Dj2541
Current A.N.U. studies estimates that due to the huge numbers of language groups and very large permanent settlements that there were at least 2 million aboriginal people living in Australia when it was first landed upon by the British.
Kate
Australia had at that tme, over 500 different language groups spread over a vast area. I don't believe exact numbers of the population were ever recorded. Sadly it did not take long for the new arrivals to decimate the population and reduce those numbers hugely. I do know that in the region I live there were 4-5 different but related groups comprising about 5,000 people in 1860 but by 1880 that number was down to about 100 because of disease and slaughter.
Jedi Jan
No one knows for certain but it is well known that most were wiped out by introduced diseases, apart from the genocidal actions of the very first settlers.
Prior to 1967 no records were maintained on the number of aboriginals in Australia. The 1967 referendum achieved 90% result by the people of Australia to have Aboriginal peoples counted as members of the Commonwealth.
Anonymous
1 too many
tentofield
General estimates are about a million people in Australia when the First Fleet arrived in 1788. As Europeans spread across the country numbers fell dramatically to well under 100,000 over the next century. Numbers increased again during the 20th century but of the approximately 250 languages that existed 200 years ago, about 200 are now extinct.