ABSTRACT
Introduction: historical background First Nations, First peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or First Australians are collective names for the original people of Australia and their descendants. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived on this continent for approximately 60,000 years (as the oldest continuing surviving culture on earth) prior to European invasion (NSW Department of Com - munity Services, 2007; NSLHD, 2013). In this chapter the term ‘Indigenous’ has been avoided wherever possible as some Aboriginal people feel that the term can diminish their Aboriginality. The term Aboriginal is used when referring to Aboriginal people in NSW as the Aboriginal culture was the first and predominant culture.
