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Science Explained/Brief
New research indicates that Australia's Indigenous population before European arrival was much larger than previously believed, and that an estimated 93% was lost within 80 years of the First Fleet's 1788 arrival. The source does not provide the absolute population numbers or methods behind the estimate.
The finding, reported as new research, revises upward the pre-European population of Indigenous Australians and revises downward the time frame for its collapse. It estimates a 93% loss in less than 80 years after 1788. The report does not include the specific population figures or the evidence used to derive the estimate, so the certainty of the finding cannot be fully assessed from the available information.
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Stated by phys.org
This finding, if robust, would substantially revise downward the timeline and scale of demographic collapse, but the absence of specific population figures in the report limits how precisely we can assess the claim.
What the reporting says: Australia had a much larger Indigenous population before the arrival of Europeans than previously thought, and that an estimated 93% of the pre-European population was lost in less than 80 years following the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet.
Found through monitored feeds: Phys.org. A feed address is how the desk finds a story, not the evidence for it — the sources listed above are the pages the facts were taken from.
How this story was checked. Written from the 1 page listed above, stored 15 September 2026; claims checked against that stored text on 15 September 2026.