Australia’s Indigenous population estimated at 2.2m before ‘demographic catastrophe’ of colonisation
A large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPView image in fullscreenA large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026. That concept was overthrown with the high court’s Mabo decision, when it was recognised that First Nations people had been here for tens of thousands of years.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were not properly counted in the census until 1971, after the 1967 referendum.
- ▪A large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026.
- ▪Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPView image in fullscreenA large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026.
- ▪That concept was overthrown with the high court’s Mabo decision, when it was recognised that First Nations people had been here for tens of thousands of years.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were not properly counted in the cen
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — World |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/15/australia-indigenous-population-before-colonisation-underestimated-ntwnfb |
| Publication time | Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:00:31 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-15T09:11:53.119Z |
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A large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPView image in fullscreenA large crowd gathers and waves the Australian Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day protest in Hyde Park in Sydney on 26 January 2026. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPIndigenous AustraliansAustralia’s Indigenous population estimated at 2.2m before ‘demographic catastrophe’ of colonisationStudy finds earlier numbers were underestimated, suggesting impact of diseases and massacres were much greater than previously thought Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tory ShepherdTue 15 Sep 2026 05.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 15 Sep 2026 05.01 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe number of…
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