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Today, many more Torres Strait Islander people live in mainland Australia (nearly 62,000) than on the Islands (about 4,500). Five distinct peoples exist within the broader designation of Torres Strait Islander people, based partly on geographical and cultural divisions.
(For the purposes of the Australian Census, the last factor is excluded as impractical.) [16] A definition was proposed by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in the Report on a Review of the Administration of the Working Definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Canberra, 1981): "An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person ...
The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the term is conventionally only used when both groups are included in the topic being addressed, or by self-identification by a person as Indigenous.
Land is of great significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, often expressed as "connection to Country". Country can be spoken about as if it is a person, and it implies an interdependent and reciprocal relationship between an individual and the lands and seas of their ancestors.
Stories of the Tagai represent Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, with a connection to the stars, as well as a system of order in which everything has its place in the world. [258] [260] Some Torres Strait Islander people share beliefs similar to the Aboriginal peoples' Dreaming and "Everywhen" concepts, passed down in oral history. [261]
In March 2008, fifteen Torres Strait Islander Councils were amalgamated into a single body to form a Torres Strait Island Regional Council, or Torres Strait Island Region, created by the Queensland Government in the interest of financial viability, and accountability and transparency of local Governments throughout the State. [10]
The failed 1999 referendum would have added a preamble to the Constitution that included "honouring Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, the nation's first people, for their deep kinship with their lands and for their ancient and continuing cultures which enrich the life of our country"; [55] while the failed 2023 referendum would have ...
The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited by humans for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer. [1] The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a unique culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines.