New research estimates that more than 2 million Indigenous people lived in Australia in 1788

New research estimates that more than 2 million First Nations people lived in Australia before colonisation. Published in Nature Human Behaviour on 15 September 2026, the study is viewed as invaluable to truth-telling and reconciliation.  

Read more in The Conversation, 15 September 2026:
https://theconversation.com/more-than-2-million-indigenous-people-lived-in-australia-in-1788-new-research-291278

Tory Shepherd’s article in The Guardian of 15 September 2026, ‘Australia’s Indigenous population estimated at 2.2 million before “demographic catastrophe” of colonisation,’ reveals that the ‘study finds earlier numbers were underestimated, suggesting impact of diseases and massacres were much greater than previously thought’. Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/15/australia-indigenous-population-before-colonisation-underestimated-ntwnfb?utm_term=6aa9b03489ec2873f23968920eaeee17&utm_campaign=MorningMailAUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=morningmailau_email