Misleading comments by anti-vaxxers on social media are putting many Indigenous people off getting vaccinated.
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Just 11.5 per cent of Australians who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday.
Nationally, a quarter had received one dose.
Australia's lowest overall vaccine rate is in Western Australia's outback north, where 8.6 per cent of people are fully jabbed.
In the southern parts of the WA outback, 13.3 per cent people are double-dosed.
The federal government has blamed anti-vaxxers for low vaccination rates among Indigenous people, and not supply or access issues.
"People are hesitant because of social media, what they're reading are the stories that anti-vaxxers are posting," Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt told reporters on Wednesday.
"The young ones are saying 'don't get vaccinated, it's a white man's disease'. It's not."
In virus-hit NSW, Mr Wyatt said 27 Indigenous people had the virus.
He added around 200 Indigenous people had contracted the disease since the start of the pandemic, but none had died.
Mr Wyatt stressed community health services were working extremely hard to reach people, including through elders and messages in Aboriginal languages.
"They're starting to change their mind," the minister said.
Indigenous people are prioritised for vaccinations, including Pfizer jabs for those aged between 16 and 39.
Australian Associated Press
