Introduction: Aboriginal Australians form the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands. The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders collectively. It is generally used when both groups are included in the topic being addressed. Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct, despite extensive cultural exchange with some of the Aboriginal groups. The Torres Strait Islands are mostly part of Queensland but have a separate governmental status. Aboriginal Australians comprise many distinct peoples who have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but only in the last 200 years have they been defined and started to self-identify as a single group. Australian Aboriginal identity has changed over time and place, with family lineage, self-identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. As role models, Aboriginal Australians occupy a full range of positions in society, with an incomplete set of lists of Indigenous Australians.
Before European settlement of Australia, there were around 600 diverse Aboriginal populations, based on language groups. Australian Aboriginals have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on earth. Educated estimates date this history around 50,000 years. Tot de ontdekking van Australië door de Europeanen. Op dat moment, in 1770, leefden er naar schatting tussen de 250.000 en 300.000 Aboriginals. 3
