Indigenous Status is a measure of whether a person identifies as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
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.
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.
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.
To meet the government's current criteria for identifying as Indigenous, a person must be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, identify as Indigenous and be accepted as Indigenous by the community in which they live.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
community in which he (she) lives. This three-part definition (descent, self-identification and community recognition) was soon adopted by Federal Government departments as their 'working definition' for determining eligibility to some services and benefits.
Today, the term 'Indigenous Australian' is used to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. However many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not like to be referred to as 'Indigenous' as the term is considered too generic.
Why you should use 'First Nations' People have used many terms for Australia's First Peoples. Early terms were utterly racist and remain offensive. Then 'Indigenous' was very popular before the politically more correct 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' replaced it.
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?”
We ask everyone coming to our hospital if they are from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. This is because we can offer you services that can provide you cultural support through your care.
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.
zero. A native is a person who is born in a particular place. If you're born there, you're a native. It has nothing to do with your ancestry.
The Confirmation of Aboriginality form is a certificate that acknowledges that you are known to your community as an Aboriginal person. Your Aboriginal confirmation form can be asked of you when applying for Indigenous specific services or programs.
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).
native title benefits are now considered non-assessable non-exempt (NANE) income and are therefore not subject to income tax (however, income earned from investing a native title benefit is assessable as income)
Only an Aboriginal artist can produce Aboriginal art
It seems obvious, but Aboriginal art is only considered Aboriginal if painted by someone who is of that origin.
The term 'Aborigine' was commonly used up until about the 1960s but is now generally regarded as outdated and inappropriate. This is in part because 'Aborigine' is a noun, while 'Aboriginal' is an adjective sometimes employed as a noun.
identities. Other pluralised terms such as 'First Nations' or 'First Peoples' are also acceptable language, and respectfully encompass the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identities.
First Nations Australians are often called Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.