Overview

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the Indigenous people of Australia. They are not one group, but comprise hundreds of groups that have their own distinct set of languages, histories and cultural traditions.

AIHW reports and other products include information about Indigenous Australians, where data quality permits. Thus, information and statistics about Indigenous Australians can be found in most AIHW products.

AIHW products that focus specifically on Indigenous Australians are captured on this page.

Note: Following a recent restructure of Indigenous information on the AIHW website, this page includes those AIHW reports that used to be found on the Indigenous health and welfare services page.

Latest findings

An annual average of 60 Indigenous Australians died due to unintentional poisoning by pharmaceuticals Between 2011–12 and 2015–16, 2,145 Indigenous Australians died because of an injury—an annual average of 429 deaths Over time, suicide rates for Indigenous females rose by an annual average of 6% Over the 5-year period, an annual average of 86 Indigenous Australians died as the result of transport crashes Over the 5-year period, an average of 141 Indigenous Australians per year died as the result of suicide

Latest reports

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Highlights

3.6 millionepisodes of care were provided by Indigenous primary health services in 2017–18
3.3%of the total Australian population were Indigenous Australians in 2016
47% of children and young people in the Northern Territory had hearing loss in 2018—less than the 55% in 2012
19%of the Indigenous disease burden in 2011 was caused by mental health and substance use disorders
The median ageof Indigenous Australians was 23 in 2016, compared with 38 for non‑Indigenous Australians
1 in 3Indigenous youth experienced high levels of psychological distress in 2014–15, compared with 1 in 8 non‑Indigenous youth
64%of the burden of disease among Indigenous Australians is due to chronic diseases