Population distribution
In 2016:
- A third (33% or 265,685 people) of Indigenous Australians lived in New South Wales, making it home to the largest number of Indigenous Australians.
- Queensland had the second highest number of Indigenous Australians (221,276 people, 28%), followed by Western Australia (100,512) (Figure PC 3).
In 2016, the proportion of people in each state and territory who were Indigenous was:
- 30% in the Northern Territory
- 5.5% or less in each of the other jurisdictions, with the lowest proportion (0.9%) in Victoria (Figure PC 3).
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A relatively high proportion of Indigenous Australians live in remote parts of Australia. Among Indigenous Australians in 2016:
- About 1 in 5 (19%, or about 148,700 people) lived in Remote or Very remote areas (Figure PC.4).
- About 4 in 5 (81%, or about 649,600 people) lived in Major cities, Inner regional or Outer regional areas.
The percentage of the total Australian population who was Indigenous was higher in more remote areas:
- In non-remote areas, 2.7% of the population was Indigenous.
- In Remote areas, 18% of the population was Indigenous.
- In Very remote areas, nearly half (47%) of the population was Indigenous (ABS 2018a).
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