There has been very little analysis of the impact that climate change will have on Australian indigenous communities. This is a clear gap in the research, which is well recognised by the CSIRO and other major research bodies.

It is clear that climate change is likely to affect Aboriginal communities significantly, as indigenous peoples often lack the economic and technical resources available to non indigenous communities to respond to social and environmental challenges. The existing disadvantage indigenous peoples have of increased experience of significant health problems, insecure and inadequate housing and comparatively lower standards of education and training and lower economic standards of living render indigenous peoples more vulnerable the impacts of climate change.

In particular, indigenous living conditions coupled with projected temperature increases are likely to lead to higher levels of disease and health issues. Aboriginal communities are particularly at risk for water-borne and vector-borne diseases, which can be spread through intake of infected water and food. Climate change is likely to exacerbate poor housing and sanitation, which can increase the spread of such diseases. The dietary health of Aboriginal communities is predicted to suffer, as the plants and animals making up their traditional diet could be at risk of extinction through climate change. A 2004 study reported in Nature magazine that climate change could make between 15-37% of species extinct. These traditional food sources may be replaced with cheaper processed foods. Such a switch in diet would make communities subject to increases in obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that are related to consumption of unhealthy processed foods. Higher rates of disease and illness would not only reduce Aboriginal communities' general health, but it would also make them less resistant to future diseases.

In addition to a decline in health, Aboriginal communities will have to face more extreme weather conditions. The CSIRO website on Australian indigenous communities indicates that there is a "high probability in the near term" that communities will face a more variable climate. Storms and droughts are likely to increase in frequency and intensity leading to increased flooding, contamination of drinking water and potentially unsafe releases of wastewater into the environment. A higher proportion of Indigenous peoples live in rental properties as compared to non-Indigenous peoples, restricting housing options in the face of increasing impacts of climate change on housing and community infrastructre. Reduced employment opportunities and levels of training mean that Indigenous communities are more likely to have limited scope to adapt to the impact of climate change on industries. In particular, climate change is likely to have a substantial impact on the tourism industry, which is a growing source of income for some indigenous communities. Frequent periods of flooding and drought could necessitate migration, which could lead to a loss of place-specific cultural heritage practices and fragmentation of indigenous nations.

Science institutions, such as the New Zealand National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), are increasingly recognising the importance of indigenous knowledge and perspectives on weather, climate variability and change. Examples of indigenous climate knowledge include traditional forecasting techniques based on the observation of constellations in the Andes, as well as seasonal calendars based on observations of environmental change. The Australian BoM, in collaboration with indigenous communities and several Australian institutions, has developed a website showcasing the weather and climate knowledge of countless generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The Indigenous Weather Knowledge site presents several seasonal weather calendars used by indigenous groups in various parts of Australia that are finely tuned to local conditions and natural events, often including five, and sometimes seven, distinct seasons. Further expansion of the site will include more information on indigenous interactions with, and knowledge of, weather and climate.