Identity
The current debate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity is complex and is becoming increasingly problematic over time. Just who can decide morally, legally or personally who is an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander appears unresolved but has ramifications for communities, organisations and programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

However, in any debate about Aboriginal identity any decision must rest with Aboriginal people, as Mick Dodson (1994) points out:

...At the heart of the violation [of our rights as peoples] has been the denial of control over our identity. ...Recognition of a people's fundamental rights to self-determination must include the right to self-definition, and to be free from the control and manipulation of an alien people.

'The Wentworth Lecture: The End in the beginning: re(de)finding Aboriginal', Australian Aboriginal Studies, 1994 No1, Canberra, p.5
At present, the currently accepted definition used for administrative purposes and entry into special programs is a three-part process as follows:
An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is someone who is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent AND identifies personally as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander AND is accepted as such by their community.

Population demographics

Pre-colonisation population
Current estimates of the Aboriginal population prior to British colonisation range between 750,000 and 1 million people. However it was not until the 1980s that this estimate became widely accepted as the true population estimates prior to colonisation. London's Aborigines Protection Society conducted the most thorough estimate of the population in 1838, which concluded that the total population was not short of 1,400,000 people (REF - POP UP).

Current population
According to the 2006 Census by Australian Bureau of Statistic, the Indigenous population was 455,031, making up 2.3% of the total population. Compared to the 2001 Census data, this represents an increase of 11% compared to an increase of 6% for the total population. This is less than half of the original estimated population pre-colonisation. From the 2001 Census data, most Indigenous people live in NSW followed by Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. In the Northern territory approximately 29% of the population is made up of Indigenous people compared to around 4% for most other states. Torres strait islanders make up 6.4% of the Indigenous population with 58% of Torres Strait Islanders living in Queensland. The population structure is significantly different from the non-Indigenous population with a predominance of children and young people, fewer adults and very few elders. This has important implications for services as children often bear the brunt of care-giving for adults with health and mental health problems and elders are often supporting large extended families. The normal supports expected in the non-Indigenous population may not exist due to the difference in human capital with reduced availability of healthy adults.

As well, the Indigenous population is highly dispersed with many residents living in the most remote communities. Although there are significant numbers of Indigenous people living in cities, they may be less visible, for example in Perth Indigenous people only make up 1% of the population whereas in a rural town, they may be much smaller in number but may constitute up to 50% of the population. It is important for practitioners to be aware of the different demographic profiles of the communities you may be working with to be able to appropriately target services and assess the degree of health burden and risk in families.

Links
Evidence Based Analysis , Population characteristics.