 2021
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males	Non-Indigenous males	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females	Non-Indigenous females
0-4	5.6	2.9	5.2	2.8
5-9	5.7	3.1	5.3	3.0
10-14	5.8	3.2	5.5	3.0
15-19	5.0	2.9	4.8	2.7
20-24	4.5	3.2	4.3	3.0
25-29	4.1	3.6	3.9	3.5
30-34	3.4	3.7	3.4	3.7
35-39	2.9	3.6	2.9	3.7
40-44	2.4	3.2	2.6	3.3
45-49	2.5	3.2	2.6	3.3
50-54	2.3	3.1	2.5	3.2
55-59	1.9	3.0	2.1	3.1
60-64	1.6	2.8	1.7	3.0
65-69	1.1	2.5	1.2	2.6
70-74	0.7	2.2	0.8	2.4
75-79	0.4	1.6	0.4	1.7
80-84	0.2	1.0	0.3	1.2
85+	0.1	0.8	0.2	1.3

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous populations by age groups – 30 June 2021

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States and territories

New South Wales had the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (339,700 people), followed by Queensland (273,100 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%), and Victoria had the lowest (1.2%).
The Northern Territory had the highest median age of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (27.0 years). New South Wales and Queensland had the lowest (both were 23.4 years).

Estimated resident population, Indigenous status by state and territory of usual residence – 30 June 2021
		Estimated resident population				Median age
		Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander	Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander	Non-Indigenous	Non-Indigenous	Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander	Non-Indigenous
		no.	%	no.	%	years	years
Males
	NSW	170,417	4.2	3,854,976	95.8	22.6	38.3
	Vic.	39,658	1.2	3,197,936	98.8	23.7	37.2
	Qld	136,224	5.3	2,449,319	94.7	22.8	38.5
	SA	26,118	2.9	864,949	97.1	23.0	40.0
	WA	61,302	4.5	1,315,015	95.5	24.5	38.1
	Tas.	16,787	6.0	264,617	94.0	23.4	41.5
	NT	37,902	30.0	88,264	70.0	25.9	36.2
	ACT	4,835	2.2	218,526	97.8	24.0	35.0
	Aust.(a)	493,358	3.9	12,256,052	96.1	23.3	38.1
Females
	NSW	169,293	4.2	3,902,376	95.8	24.3	40.1
	Vic.	39,038	1.2	3,271,190	98.8	24.2	39.0
	Qld	136,895	5.2	2,493,376	94.8	24.1	40.0
	SA	25,951	2.8	885,583	97.2	24.5	42.3
	WA	58,704	4.3	1,314,344	95.7	25.1	39.2
	Tas.	17,070	6.0	268,765	94.0	26.7	44.0
	NT	38,585	31.6	83,400	68.4	28.1	35.7
	ACT	4,690	2.0	224,457	98.0	25.4	36.4
	Aust.(a)	490,351	3.8	12,445,651	96.2	24.8	39.8
Persons
	NSW	339,710	4.2	7,757,352	95.8	23.4	39.2
	Vic.	78,696	1.2	6,469,126	98.8	24.0	38.1
	Qld	273,119	5.2	4,942,695	94.8	23.4	39.2
	SA	52,069	2.9	1,750,532	97.1	23.8	41.2
	WA	120,006	4.4	2,629,359	95.6	24.8	38.6
	Tas.	33,857	6.0	533,382	94.0	25.0	42.8
	NT	76,487	30.8	171,664	69.2	27.0	36.0
	ACT	9,525	2.1	442,983	97.9	24.8	35.7
	Aust.(a)	983,709	3.8	24,701,703	96.2	24.0	38.9

a. Includes Other Territories.

Distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population by state and territory of usual residence – 30 June 2021 (%)

Map showing distribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population across Australia's states and territories

Remoteness Areas

Over a third of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population lived in Major Cities of Australia (401,700 people).
One quarter (24.8%) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (244,000 people) lived in Inner Regional Australia.
187,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (19.0%) lived in Outer Regional Australia.
The remaining 15.4% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population lived in Remote (58,700 people or 6.0%) and Very Remote (92,100 people or 9.4%) Australia.

Estimated resident population, Indigenous status by Remoteness Areas – 30 June 2021
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (%)	Non-Indigenous (%)	Total (%)
Major Cities of Australia	40.8	73.4	72.2
Inner Regional Australia	24.8	17.5	17.8
Outer Regional Australia	19	7.7	8.1
Remote Australia	6	1	1.2
Very Remote Australia	9.4	0.4	0.8

Indigenous Regions

The Indigenous Regions (IREGs) that had the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population were:

Central and North Coast, New South Wales (116,100 people)
Brisbane, Queensland (114,600 people)
Sydney-Wollongong, New South Wales (103,300 people)
Over a third of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (333,900 people) lived in these three Regions.

Data downloads

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Data cubes

Data files

Table 1: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, States and territories – 30 June 2021

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Table 2: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Indigenous Regions – 30 June 2021

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Table 3: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, states and territories, Remoteness Areas – 30 June 2021

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Table 4: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Statistical Areas Level 2 – 30 June 2021

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Table 5: Estimated resident population, Indigenous status (individual categories) – 30 June 2021

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Table 6: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Remoteness Areas, single year of age – 30 June 2021

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Table 7: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, States and territories, single year of age – 30 June 2021

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Table 8: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Local Government Areas – 30 June 2021

Download xlsx [75.02 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3238.0.55.001.

Post release changes

2/11/2023 - Column heading was updated in data cube 'Table 7: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, States and territories, single year of age – 30 June 2021', table 7.6.

Methodology

Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians methodology, 30 June 2021

APA

Citation

Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

APA

Citation

Key statistics

Difference between preliminary and final estimates

Indigenous status (individual categories)

Age and sex structure

States and territories

Distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population by state and territory of usual residence – 30 June 2021 (%)

Remoteness Areas

Indigenous Regions

Data downloads

Data cubes

Table 1: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, States and territories – 30 June 2021

Table 2: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Indigenous Regions – 30 June 2021

Table 3: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, states and territories, Remoteness Areas – 30 June 2021

Table 4: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Statistical Areas Level 2 – 30 June 2021

Table 5: Estimated resident population, Indigenous status (individual categories) – 30 June 2021

Table 6: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Remoteness Areas, single year of age – 30 June 2021

Table 7: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, States and territories, single year of age – 30 June 2021

Table 8: Estimated resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations, Local Government Areas – 30 June 2021

Previous catalogue number

Post release changes

Methodology

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