Guidelines for locating Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander 2006 population figures

The VTPU receives occasional enquiries about the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander or indigenous population living in a catchment area. As detailed local population figures can be difficult to find, the VTPU provides the following guidelines.

Indigenous Profiles are available on the website of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with 2006 Census figures for a specified Local government Area (LGA) or Statistical Local Area (SLA). Included in the profile are the population by age and sex, language spoken, and a wide variety of other information. To locate profiles for your catchment area, follow these steps:

1. Determine the name of the LGA, or SLA in which you are interested.
2. Go to the home page of the ABS http://www.abs.gov.au/.
3. In the search window at the top right, type: “Indigenous profile 2006”.
4. Select the top link from the list of links that appear (2002.0 Census of Population and Housing: Indigenous Profile 2006)
5. Click on the Community Profiles link near the bottom of the page
6. In the dialogue box that appears enter the LGA or SLA name in which you are interested.
7. Out of the half a dozen options that appear select the LGA or SLA option, then click on the “View community profiles” button near the bottom of the page.
8. Click on the second link that appears (Indigenous Profile).
9. Download the second (Indigenous) profile by clicking on Free Download on the right-hand side.
10. A window will appear with a zipped Excel file. Double-click on it, and it will open with a list of 34 tables containing a wide variety of information relating to the indigenous population.

Also useful is the ABS report, Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 2006, which has quite detailed figures for each state, but not age or sex breakdowns. Click here for the report

Last updated 6^th August, 2009.
For enquiries contact Dr Yvonne Stolk, yvonne.stolk@svhm.org.au, or Sarah Murgia, Sarah.Murgia@svhm.org.au.