The Aboriginal population is diverse in culture. Prior to colonisation, there were approximately 250 languages spoken throughout Australia with an estimated population of 750, 000 people made up of 500 clan groups or nations (Department of Indigenous Affairs website). Although many of the language groups have been lost, Aboriginal people in Western Australia continue to have a diversity of language groups with important cultural differences between groups, (See Tindale Map at www.dia.wa.gov.au).

An estimated 77,928 Aboriginal people or around 15 per cent of the total Aboriginal population live in WA, making-up a small proportion (3.8 per cent) of the total population for this state.  It is also a young population; 39 per cent of Aboriginal people are less than 15 years and only 13 per cent aged 65 years or more (ABS, 2008).

More than one-third of Aboriginal people live in Perth, where they comprise 1.6 per cent of the total population, followed by the Kimberley region with 23 per cent of the State’s Aboriginal population.  In WA 42 per cent, a relative high proportion of Aboriginal people live in remote or very remote areas (ABS, 2008). Hence, the Aboriginal population in WA is more widely distributed throughout the state than the non-Aboriginal population.

Aboriginal cultures are diverse living cultures.  There are a variety of Aboriginal cultures in Australia and they are practiced every day.  Many cultural groups carry their own traditions and the diversity of the cultural groups should be respected in all their forms, including traditional groups that have chosen to walk in two cultures.  It is important to remember that Aboriginal people are from different areas, speak different languages and have different cultural beliefs.

In this Aboriginal Cultural Awareness course the following areas are covered:

• History
• Culture