Between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) population count grew by 20.5 per cent, much faster than the rate of growth for the non-Indigenous population. Some of this change was driven by actual demographic processes - Indigenous females have relatively high fertility rates and there is also an increasing contribution of births of Indigenous children to non-Indigenous mothers (and Indigenous fathers). However, these factors alone do not explain all or even most of the increase in the population over the period. After documenting the demographic and geographic distribution of the change, we will consider what empirical support there is (if any) for other explanations like increased identification and improvements in enumeration. In the final part of the seminar we will turn to some of the demographic, policy and socioeconomic impacts of the changing Indigenous population.
Dr Nicholas Biddle, Fellow, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU.
Professor John Taylor, Director, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU.