Aboriginal Flag Torres Strait Islander Flag
(Image sources: Australian Government, Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and AIATSIS)
The First Peoples of Australia are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples. According to the 2016 census, Indigenous Australians comprise 2.8 % of Australia's population of nearly 25 million (about 650,000 people). 91% are of Aboriginal origin, 5% are of Torres Strait Islander origin, and 4% are of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. There are hundreds of Indigenous societies, communities and groups. 'Community' is often used to describe groups identifying by kinship, language or belonging to a particular place, 'country' or 'nation'. There is great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia; each has its own culture, customs and languages. There are over 150 Australian Indigenous languages still in existence today.
Australian Indigenous law includes customary law, Australian government law that specifically and only affects Indigenous Australians, and also the relationship between Indigenous people / customary law and the general common and statute law of Australia.