2011 CENSUS COUNTS — TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE

In the 2011 Census, 52 616 people identified as being of Torres Strait Islander origin (including people identified as being both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal origin), were counted in the Census. Of these, almost two-thirds (63%) lived in Queensland.

2011 CENSUS COUNTS(a) — People of Torres Strait Islander Origin(b)
		Torres Strait Islander people		Proportion of State/Territory population
State/Territory	no.	%		%
New South Wales	8 011	15.2		0.1
Victoria	3 044	5.8		0.1
Queensland	32 929	62.6		0.8
South Australia	1 599	3.0		0.1
Western Australia	2 608	5.0		0.1
Tasmania	1 886	3.6		0.4
Northern Territory	2 206	4.2		1.0
Australian Capital Territory	326	0.6		0.1
Other Territories	7	0.0		0.2
Australia(c)	52 616	100.0		0.2
(a) Usual residence Census counts, excludes overseas visitors.
(b) Comprises people who are Torres Strait Islander and both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in origin.
(c) Includes Other Territories, comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island.
Note: Totals and components may not be consistent within and between due to introduced random standard error to protect confidentiality of Census respondents. See: Census Dictionary, 2011 (cat. no. 2901.0).

The Indigenous Regions with the largest count of people identifying as Torres Strait Islander origin were Cairns–Atherton (8,120 or 15% of the Torres Strait Islander population), Brisbane (6,385 or 12% of the Torres Strait Islander population) and Townsville–Mackay (6,209 or 12% of the Torres Strait Islander population).

In the Torres Strait Indigenous Region there were 5,787 people of Torres Strait Islander origin, representing 77% of the population for the region. Within this region, the Indigenous Locations with the largest populations of Torres Strait Islander people were Port Kennedy and TRAWQ (Tamoi, Rose Hill, Applin, Wyborn and Quarantine) (839 and 784 respectively), followed by Badu Island (696) and Saibai Island (351).

The Indigenous Location of Manunda - Portsmith in Cairns had the largest number of Torres Strait Islander people (2,474), followed by Townsville (1,567) and Mackay (1,533). Of the 20 most populous Indigenous Locations for Torres Strait Islander people, 19 were within Queensland.

2011 CENSUS COUNTS(a) — Indigenous Locations(b) – Largest Torres Strait Islander Counts
		TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE(c)
	Count in Indigenous Location	Proportion in Indigenous Location
Indigenous Locations	no.	%
Manunda - Portsmith	2 474	11.2
Townsville	1 567	1.6
Mackay	1 533	1.9
Thuringowa	1 212	1.9
Edmonton	861	5.2
Port Kennedy (Thursday Island)	839	51.4
Bamaga and Surrounds	826	77.5
TRAWQ (Thursday Island)	784	80.2
Badu Island	696	89.0
Gold Coast	685	0.1
Australia(d)	52 616	0.2
(a) Usual residence Census counts, excludes overseas visitors.
(b) See ASGS Indigenous Structure - Fact Sheet.
(c) Comprises people who are Torres Strait Islander and both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in origin.
(d) Includes Other Territories, comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island.
Note: Totals and components may not be consistent within and between tables due to introduced random error to protect confidentiality of Census respondents. See: Census Dictionary, 2011 (cat. no. 2901.0).