Australian Aboriginal people
Selected statistics
- 3%
- Aboriginal population in Australia in 2011; percentage in 2006: 2.5% [6].
- 5%
- Indigenous population worldwide.
- 103
- Rank of Aboriginal Australians on the United Nations Index of Human Development (which considers life expectancy, literacy and standard of living) [7].
- 4
- Rank of all Australians on the United Nations index.
- 517,200
- Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2006 [6].
- 60%
- Number of Aboriginal children who went on a holiday or trip away in 2007 [8].
- 28%
- Percentage of Aboriginal children with teenage mums.
- 20%
- Percentage of Aboriginal teens not living with either parent.
- 3
- Times the Aboriginal male suicide rate is higher than non-Indigenous men. Most suicides happen between 25 and 34 years of age [3].
- 80%
- Percentage of Aboriginal people living in capital cities [2].
List of linked articles
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Gambling support programmes
Culturally appropriate programmes can help Aboriginal gamblers manage their habit.
Gambling support programmes
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What you need to know about reconciliation
More and more Australians want to learn about reconciliation with Aboriginal people.
What’s the meaning of reconciliation? How can you contribute? Here are the answers.
What you need to know about reconciliation
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Respect for Elders and culture
Aboriginal culture is based on respect, for the land and for their elders.
Not showing respect is one of the biggest mistakes non-Aboriginal people do when interacting with Aboriginal culture.
Respect for Elders and culture
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Mixed race couples
More Aboriginal people enter mixed-race marriages than ever before. They are facing their own set of unique challenges.
Mixed race couples
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Admired overseas, shunned at home
Millions of visitors to Australia want to experience Aboriginal culture, yet most Australians don’t care about, are openly racist to, or secretly afraid of Aboriginal people.
Why is this so, and why are so many foreigners championing Aboriginal culture and advancement?
Admired overseas, shunned at home
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Famous Aboriginal people, activists & role models
Not many Australians know a famous Aboriginal person although most have one in their wallet. Aboriginal role models and activists influence the next generation of Australian youth.
Famous Aboriginal people, activists & role models
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Aboriginal humour
Aboriginal humour has carried people over many an abyss. Meeting Aboriginal people on ‘Koori Time’ usually means you have to wait.
Aboriginal humour
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Aboriginal communities are breaking down
Unable to deal with past traumas and current neglect many Aboriginal communities break down. The abuse of underage children is but one symptom of the collapse.
Aboriginal communities are breaking down
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Mourning an Aboriginal death
The Aboriginal tradition of not naming a dead person can have bizarre implications.
Sorry business includes whole families, affects work and can last for days.
Mourning an Aboriginal death
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Stereotypes & prejudice of ‘Aboriginal Australia’
Don’t believe everything you read about Aboriginal Australian people. We expose the common “good” stereotypes used in the tourist industry.
Stereotypes & prejudice of ‘Aboriginal Australia’
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Aboriginal remains repatriation
Aboriginal remains were stolen in Australia and illegally exported worldwide until the late 1940s. It’s a long and strenuous journey to bring them home.
There is still much resistance from museums and scientific institutions to give them back.
Aboriginal remains repatriation
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Domestic and family violence
An Aboriginal woman is 45 times more likely to experience domestic violence than a white woman.
Violence patterns are passed on from parents to their children. In Australia it takes police up to two years to respond to cases of domestic violence and take victims seriously.
Domestic and family violence
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How to deal with racist people
Read techniques and tips that help you when someone utters racist remarks or behaves in a racist way.
How to deal with racist people
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Aboriginal population in Australia
Almost two thirds of Aboriginal people live in Australia’s eastern states. Most of them are young and identify as coming from mainland Australia.
Aboriginal population in Australia
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Bullying & lateral violence
Almost every youth has experienced violence from their peers—called lateral violence. Read how a life-time of oppression affects Aboriginal people.
Bullying & lateral violence
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Gambling and Aboriginal people
Most people in Australia gamble, playing lotto, scratchies and other games. Gambling is very common in many Aboriginal communities but little is known about why they gamble and how it destroys their communities.
Gambling and Aboriginal people
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Racial discrimination in Australia
Discrimination is a subtle sword Australians use not only against Aboriginal people. Many experience discrimination for their skin colour or heritage.
Racial discrimination in Australia
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Racism in Aboriginal Australia
Scratch an Australian to find a racist. It’s easy to use racist terms without meaning to.
Racism exists at all levels of Australian society but Australians are in denial.
Racism in Aboriginal Australia
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How to name Aboriginal people?
Using the right name for Aboriginal people shows respect, shows that you care, combats racism and might open doors.
But which name is the right one—Aborigine, Aboriginal or Indigenous? There is no easy answer.
How to name Aboriginal people?
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Aboriginal Identity: Who is ‘Aboriginal’?
People who identify themselves as ‘Aboriginal’ range from dark-skinned, broad-nosed to blonde-haired, blue-eyed people.
Aboriginal people define Aboriginality not by skin colour but by relationships.Light-skinned Aboriginal people often face challenges on their Aboriginal identity because of stereotyping.
Aboriginal Identity: Who is ‘Aboriginal’?
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Aboriginal statistic timeline
How would an average Aboriginal Australian spent their life? Find out with this intriguing timeline which takes you through an average Aboriginal life from birth to death.
Aboriginal statistic timeline
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Aboriginal suicide rates
Suicide was unknown to Aboriginal people prior to invasion.
Appalling living conditions and past traumas have led to a suicide rate that by far exceeds that of non-Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal suicide rates
List of short articles
A white and an Aboriginal man muse about the floods that hit Australia in 2011. What do you think the Aboriginal person’s answer tells you about the situation of his people?
Cartoon: Danny Eastwood, Koori Mail [1]
Many Aboriginal people don’t have a birth certificate
“Without a birth certificate, it is difficult, if not impossible, for an individual to fully participate in society,” says Dr Paula Gerber, from the Monash Faculty of Law [4]. Yet that is exactly the situation many Aboriginal people are in.
A study found that a ‘significant’ number of Aboriginal Australians are not registering the birth of their children [4].
One reason is that Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry offices are only located in capital cities, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away from Aboriginal communities.
Secondly, Aboriginal people still suffer from the traumas inflicted by the policies that led to the Stolen Generations. In their memory, contact with bureaucrats is inherently linked to trouble. Many have trouble reading formal English and fear harm could be done to them again.
Without a birth certificate, however, it is difficult to obtain a passport, get a driver’s licence or secure a tax file number.
Are Aboriginal people Australian citizens?
A recurring topic in the discussion about Aboriginal identity and self-image is if Aboriginal people are Australian citizens in the sense of the law.
The answer is important as it has consequences for the discussion of self-determination and rights to the land.
Michael Anderson, Convenor of the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia and Head of State of the Euahlayi Peoples Republic, has researched the issue extensively. He concludes:
“The First Nations and Peoples in Australia are not, and have never been, British subjects nor Australian citizens. Any review of Australia’s citizenship and the status of British subjects will show that First Nations and Peoples in Australia have at no time been made subjects of the kings or queen of England by way of Letters Patent or Orders in-Council, stating that the kings or queens of Britain recognise us as part of the monarch’s realm and/or dominions. Early records show by way of legislation that First Nations Peoples within Australia have always been classified as ‘aliens’ under State protection laws.”
Aboriginal people and assimilation
Until 1965 Australia had an assimilation policy in place which aimed at making Aboriginal people blend into white society as much as possible. Though abandoned decades ago, being ‘assimilated’ has become some kind of cuss word, even among Aboriginal people, especially those living in big cities or working for the government.
The following story was written by an Aboriginal woman in response to general accusations of some Aboriginal people becoming ‘assimilated’ [5].
“How am I assimilated?”
“I don’t see myself as any different from any other blackfulla. I know who I am, I know my country, my family ties, my culture and customs, so how am I assimilated? Is it just because I have an education and work in a government department? If so, then that to me is not assimilation or stereotyping, it’s using the knowledge and skills I have to provide a better, more culturally appropriate service to Aboriginal people and community.”
“[Working for the government] I can change the thinking of those around me so they are better informed when working with my people and my community… I help break down those stereotypes that non-Aboriginal people have of my people and make sure that my people are given a voice when it comes to policy and procedures that have a direct impact [on us].”
[We haven’t given up,] “we are just using the tools that whitefullas have given us to empower our people and create a culture of change.”
Get migrants better opportunities?
For several years there were tensions between the African and Nyoongar communities in the main migrant resettlement areas in Perth’s northern suburbs [9]. But why?
Elders believe that receiving an official welcome to country when they arrive to Australia is particularly important for black migrants, especially Africans.
Many Aboriginal people still feel oppressed in Australia and notice that migrants seem to get preferential treatment. “There’s a feeling amongst a lot of Aboriginal people that newcomers to our country, no matter what race, get better opportunities and access to services than they do,” says Nyoongar elder Irene Stainton [9].
Nyoongar man Grant Garlett agrees. “There are a lot of problems that we’ve been trying to deal with for years and we never get anywhere. A lot of migrants do get more attention and facilities and all of that stuff,” he says.
Aboriginal skin groups
Aboriginal people differentiate between different ‘colours’ or skin groups. Once you know a person’s skin group you know their relation to you, their obligations, and how they must be treated.