Driver
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s owned land and water titles
Data tables appear under figures
Measure 1
Proportion of all land that is Indigenous owned or controlled
Nationally as at June 2023, 16.2% of Australia’s land area was owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is an increase from 16.1% in 2020 (the baseline year) (figure SE15a.1).
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
Related outcome: | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people maintain a distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and waters. |
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Related target: | By 2030, a 15% increase in:
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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: | 6 March 2024 |
Indicator type: | Driver |
Interpretation of change: | For both measures, a high or increasing proportion is desirable. |
Data source(s): | Measure 1 Name (numerator): Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) Indigenous held land dataset 2000. Frequency: Annual (revised Northern Territory and Australia Indigenous estate data for 2020 and 2021 in the March 2023 update) Documentation (links): https://www.ilsc.gov.au/ |
Data provider: | Measure 1 Provider name (numerator): ILSC Provider area: Land and water ownership |
Baseline year: | Measure 1 2020 |
Latest reporting period: | Measure1 2022 |
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. This includes the following tenure types: freehold, leasehold, crown, license and Aboriginal Deed of Grant in Trust. The different forms of land tenure reported 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 Australian Capital Territory 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 since 2000. The data provided represents land parcels identified as legally owned by Indigenous Corporations (corporations registered with a state or federal register of Indigenous corporations, such as the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations) or as legally owned by Government and held exclusively for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander use. The data does not include land parcels owned by individual persons, nor is it a definitive record of legal Indigenous interests (such as Native Title or regional Indigenous Protected Areas). The ILSC makes no warranties as to the currency or accuracy of land ownership information. From 2023, the ILSC ceased to maintain data for tenure types. |
Future reporting: | Measure 1 Future reporting will seek to include the following additional disaggregations:
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