Referenced by 13 other explainers
First Nations counts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in an area. It shows how many people are recorded in each group in ABS Census data. Each person falls into one of five groups.
These figures are Place Forecast estimates based on Census data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Census asks one question about this. It asks whether a person is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. A person can choose more than one. The five groups are:
The figures count people where they usually live. They include people living in non-private dwellings such as hospitals, aged-care homes, hostels, and student housing. People here on a visit from another country are left out.
The ABS adds a separate Not stated group for this data. It marks that the question was left blank or could not be coded. It does not describe who a person is.
The Census undercounts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. So Census counts are lower than the official ABS Estimated Resident Population figures for First Nations people. Use these counts for the make-up story. Use the population pages for area-wide totals.
Counts can change between Censuses for several reasons. These include births, deaths, migration, and changes in how people choose to answer over time.
For some groups, every small area in an LGA can sit within ABS privacy noise. When that happens, Place Forecast does not make up a value at the small-area level. The small-area sum can then sit below the ABS LGA total. The ABS LGA total is the figure to trust.
These figures show how people answered Census questions. Here are the equity caveats to keep in mind. They keep the numbers fair:
See the marker methodology for how these figures are calculated and their limitations.