Risks from climate change to indigenous communities in the tropical north of Australia

Abstract

This scoping study presents an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on Indigenous settlements and communities across tropical northern Australia, including the Torres Strait Islands and the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The study region is home to about 87,000 Indigenous people, around a quarter of the total population of 355,000. The region includes 665 settlements varying from less than 50, to 3,500 people. Approximately 50 per cent of this Indigenous population lives within 20 kilometres of the coast or on offshore islands.