This list of Indigenous Australian politicians includes

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

who have been members of Australian

legislatures A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

federal, state or territory. It does not include those elected to local councils (including

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Governors-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, leaders of political parties (outside of parliament), Indigenous Australians actively involved in political institutions and those who have run unsuccessfully for office. There have been 53 Indigenous members of the ten Australian legislatures, beginning when

Neville Bonner Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...

entered the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

on 15 August 1971. Of these, 23 have been elected to the Northern Territory assembly, eleven to the

Australian Federal Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

, six to the parliament of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, five to the parliament of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, two each to the parliaments of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and one each to the parliament of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the Australian Capital Territory assembly. Three have served in multiple parliaments. Out of the 53 Indigenous Australians elected or appointed to any Australian parliament, 24 have been women. Nobody of acknowledged Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

ancestry has yet been a member of the

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

assembly. Note: There is considerable debate surrounding the complexity of Indigenous identity. Therefore, this list only includes those who identify themselves as

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. Also note that "origin" or "ancestry" refers to the Indigenous groups, communities, countries, place names or languages which that person identifies with. Some individuals do not have any specific Indigenous group identity and some have multiple identities.

Federal Parliament

Fifteen Indigenous Australian people have been members of the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

(the Federal Parliament), eleven in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and four in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Ten of them are in it today. At least four other members of the Federal Parliament have acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but are or were not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:13 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1971 till:06/02/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1971 Colors = id:LIB value:blue legend: Liberal id:ALP value:red legend: Labor id:DEM value:yellow legend: Democrats id:NAT value:black legend: National id:GRN value:green legend: Greens id:IND value:gray(0.8) legend: Independent Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:75 TextData = pos:(20,55) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = bar:Bonner bar:Ridgeway bar:Wyatt bar:Peris bar:Lindgren bar:Dodson bar:Burney bar:McCarthy bar:Thorpe bar:Cox bar:Stewart bar:Price bar:Reid bar:Scrymgour bar:Liddle PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Bonner from: 15/08/1971 till: 04/02/1983 color:LIB text:" Senator Neville Bonner" bar:Ridgeway from: 01/07/1999 till: 30/06/2005 color:DEM text:" Senator Aden Ridgeway" bar:Wyatt from: 21/08/2010 till: 21/05/2022 color:LIB text:" Ken Wyatt MP" bar:Peris from: 07/09/2013 till: 09/05/2016 color:ALP text:" Senator Nova Peris" bar:Lindgren from: 21/05/2015 till: 02/07/2016 color:LIB text:" Senator Joanna Lindgren" bar:Dodson from: 28/04/2016 till: end color:ALP text:" Senator Pat Dodson" bar:Burney from: 02/07/2016 till: end color:ALP text:" Linda Burney MP" bar:McCarthy from: 02/07/2016 till: end color:ALP text:" Senator Malarndirri McCarthy" bar:Thorpe from: 04/09/2020 till: 06/02/2023 color:GRN from: 06/02/2023 till: end color:IND text:" Senator Lidia Thorpe" bar:Cox from: 14/09/2021 till: end color:GRN text:" Senator Dorinda Cox" bar:Stewart from: 06/04/2022 till: end color:ALP text:" Senator Jana Stewart" bar:Price from: 21/05/2022 till: end color:NAT text:" Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price" bar:Reid from: 21/05/2022 till: end color:ALP text:" Gordon Reid MP" bar:Scrymgour from: 21/05/2022 till: end color:ALP text:" Marion Scrymgour MP" bar:Liddle from: 01/07/2022 till: end color:LIB text:" Senator Kerrynne Liddle"

Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory

One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the unicameral

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

Parliament of New South Wales

Two Indigenous Australians have been a members of the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

. At least two other members of the Parliament of New South Wales have acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but are not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

Parliament of the Northern Territory

Twenty-three Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral

Parliament of the Northern Territory The Parliament of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. It consists of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Administrator of the Northern Territory, who represents the Governo ...

Parliament of Queensland

Five Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral s ...

Parliament of South Australia

One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

Parliament of Tasmania

Two Indigenous Australian people have been a member of the

Parliament of Tasmania The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...

. At least one other member of the Parliament of Tasmania has acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but is not generally regarded as Indigenous themself.

Parliament of Victoria

Two Indigenous Australian people have been members of the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

. At least two members have had acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but were not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

Parliament of Western Australia

Four Indigenous Australian people have been members of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

, all of whom were elected to the Legislative Assembly until Rosetta Sahanna was elected to the Legislative Council in 2021. At least one other member of the Parliament of Western Australia has acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but is not generally regarded as Indigenous themself.

References

{{Reflist

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Indig