Confirmation of Identity - Verification for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people form (RA010) Use this form to provide confirmation of your identity if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander who has no other identity documents available.
Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC)
A letter, on LALC letterhead and signed by either the LALC Chairperson or Chief Executive Officer confirming your acceptance as a member of a LALC, can be provided as proof of Aboriginality.
Letter from an Indigenous organisation or Community Elder
We prefer a letter from an Indigenous organisation to confirm your heritage. However, we will also accept a letter from a Community Elder. Use the Confirmation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent letter to confirm your heritage.
To establish that you are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, you must provide a Family Lineage Chart (e.g. a family tree) on the approved form. You will need to gather as much information about your family history and heritage as possible to complete the chart. This can sometimes be challenging.
Your Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage is something that is personal to you. You do not need a letter of confirmation to identify as an Indigenous Australian.
Since legislation for Indigenous people was a state matter, each state found its own definition for 'Aboriginal'. Examples: Western Australia: a person with more than a quarter of Aboriginal blood. Victoria: any person of Aboriginal descent.
“An Australian Aboriginal genome does not exist and therefore to even propose that a test is possible is scientifically inaccurate,” Ms Jenkins said. “The two companies which currently offer this 'service' use sections of DNA called single tandem repeats (STRs) that vary in the number of copies each person has.
The test has three elements, all of which must be proved by the person claiming to be Aboriginal: the person must identify as Aboriginal, the Aboriginal community must recognise the person as Aboriginal, and the person is Aboriginal by way of descent.
This allows us to better understand how health issues for Indigenous Australians might be the same as, or different to, other Australians. The best way to get this information right is for us to ask you the standard Indigenous status question and let you answer for yourself.
make the following declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959: I confirm that I am of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, I identify as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and I am accepted as such in the community in which I live or have lived.
But Aboriginal people are subject to the same social security laws and entitled to no more (and no less) government sponsorship than any other Australian. There has never been a government program that distributed free houses or cars, and Aboriginal students have to pay for university like everyone else.
Some Indigenous-specific services, programs and grants will ask you for proof of heritage. We do not provide certificates to confirm Aboriginality.
Between 2014–15 and 2018–19, after adjusting for inflation, the median gross weekly personal income for Indigenous Australians aged 18 and over fell by 5.6%, from $518 to $489 (Figure 1).
It's possible, depending on how distant the Indigenous Australian ancestor is, that you share too little DNA with them for our DNA test to detect it. A DNA test is not any kind of prescription of identity; rather, a person's genetic makeup is only one part of their story.
In 1943, the Aborigines Welfare Board* allowed Aboriginal people to apply for a 'Certificate of Exemption'. This certificate gave Aboriginal people access to the same previously denied benefits as non-Aboriginal Australians, such as pensions, public education, and housing.
The three colours of the Aboriginal Flag are bright red, yellow and black. Black represents the Aboriginal people of Australia. Yellow is the life giving sun and red is the colour of the earth.
One Nation NSW has proposed to abolish self-identification and introduce a “new system” relying on DNA ancestry testing with a result requiring a finding of at least 25 per cent "Indigenous" before First Nations identification is accepted.
The New South Wales Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme provides ex-gratia payments of $75,000 to living Stolen Generations survivors who were removed from their families and committed to the care of the New South Wales Aborigines Protection or Welfare Boards.
Amounts you don't include in your tax return
There are some amounts don't need to be include as income in your tax return. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous holding entities don't need to pay income tax or capital gains tax on native title payments or benefits.
Aboriginal people can be dark-skinned and broad-nosed, or blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Let's get rid of some myths!
"Indigenous peoples" is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. Often, "Aboriginal peoples" is also used. The Canadian Constitution recognizes 3 groups of Aboriginal peoples: Indians (more commonly referred to as First Nations), Inuit and Métis.
The ONLY, effective and accurate way to identify someone of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin is to ask the question. “Are you of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin?”
The Australian Government defines Indigenous Australians as people who: are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin; and are accepted as such in the communities in which they live or have lived.
At the end of the June quarter of 2016, around 45% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over (220,800 people) were receiving some form of Centrelink income support payment, compared with 26% of non-Indigenous Australians of this age (4.9 million people).