- Australian people - Indigenous peoples and cultures - The
first colony - Free settlers - Becoming Australians - Population
today Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse societies
in the world today. Almost one in four Australian residents were
born outside of Australia and many more are first or second
generation Australians, the children and grandchildren of
recently arrived migrants and refugees. This wide variety of
backgrounds, together with the culture of Indigenous Australians
who have lived on the Australian continent for more than 50,000
years, have helped create a uniquely Australian identity and
spirit. Before the arrival of British colonisers in 1788,
Australia was inhabited by the Indigenous peoples - Aborigines
and Torres Strait Islanders, sometimes referred to as the First
Australians. Aboriginal people inhabited the whole of Australia
and Torres Strait Islanders lived on the islands between
Australia and Papua New Guinea, in what is now called the Torres
Strait. There were over 500 di