Australian Capital Territory

Latest release
2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
Geography type State/Territory
Area code 8
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 8,949
Male 50.8%
Female 49.2%
Median age 24
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families 3,483
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander households 4,637
Average number of people per household 2.9
Median weekly household income $2,289
Median monthly mortgage repayments $2,141
Median weekly rent (a) $425

(a) For 2021, median weekly rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free.

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All tables refer to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons in Australian Capital Territory, unless otherwise stated.
Small random changes have been made to all cell values for privacy reasons. These changes may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from the table totals.

People and population

Indigenous status
All people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander total 8,949 2.0 6,508 1.6 812,728 3.2
Aboriginal 8,425 1.9 6,138 1.5 742,882 2.9
Torres Strait Islander 230 0.1 179 0.0 33,765 0.1
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 300 0.1 183 0.0 36,083 0.1
Non-Indigenous 429,520 94.5 370,746 93.3 23,375,949 91.9
Not stated 16,033 3.5 20,144 5.1 1,234,112 4.9

More information on Place of Usual Residence (PURP), Indigenous status (INGP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Age
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Median age 24 N/A 23 N/A 24 N/A
0-4 years 893 10.0 728 11.2 85,941 10.6
5-14 years 1,782 19.9 1,301 20.0 179,604 22.1
15-24 years 1,831 20.5 1,364 21.0 150,057 18.5
25-34 years 1,546 17.3 1,032 15.9 117,969 14.5
35-44 years 1,071 12.0 758 11.6 87,910 10.8
45-54 years 854 9.5 690 10.6 81,802 10.1
55-64 years 582 6.5 418 6.4 61,759 7.6
65 years and over 388 4.3 206 3.2 47,677 5.9

More information on Age (AGEP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Registered marital status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Married 1,462 23.3 1,163 26.0 127,525 23.3
Separated 272 4.3 163 3.6 23,982 4.4
Divorced 445 7.1 378 8.5 37,473 6.8
Widowed 122 1.9 81 1.8 16,329 3.0
Never married 3,976 63.3 2,688 60.1 341,871 62.5

Note: In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples.

More information on Registered marital status (MSTP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Social marital status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over, usually resident and present in the household on Census night 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Registered marriage (a) 1,371 24.1 1,021 25.6 112,643 23.0
De facto marriage (b) 1,007 17.7 654 16.4 81,295 16.6
Not married 3,307 58.2 2,323 58.1 296,032 60.4

(a) In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples.
(b) De facto marriage is when two people live together as partners who are not in a registered marriage. It includes people who report de facto, partner, common law husband/wife/spouse, lover, girlfriend or boyfriend.

More information on Social marital status (MDCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Education

Type of educational institution attending
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people attending an educational institution 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Preschool 295 7.9 186 6.9 25,485 8.0
Primary 1,273 34.2 896 33.2 120,864 37.9
Secondary 845 22.7 641 23.7 83,631 26.2
Tertiary - Vocational education (including TAFE and private training providers) 348 9.4 220 8.1 21,273 6.7
Tertiary - University or higher education 612 16.5 410 15.2 21,149 6.6
Other 144 3.9 56 2.1 7,310 2.3
Not stated 202 5.4 285 10.5 38,814 12.2

More information Type of educational institution attending (TYPP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Level of highest educational attainment
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Bachelor Degree level and above 1,242 19.8 772 17.3 40,554 7.4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma level 775 12.3 477 10.7 34,681 6.3
Certificate level IV 356 5.7 259 5.8 23,374 4.3
Certificate level III 745 11.9 469 10.5 84,821 15.5
Year 12 1,133 18.0 806 18.0 82,998 15.2
Year 11 306 4.9 227 5.1 43,335 7.9
Year 10 803 12.8 610 13.6 102,707 18.8
Certificate level II 6 0.1 12 0.3 1,262 0.2
Certificate level I 0 0.0 0 0.0 241 0.0
Year 9 or below 560 8.9 410 9.2 75,326 13.8
Inadequately described 131 2.1 97 2.2 11,038 2.0
No educational attainment 26 0.4 21 0.5 5,242 1.0
Not stated 188 3.0 304 6.8 41,467 7.6

More information on Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Cultural diversity

Australian Indigenous language, top responses
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Wiradjuri 80 0.9 16 0.2 1,479 0.2
Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 33 0.4 44 0.7 4,197 0.5
Other Australian Indigenous Languages, nec 22 0.2 13 0.2 2,863 0.4
Gamilaraay 15 0.2 0 0.0 1,039 0.1
Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 14 0.2 5 0.1 7,596 0.9
 null  null  null  null  null  null  null
Australian Indigenous languages used at home 258 2.9 123 1.9 76,978 9.5
English only used at home 8,119 90.7 6,052 93.0 683,122 84.1

More information on Language used at home (LANP), Whether reported using an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander language at home (LNGP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Ancestry, top responses
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Australian Aboriginal 7,872 88.0 1,018 15.6 695,359 85.6
Australian 3,608 40.3 4,414 67.8 277,467 34.1
English 1,524 17.0 1,783 27.4 131,618 16.2
Irish 598 6.7 808 12.4 31,853 3.9
Scottish 429 4.8 533 8.2 24,549 3.0

Note 1: Respondents had the option of reporting up to two ancestries on their Census form, and this is captured by the Ancestry multi response (ANCP) variable used in this table. Therefore, the sum of all ancestry responses for an area will not equal the total number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area.
Note 2: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area (including those who did not state an ancestry).

More information on Ancestry multi response (ANCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Income and work

Participation in the labour force
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
In the labour force 4,403 70.1 3,055 68.3 296,172 54.1
Not in the labour force 1,814 28.9 1,343 30.0 234,314 42.8
Not stated 58 0.9 74 1.7 16,695 3.1

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over in the area.
Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey.
Note 3: For information on Community Development Program participation (CDPP), please refer to the Census Dictionary. CDPP data is available in TableBuilder.

More information on Labour force status (LFSP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Employment status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who reported being in the labour force, aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Employed  null  null  null  null  null  null
Worked full-time 2,795 63.5 1,909 62.5 144,659 48.8
Worked part-time 1,004 22.8 711 23.3 87,019 29.4
Away from work (a) 295 6.7 154 5.0 28,075 9.5
Total employed 4,089 92.9 2,774 90.8 259,754 87.7
Unemployed 316 7.2 277 9.1 36,419 12.3

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over, who reported being in the labour force in the area.
Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey.
Note 3: For information on Community Development Program participation (CDPP), please refer to the Census Dictionary. CDPP data is available in TableBuilder.

(a) Counts employed people who reported 0 hours of work the week before the Census or did not state their hours of work.

More information on Labour force status (LFSP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Occupation, top responses
Employed Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Professionals 927 22.7 576 20.8 36,013 13.9
Clerical and Administrative Workers 747 18.3 622 22.4 30,731 11.8
Managers 623 15.2 345 12.4 21,218 8.2
Community and Personal Service Workers 531 13.0 343 12.4 45,221 17.4
Technicians and Trades Workers 500 12.2 265 9.6 35,333 13.6
Labourers 271 6.6 207 7.5 37,003 14.2
Sales Workers 234 5.7 187 6.7 22,365 8.6
Machinery Operators and Drivers 116 2.8 91 3.3 23,291 9.0

More information on Occupation (OCCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Industry of employment, top responses
Employed Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Central Government Administration 829 20.3 586 21.1 4,605 1.8
Defence 262 6.4 158 5.7 2,561 1.0
State Government Administration 153 3.7 118 4.3 5,577 2.1
Higher Education 89 2.2 56 2.0 2,302 0.9
Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) 88 2.2 52 1.9 9,313 3.6

More information on Industry of employment (INDP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Median weekly incomes (a)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Personal (b) 998 N/A 789 N/A 540 N/A
Family (c) 2,472 N/A 2,054 N/A 1,527 N/A
Household (d) 2,289 N/A 1,886 N/A 1,507 N/A

(a) Incomes are collected in ranges. The medians are then calculated using information from the Survey of Income and Housing.
(b) Excludes people aged 15 years and over who did not state their income.
(c) Excludes families where at least one family member aged 15 years and over did not state their income.
(d) Excludes households where at least one household member aged 15 years and over did not state their income.

More information on Total personal income (weekly) (INCP), Total family income (weekly) (FINF), Total household income (weekly) (HIND), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD), Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander family indicator (INGF)
Personal income data is based on place of usual residence
Family and household income data is based on place of enumeration

Unpaid work and care

Unpaid work and care
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Did unpaid domestic work (week before Census Night) 4,473 71.4 3,239 72.4 328,022 59.9
Provided unpaid care for child/children (during two weeks before Census Night) 1,803 28.7 1,385 31.0 166,628 30.5
Provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age (during two weeks before Census Night) 944 15.0 617 13.8 76,568 14.0
Did voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) 945 15.1 935 20.9 58,029 10.6

More information on Unpaid domestic work: number of hours (DOMP), Unpaid child care (CHCAREP), Unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition, or due to old age (UNCAREP), Voluntary work for an organisation or group (VOLWP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Health

Type of long-term health condition
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Arthritis 624 7.0 N/A N/A 50,807 6.3
Asthma 1,425 15.9 N/A N/A 107,162 13.2
Cancer (including remission) 145 1.6 N/A N/A 12,927 1.6
Dementia (including Alzheimer's) 23 0.3 N/A N/A 3,610 0.4
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes) 381 4.3 N/A N/A 47,688 5.9
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina) 240 2.7 N/A N/A 30,160 3.7
Kidney disease 101 1.1 N/A N/A 10,053 1.2
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema) 184 2.1 N/A N/A 17,552 2.2
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) 1,651 18.4 N/A N/A 107,776 13.3
Stroke 63 0.7 N/A N/A 7,059 0.9
Any other long-term health condition(s) 1,071 12.0 N/A N/A 70,592 8.7
No long-term health condition(s) 4,754 53.1 N/A N/A 462,348 56.9
Not stated 495 5.5 N/A N/A 65,539 8.1

Note 1: Measures the number of people who reported that they have been told by a doctor or nurse that they have any of these long-term health conditions.
Note 2: Respondents had the option of reporting multiple long-term health conditions. Therefore, the sum of all long-term health condition responses for an area will not equal the total number of people in the area.
Note 3: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area (including those who did not answer the long-term health conditions question).
Note 4: 2016 comparison data is not available for this table. Long-term health conditions is a new question for the 2021 Census.

More information on Type of long-term health condition (LTHP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Count of selected long-term health conditions
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
None of the selected conditions 5,225 58.4 N/A N/A 493,110 60.7
One condition 2,144 24.0 N/A N/A 167,204 20.6
Two conditions 734 8.2 N/A N/A 54,174 6.7
Three or more conditions 353 3.9 N/A N/A 32,701 4.0
Not stated 495 5.5 N/A N/A 65,539 8.1

Note 1: Selected long-term health conditions include arthritis, asthma, cancer (including remission), dementia (including Alzheimer's), diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes), heart disease (including heart attack or angina), kidney disease, lung condition (including COPD or emphysema), mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) and stroke. Other long-term health conditions are not included in this count.
Note 2: 2016 comparison data is not available for this table. Long-term health conditions is a new question for the 2021 Census.

More information on Count of selected long-term health conditions (CLTHP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Housing

Dwelling characteristics
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Number of dwellings requiring one or more extra bedroom(s) (a) 237 5.1 173 5.3 31,268 8.9
Average number of people per household 2.9 N/A 2.9 N/A 3.1 N/A
Average number of persons per bedroom 1 N/A 1 N/A 1 N/A
Average number of registered motor vehicles per dwelling 2 N/A 1.9 N/A 1.9 N/A

(a) The Canadian National Occupancy Standard for Housing Appropriateness is used to determine whether there are enough bedrooms in the dwelling for the usual residents. See Housing suitability information below for more details.

More information on Number of bedrooms in private dwelling (BEDD), Household composition (HHCD), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD), Housing suitability (HOSD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Mortgage and Rent
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Median weekly rent (a) $425 N/A $360 N/A $300 N/A
Median monthly mortgage repayments $2,141 N/A $2,167 N/A $1,721 N/A

(a) Median rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free. The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with the 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats as dwellings being occupied rent-free were included in the rented categories.

More information on Rent (weekly) dollar values (RNTD), Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values (MRED), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Family household composition
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
One family household: Couple family with no children 1,020 22.0 643 19.8 62,751 17.8
One family household: Couple family with children 1,380 29.8 1,029 31.6 104,435 29.7
One family household: One parent family 937 20.2 693 21.3 86,135 24.5
One family household: Other family 73 1.6 53 1.6 7,040 2.0
Multiple family household: Couple family with no children 18 0.4 22 0.7 2,130 0.6
Multiple family household: Couple family with children 42 0.9 28 0.9 6,813 1.9
Multiple family household: One parent family 43 0.9 24 0.7 8,606 2.4
Multiple family household: Other family 7 0.2 0 0.0 412 0.1
Other household 1,111 24.0 752 23.1 73,717 20.9

Note: This table counts the types of families within family households at the dwelling level. In multiple family households, only the family composition of the primary family is recorded. Other household includes lone person households and group households.

More information on Family household composition (dwelling) (HCFMD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Dwelling structure
Occupied private dwellings where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Separate house 3,041 65.6 2,284 70.2 281,729 80.0
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. 828 17.9 585 18.0 38,396 10.9
Flat or apartment 750 16.2 369 11.3 27,919 7.9
Other dwelling 7 0.2 11 0.3 2,861 0.8

More information on Dwelling structure (STRD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Tenure type
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Australian Capital Territory, 2021 % Australian Capital Territory, 2021 Australian Capital Territory, 2016 % Australian Capital Territory, 2016 Australia, 2021 % Australia, 2021
Owned outright 516 11.1 326 10.0 48,452 13.8
Owned with a mortgage (a) 1,519 32.8 1,071 32.9 96,647 27.5
Rented (b) 2,518 54.3 1,718 52.8 192,703 54.7
Other (c) 44 0.9 39 1.2 5,582 1.6
Not stated 41 0.9 101 3.1 8,652 2.5

(a) Includes dwellings purchased under a shared equity scheme.
(b) Excludes dwellings being occupied rent-free. The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with the 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats as dwellings being occupied rent-free were included in the rented categories.
(c) Comprises dwellings occupied rent-free, occupied under a life tenure scheme and other tenure type

More information on Tenure type (TEND)
Table based on place of enumeration

Please note that there are small random adjustments made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of data. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from table totals.