Overview: Indigenous Australians
From PhilanthropyWiki
Indigenous Australians Overview
Indigenous Australians are the first human beings to inhabit Australia and its nearby islands. The term Indigenous Australians is generally taken to refer to both Aborigines and to Torres Strait Islanders. Indigenous Australians live all over Australia, in urban areas, country towns and in remote communities; they speak many different languages and belong to hundreds of distinct communities.
Statistics
- Indigenous Australians make up approximately 2.4% of the population of Australia, or an estimated 492,700 in 2005 [1].
- 11% of Indigenous Australians are Torres Strait Islanders
- 14% of Torres Strait Islanders live in the Torres Strait area (the group of islands in the Torres Strait separating Indonesia and Australia)
- 45% of Torres Strait Islanders live in other parts of Queensland
- 18% of Torres Strait Islanders live in New South Wales [2].
- In 2001 the median age of Indigenous Australians was 21 years, compared with 36 years for the non-Indigenous population.
- Approximately 30% of Indigenous Australians live in major cities, 43% in regional areas and 26% in remote areas [3]. This contrasts with the non-Indigenous population, only 2% of whom live in remote areas.
- Over half of Indigenous Australians live in NSW and Queensland, but the greatest proportion of Indigenous inhabitants is in the Northern Territory, where nearly 29% of the population is Indigenous[4].
Philanthropy and Indigenous Australians
Philanthropy Australia’s Indigenous Affinity Group brings together grantmakers with the shared goal of sharing information and ideas about being a philanthropic funder to Indigenous projects and communities. The groups (in Melbourne and Sydney) provide a vehicle for information exchange and co-learning between and by the members with the aim of ensuring effective philanthropic funding is directed to and for the benefit of Indigenous communities.
The most recent edition of Australian Philanthropy focuses on Indigenous Philanthropy.