Socio-economic outcome area 15

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people maintain a distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and waters

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Driver

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s owned land and water titles

Dashboard snapshot: The data below are the most recent at the time of preparing the July 2022 report. Please go to the dashboard to access the current data.

Measure 1

Proportion of all land that is Indigenous owned or controlled

Nationally as at June 2021, 16.1 per cent of Australia’s land area was owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is unchanged from the same time in the previous year (June 2020) (figure SE15a.1).

Figure SE15a.1. Bar chart showing the proportion of land area that is Indigenous owned or controlled as at June, by jurisdiction and by year. Data table of figure SE15a.1 is below.
Data in figure SE15a.1 (%)
NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
20200.63.314.320.70.445.116.1
20210.63.414.320.70.445.116.1

Nil or rounded to zero.  

Measure 2

Proportion of water owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Reporting for this measure is under development.

Indicator data specifications

Indicator SE15a: Land and water ownership

Related outcome:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people maintain a distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and waters.

Related target:

By 2030, a 15 per cent increase in:

  • Australia’s land mass subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s legal rights or interests (Target 15a)
  • Australia’s sea waters subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s legal rights or interests (Target 15b).

Indicator:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s owned land and water titles.

Measure:

Measure 1 is the proportion of all land that is Indigenous owned or controlled and is defined as:

Numerator — land area owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at 30 June

Denominator — total land area

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 2 is the proportion of water owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The specifications for this measure are under development.

Indicator established:

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

Latest dashboard update for the indicator:

30 June 2022

Indicator type:

Driver

Interpretation of change:

For both measures, a high or increasing proportion is desirable.

Data source(s):

Measure 1

Name (numerator): ILSC Indigenous held land dataset (2000).

Frequency: Annual

Documentation (links): https://www.ilsc.gov.au/

Data provider:

Measure 1

Provider name (numerator): Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC)

Provider area: Land and water ownership

Baseline year:

Measure 1

2020

Latest reporting period:

Measure1

2021

Disaggregations:

Measure 1

State and Territory and Australia.

Computation:

Measure 1

Numerator divided by Denominator multiplied by 100.

Counting rules

Measure 1

Numerator: Land area is in square kilometres (sq km). Land owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people includes the following tenure types:

  • freehold
  • leasehold
  • crown
  • license
  • Aboriginal Deed of Grant in Trust
  • Form of land tenure that is not stated.

The different forms of land tenure report can overlap.

Denominator: Total land area is in square kilometres (sq km) and is based on GeoScience Australia's published ‘Area of Australia - States and Territories’ data as calculated from GeoScience Australia's GEODATA Coast 100K 2004 product. Data for the ACT includes Jervis Bay.

Data quality considerations:

Measure 1

In 2000, the ILSC developed a database of Indigenous owned land by querying land title registers using known Indigenous organisation names identified from state and federal Indigenous organisation registers.

Other than information the ILSC has collected to support its legislated acquisition and management functions, this dataset has not been updated to reflect land boundary or tenure changes over the last 20 years.

The ILSC makes no warranties as to the currency or accuracy of land ownership information.

Future reporting:

Measure 1

Additional developments required for future reporting:

  • Disaggregation of ‘owned’ from ‘owned and controlled’ land

The Productivity Commission acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Country and Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of people who have passed away.