Across the country, many individuals and communities maintain strong connections to their culture, language and traditional lands, while also contributing to the environmental management, economic development and cultural identity of our nation. Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, special package marking the 30th anniversary, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2011, almost 670 000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were living in Australia; One third (34.8 per cent) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in major cities. The main reason behind disruption of traditional authority is influence of mass media. The legal position that Australia was uninhabited remained until the Mabo decision in 1992. [10] Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Preventing violence against women in Australia: Research summary, (2011) p 5. However, a 2005 survey found that only 145 Indigenous languages are still spoken to some degree and less than 20 are considered to be “strong” and able to be spoken by all generations. [14] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4512.0-Corrective Services, Australia, December quarter 2013 (March 2014). He also promotes community understanding of and respect for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

No other content in this article was affected. [18] Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Government, note 9, p 11. [17] Australian Bureau of Statistics, note 7, p 51. In 2011, 11 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people spoke an Indigenous language at home. The case determined that neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander ‘traditional adoption’ or ‘customary adoption’ was capable of being recognised by the law in Queensland. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner keeps the human rights issues facing Australia’s First Peoples before the Australian Parliament by preparing an annual Social Justice Report and Native Title Report. It was designed by the late Bernard Namok, then a 15-year-old student from Thursday Island.

Between 2002 and 2012, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking rates dropped from 51 per cent to 41 per cent. Some Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have continued to maintain a connection with the land that was taken from them by England, in recent years legal battles have been fought involving the rights to the Australian land. The Commission’s role includes reviewing the impact of laws, policies and programs on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as well as providing policy advice and research on a range of pressing human rights issues.

Health services are the single biggest “industry” source of employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, expanding by almost 4,000 places since 2006. e de The Conversation. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a unique place in Australia as the original inhabitants of the land. And in 2009, Australia gave its formal support to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a ground-breaking document that seeks to reset relationships between indigenous peoples and governments around the globe. THE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA - CENSUS COUNTS, CONCEPTS AND QUESTIONS IN THE 20th CENTURY
Until then, I had hoped as a solicitor and a Torres Strait Islander that the law in Queensland could indeed recognise our child rearing practices. [9] Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Government, Closing the Gap, Prime Minister’s Report 2014 (2014), p 12. The Torres Strait Islander flag was created as a symbol of unity and identity for Torres Strait Islander people. Around one in twelve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are part of the Stolen Generations. Up to the time of the Referendum, numbers were fairly static, varying between 80,000 and 100,000. [16] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1301.0-Year Book Australia, 2009–10 (June 2010). [5] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2075.0-Census of Population and Housing: Counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011 (June 2012). Within these sets of questions there have been minor variations to the wording and format of questions. The Commission also hosts the Close the Gap: Campaign for Indigenous Health Equality. Between 2005-07 and 2010-12, life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men increased by 1.6 years and by 0.6 years for women.

And, it … In 2008, 8 per cent (26,900) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over stated that they had been removed from their natural family. [8] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3303.0-Causes of Death, Australia, 2011 (March 2013). [15] Australian Bureau of Statistics, above. [19] Australian Bureau of Statistics, note 11. This page was updated on 22 Nov 2012 to include the disclaimer below. Over the same period, the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the rest of the Australian population reduced by 0.8 years for men and 0.1 years for women. THE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA - CENSUS COUNTS, CONCEPTS AND QUESTIONS IN THE 20th CENTURY From the time of Federation until the 1967 Constitutional Referendum a question on people’s race was asked in all Australian censuses. Traditional or customary law in no way substitutes for Australian law but it can coexist and guide a community on how to behave according to traditional beliefs and practices. These documents will be presented in a new window.

[7] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3302.0.55.003-Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (November 2013), p 8. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have complex codes of conduct to guide people’s behaviour.

[20] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4727.0.55.001-Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: First Results, Australia, 2012-13 (November 2013). Data collected from this question allowed persons with more than 50% Aboriginal ‘blood’ to be excluded … The national imprisonment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults is 15 times higher than that for non-Indigenous adults.

In 2011, more than one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were under 15 years (36 per cent), compared with one-fifth of non-Indigenous Australians. Data collected from this question allowed persons with more than 50% Aboriginal ‘blood’ to be excluded from official population figures. The Aboriginal rock art in Western Australia’s Dampier Archipelago is at least twice as old as the Pyramids of Egypt.[22]. [1] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3238.0.55.001-Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2011 (August 2013). Since the Referendum the race question has been rephrased in terms of ‘origin’, first as ‘racial origin’ for the two censuses immediately following the Referendum, but subsequently the words ‘race’ or ‘racial’ have not been used at all. Just over half (52.2 per cent) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged between 15 and 64 years were not employed in 2012-2013, compared with 24.4 per cent of non-Indigenous Australians.

DISCLAIMER: In 2010-12, the average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was approximately ten years (10.6 years for men and 9.5 years for women) less than that of non-Indigenous Australians.

[2] Australian National University, CAEPR Indigenous Population Project, 2011 Census Papers - Paper 14, Population Projections (2011), p 4. Influence of traditional authority on aboriginal torres strait islander people and their cultures. [13] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4704.0-The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Social and emotional wellbeing), October 2010 (February 2011). [11] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4704.0-The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Disability and Social Inclusion), October 2010 (February 2011). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples The purpose of this document is to collate published research, government reports and inquiries, and academic commentary in relation to Cultural Dispossession, and the effects this may have on a person’s behaviour; development; physical, mental and social well-being; and links to contact with the criminal justice system. Over the same period, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (12 per cent) were three times more likely to experience sexual violence than non-Indigenous women (4 per cent). [4] Australian Bureau of Statistics, note 1. Censuses immediately following the Referendum saw the start of a period of substantial increases in the number of enumerated Indigenous Australians.

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These increases have continued to this day, with the greatest rate of increase being between the last two censuses (1991-1996). It was recognised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1992. [3] Australian Bureau of Statistics, note 1.

[22] Australian Heritage Council, National Heritage Assessment: The Dampier Archipelago (including the Burrup Peninsula) (2006). [21] Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘New 2011 Census data reveals more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’(Media release) 30 October 2012. However, despite some improvements in recent years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in Australia. 35 per cent assessed their health as fair or poor and 39 per cent experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress. Torres Strait Islander peoples - Torres Strait Islander peoples - History and governance: Contact with the Europeans who established a settlement at Somerset, near the tip of Cape York, in 1863 had a significant impact on traditional Torres Strait Islander culture.

Today, every Australian is answerable to Australia’s laws. In 2011, 53.9 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged between 20 and 24 years had attained a Year 12 or equivalent qualification, up from 47.4 per cent in 2006.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinctive rights as Australia’s First Peoples, set out in international law.