2081.0 - Australians' journeys through life: Stories from the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, ACLD Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/12/2018   
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CHANGING IDENTIFICATION BY GEOGRAPHY

The states and territories with the highest proportions of consistently identified people were:

    • Northern Territory (92%)
    • Western Australia (76%)
    • Queensland (69%)
    • South Australia (68%).

These states and territories also had relatively low proportions of people who were newly identified.

The states and territories with the highest proportions of people who were newly identified in 2016 were:
    • Victoria (17%)
    • Australian Capital Territory (16%)
    • New South Wales (15%)
    • Tasmania (12%).

This aligns with the observed increase in Census counts in these states and territories between 2011 and 201613 that could not be explained solely by demographic factors. These states and territories also have a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Major Cities and Regional areas than the states and territories with a high proportion of consistently identified people13.

3.1 Consistency of identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person by State/Territory, 2006-2016(a)(b)
NSW
Vic.
Qld.
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Australia(c)
%
Consistently identified
57.7
50.5
69.4
68.3
75.6
56.0
92.1
51.0
66.0
Newly identified in 2011
13.5
12.2
8.6
7.1
5.9
11.6
1.8
16.1
9.6
Newly identified in 2016
15.5
17.1
9.4
9.6
6.2
11.6
1.9
16.3
11.1
Previously identified
12.0
18.1
11.4
14.0
11.5
18.0
4.2
15.6
11.9
Total number of persons who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander(d)
227,773
53,122
186,340
37,145
86,697
26,435
61,913
6,657
686,493
(a) Persons aged 10 years and over in 2016.
(b) Place of Usual Residence in 2016.
(c) Includes Other Territories.
(d) Includes persons who identified in 2016 and 2006.

For further detail, see Table 2 in the data cube titled 'ACLD 2006-2011-2016 Identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person in the Census over time'.
Note: Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
Source: ABS 2019, Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, ACLD, cat no. 2080.0, ABS Canberra

People living in Major Cities in 2016 were the most likely to change their identification. Nearly half (45%) of people living in Major Cities who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander changed their identification between 2006 and 2016. In Regional Australia, 35% of people who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander changed their identification. This is consistent with observed increases in the count of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Major Cities and Regional Australia in the 2011 and 2016 Censuses13.

3.2 Consistency of identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person by Remoteness area, 2006-2016(a)(b)

Graph shows the distribution of people who were consistently identified, newly identified in 2011, newly identified in 2016 and people who were previously identified by 2016 remoteness areas.
(a) Persons aged 10 years and over in 2016.
(b) Place of Usual Residence in 2016.
(c) Includes Inner Regional Australia and Outer Regional Australia.
(d) Includes Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia.

For further detail, see Table 3 in the data cube titled ‘ACLD 2006-2011-2016 Identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person in the Census over time’.
Note: Cells in this graph have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
Source: ABS 2019, Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, ACLD, cat no. 2080.0, ABS Canberra.

The three wave ACLD can be used to shed light on whether people moved between remoteness areas over 2006 to 2016. Most people stayed in the same remoteness area, irrespective of whether they were consistently identified (85%) or if they changed their identification (82%).

Overall an estimated 110,600 people who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander moved between remoteness areas over 2006 to 2016. People who were consistently identified, newly identified in 2011 and newly identified in 2016 moved to Major Cities and Regional Australia in similar proportions.

The migration movements of previously identified people however show some interesting patterns. Almost half (48%) of previously identified people moved to Major Cities, most of whom previously lived in Regional Australia.


3.3 Consistency of identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person by Remoteness area moved to, 2006-2016(a)(b)
Consistently identified
Newly identified in 2011
Newly identified in 2016
Previously identified
Total persons who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander(c)
Remoteness area moved to by 2016
%
Moved to Major Cities
39.2
38.5
41.4
48.5
40.6
Moved to Regional(d)
42.0
45.7
43.5
34.8
41.7
Moved to Remote(e)
17.0
13.4
11.1
7.2
14.7
Total number of persons who moved Remoteness areas(f)
69,241
11,997
12,873
14,467
110,553
Total number of persons who have ever identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
453,002
66,041
75,945
81,506
686,493
(a) Persons aged 10 years and over in 2016.
(b) Place of Usual Residence in 2016.
(c) Includes persons who identified in 2016 and 2006.
(d) Includes Inner Regional Australia and Outer Regional Australia.
(e) Includes Remote and Very remote Australia.
(f) Includes people who moved to/from a migratory-offshore-shipping or no usual address area.

For further detail, see Table 4 in the data cube titled 'ACLD 2006-2011-2016 Identification as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person in the Census over time'.
Note: Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
Source: ABS 2019, Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, ACLD, cat no. 2080.0, ABS Canberra.


REFERENCES

13 ABS 2018, Census of Population and Housing: Understanding the Increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Counts, 2016, cat. no. 2077.0, ABS, Canberra.