Did Australian natives suffer from European diseases in the same way native Americans did?

by jschooltiger

I checked the FAQs and didn't see anything on this topic. Just curious if we know whether Australian natives had the same levels of mortality/morbidity from European diseases after contact as natives in the Americas did, and why or why not. Thanks in advance!

Incorrect_Syntax

I'm not sure on the statistics for native American disease mortality, but the indigenous population of Australia suffered extensively from the introduction of smallpox and others with the arrival of the First Fleet. Noel Butlin states that there were three epidemics of smallpox between 1789 and 1870, and that the first two outbreaks (1789-91, 1829-31) resulted in significant depopulation.

Due to no concrete numbers of indigenous people at the time of the First Fleet, numbers are estimated from 250,000-500,000 (A.R Radcliffe-Brown) to five times that number (Butlin), it is difficult to gather figures as to the extent that introduced diseases affected the indigenous population.

Searocksandtrees