History

Produced fortnightly, the Koori Mail is distributed Australia-wide, providing news, views, advertisements and other material of vital interest to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and Australians interested in Indigenous affairs.

We’ve been doing this since 1991, and the newspaper has grown to the point where it is recognised as ‘The Voice of Indigenous Australia’.

The Koori Mail is not just a successful national publication – it’s also a true Aboriginal success story. The newspaper is owned jointly by five small Aboriginal organisations in Bundjalung country, on the far north coast of New South Wales. Every cent of profit made by the newspaper goes to Indigenous Australians – in the form of dividends, sponsorships or scholarships to help our people.

The Koori Mail averages more than 100,000 readers each fortnight, according to McNair Ingenuity Research. And our audited circulation is more than 9200 copies each fortnight (ABC audit).

This website is designed to give you just a taste of what our latest edition offers. Please feel free to contact us with your comments, ideas or if you would like to join our growing number of subscribers.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the original or first Australians. They are culturally and linguistically diverse.

Historically, Aboriginal people have lived on mainland Australia, Tasmania and some offshore islands such as the Northern Territory’s Tiwi Islands.

Torres Strait Islanders come from the islands of the Torres Strait, the body of water between the tip of Cape York in the state of Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

At the time of European arrival in the late 18th century, up to one million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people inhabited Australia. They spoke about 250 distinct languages and had complex social systems and highly developed traditions reflecting their deep connection with the land and sea.

Today, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live throughout Australia, in major cities, regional towns, remote and very remote areas. According to the 2011 Census conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost 550,000 Australians identified as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Of these, 172,000 were in New South Wales, 156,000 were in Queensland, 70,000 were in Western Australia, almost 57,000 were in the Northern Territory, 38,000 were in Victoria, just over 30,000 in South Australia, almost 20,000 in Tasmania, and just over 5000 in the Australian Capital Territory.