Share of Indigenous population by state

Data shows most First Nations people live on the east coast

New figures charting the distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples highlight how concentrated the population is in a handful of states and territories.

Statista’s breakdown of the 2019 population estimates shows New South Wales was home to about 33 per cent of Australia’s Indigenous population, followed by Queensland at 28 per cent and Western Australia at 13 per cent. Smaller shares lived in South Australia (5.3 per cent), Victoria (7.3 per cent), Tasmania (3.5 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (1 per cent) and the Northern Territory (9.2 per cent).

Those proportions align with Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that, by 30 June 2021, about three‑quarters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia combined.

However, when measured as a proportion of each jurisdiction’s total population, the picture looks very different. The Northern Territory has the highest share, with Indigenous people making up about a quarter of its residents, while in New South Wales and Queensland they account for between roughly two and five per cent.

Nationally, around 984,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in 2021, representing 3.8 per cent of the Australian population and forming one of the world’s youngest populations, with a median age of 24. 

Demographers say understanding where First Nations people live – and where the population is growing fastest – matters for everything from housing and schooling to infrastructure and health services, particularly as governments negotiate service delivery agreements and new regional decision‑making structures.