This paper analyses data on those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who reported in the 2006 and 2011 Censuses of Population and Housing that they spoke an Indigenous language at home. The analysis shows an increase in the number of Indigenous language speakers from 51,990 in 2006 to 60,550 in 2011. However, as the...

This paper argues that reform of Aboriginal heritage legislation in New South Wales is well overdue. Thousands of Aboriginal cultural heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed in New South Wales (NSW) in recent years. According to the 2011 State of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Report, there were some five instances of regulated cultural heritage destruction...

This Topical Issue critically analyses the use of statistics on Indigenous jobs by Andrew (Twiggy) Forrest and the Australian Government. Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s May 2 address to the National Press Club signalled another war of words with the Gillard Government, this time over his plan for Indigenous jobs. Forrest used the occasion to criticise...

This paper presents a case study of an exercise in Aboriginal community governance. It sets out the background events that led the Yawuru Native Title Holders Aboriginal Corporation to secure information for its own needs as an act of self-determination and essential governance, and it presents some of the key findings from that exercise. As...

This paper charts recent changes in personal and household income by combining the first release census data for 2011 with community profiles for Indigenous and other households from the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. Changes in household size and housing cost are also explored in order to appreciate some of the changing pressures on family resources...