Australian Aboriginal peoples

Introduction
Prehistory
Traditional sociocultural patterns
- Social groups and categories
- Kinship, marriage, and the family
- Socialization
- Leadership and social control
- Economic organization
Beliefs and aesthetic values
- Religion
- Aesthetics
Aboriginal peoples in Australian society
- Early alien contact
- The Europeans

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Aboriginal people of Galiwnku Island in Australia

Find out how Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are taking steps to reclaim and bury their ancestors' remains

Distinctive features of Australia's Indigenous languages

Australian Aboriginal people at a corroboree

Yugambeh Aboriginal warrior with body paint and a red headband stands outdoors, holding a boomerang in throwing position in a forested area in Australia.

the Dreaming; cave painting, Northern Territory, Australia

At a Glance

Australian Aboriginal peoples summary

Related Questions

How could culturally appropriate health care improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
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How did population density vary between fertile coastal areas and interior deserts?
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How long have Aboriginal peoples lived in Australia according to archaeological evidence?
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What kinds of tools did Aboriginal peoples use for hunting and gathering?
What proposal was put to voters in Australia’s 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum?
When did Tasmania become separated from mainland Australia?
When did dingoes arrive in Australia?
Which goods were exchanged across long distances in traditional Aboriginal trade networks?
Why did Aboriginal groups usually live in small food-gathering bands?
Why did Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologize to Aboriginal people in 2008?
Why did conflict grow as European settlers expanded inland across Australia?
Why did the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum fail?
Why did women often provide most of the food consumed by Aboriginal bands?
Why do some Indigenous Australians prefer self-designations such as Koori or Koorie?
Why do some researchers disagree about the earliest dates for human arrival in Australia?
Why have many Australian Aboriginal languages become endangered or extinct?
Why was Aboriginal land ownership traditionally held collectively rather than transferred between people?
Why was access to fresh food difficult in some remote Indigenous Australian communities?
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Geography & Travel Human Geography Peoples of Australia & Oceania

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External Websites

Broome Historical Society and Museum - Aboriginal Pearlers
Aboriginal Heritage - Aboriginal History
National Geographic - Why Aboriginal Australians are still fighting for recognition
Australian Human Rights Commission - The history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples advocating for the right to be heard
State Library of Queensland - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages
Minority Rights Group - Aboriginal peoples in Australia
UNSW Sydney - When did Aboriginal people first arrive in Australia?
Victorian Public Sector Commission - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history
National Museum of Australia - Evidence of first peoples
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies - Indigenous Australians: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies - Map of Indigenous Australia

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Australian Aboriginal peoples - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Australian Aboriginal peoples - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Australian Aboriginal peoples

people

Written by

Robert Tonkinson

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, West Australia. Editor of The Wentworth Lectures: Honouring Fifty Years of Australian Indigenous Studies and Anthropological...

Robert TonkinsonAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026 •History

Australian Aboriginal peoples, one of the two distinct groups of Indigenous peoples of Australia, the other being the Torres Strait Islander peoples. It has long been conventionally held that Australia is the only continent where the entire Indigenous population maintained a single kind of adaptation—hunting and gathering—into modern times. Some scholars now argue, however, that there is evidence of the early practice of both agriculture and aquaculture by Aboriginal peoples. This finding raises questions regarding...