Current evidence of ‘female flight’ from remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities – demographic and policy implications

Abstract

A small body of research has demonstrated the dramatic social, settlement and demographic effects of Indigenous ‘female flight’ from remote communities in Alaska, Canada, and the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas of Europe. In the Northern Territory of Australia, remote Indigenous settlement patterns are highly similar to these areas but neither research nor policy have had anything to say about whether female flight has or might also impact there. This paper applies quantitative tests to thirty years of Census data to look for evidence of precursors in the Northern Territory and discusses the demographic and policy implications in light of the findings.