For Aboriginal people the boomerang is a symbol of cultural endurance and a tangible link to their long presence on this continent.The boomerang features in Aboriginal creation mythology, and for Aboriginal people the boomerang is considered as old as the continent.

Boomerangs have many uses. They are weapons for hunting birds and game, such as emu, kangaroo and other marsupials. The hunter can throw the boomerang directly at the animal or make it ricochet off the ground. In skilled hands, the boomerang is effective for hunting prey up to 100 metres away.

When hunting for birds, either returning or non-returning boomerangs can be used. A returning boomerang can be thrown above a flock of ducks to simulate a hovering hawk. The frightened birds then fly into nets set up in their flight path or, if they come within range, the hunters can use non-other boomerangs & even spears to bring the birds down.

Boomerangs can be used as clubs or fighting weapons. Thrown at each other by combatants, medium-weight boomerangs are a deadly weapon, but for close quarter skirmishing, large boomerangs up to two metres tall can be used as fighting sticks

Boomerangs can be used as a digging stick when foraging for root vegetables or for scraping ashes away from a fire.

Finally, boomerangs feature prominently in Aboriginal dance and music, as a percussion instrument when a pair are rattled together, and as an accessory to ceremonial dance

Depictions of boomerangs being thrown at animals can be seen in some of the oldest rock art in the world in the Kimberley region of the Northern Territory dating up to 50,000 years old.

The oldest surviving boomerang was found in a peat bog in South Australia and dates back 10,000 years.

With hundreds of different language groups it is understandable that boomerang-making varies across the continent. The vast majority of boomerangs are of the non-returning variety.

Carving and colouring of boomerangs differs across the continent; the styles of decoration are as varied as the individual makers. Not all Aboriginal mobs used boomerangs, but it has become an international symbol for Australian Aboriginal people.