List of Indigenous Australian politicians
This list of Indigenous Australian politicians includes Indigenous Australians who have been members of Australian legislaturesfederal, state or territory. It does not include those elected to local councils, Governors/Governors-General, leaders of political parties, 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 entered the Australian Senate on 15 August 1971. Of these, 23 have been elected to the Northern Territory assembly, eleven to the Australian Federal Parliament, six to the parliament of Western Australia, five to the parliament of Queensland, two each to the parliaments of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, and one each to the parliament of South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory assembly. Three have served in multiple parliaments.
, Indigenous Australians make up 10.5% of the Senate and 1.9% of the House of Representatives. The total representation is at 4.8%, which is above their representation in the total population.
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 ancestry has yet been a member of the Norfolk Island assembly.
Note: There is considerable debate surrounding the complexity of Indigenous identity. Therefore, this list only includes those who identify themselves as Indigenous Australian. 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
Sixteen Indigenous Australian people have been members of the Parliament of Australia, eleven in the Senate and five in the House of Representatives. Nine 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
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Period = from:1971 till:03/06/2025
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id:LIB value:darkblue legend: Liberal
id:NAT value:teal legend: National
id:ALP value:red legend: Labor
id:DEM value:yellow legend: Democrats
id:GRN value:green legend: Greens
id:IND value:gray legend: Independent
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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: 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: 26/01/2024 color:ALP text:"Senator Pat Dodson"
bar:Burney
from: 02/07/2016 till: 03/05/2025 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: 02/06/2025 color:GRN
from: 02/06/2025 till: end color:ALP 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.Parliament of New South Wales
Four Indigenous Australians have been a members of the Parliament of New South Wales.Parliament of the Northern Territory
Twenty-four Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral Parliament of the Northern Territory.Parliament of Queensland
Five Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland.Parliament of South Australia
One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the Parliament of South Australia.Parliament of Tasmania
Two Indigenous Australian people have been a member of the Parliament of Tasmania.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.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, 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.