The Atlas visually represents patterns of human activities in space and time, from over 60,000 years ago to the present time. It covers an extensive range of topics, such as deep history, Indigenous mapping, material culture, cultural and religious life, art, sport, language, environment and Country, social justice, education and health and wellbeing. The 130 maps, which form the core of the book, are supplemented by easy-to-read explanatory text and over 165 photographs, artworks, illustrations, charts and graphs. The Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia is a collaborative publication between the Australian National University, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Macquarie Dictionary. It is based upon the award-winning Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia and the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia Second Edition. The content has been adapted to suit a younger audience. It includes contributions from more than 40 authors from a wide variety of places and professions from universities, the arts world, Indigenous organisations and the public service.

Honorary Associate Professor Bill Arthur has been researching Indigenous affairs and working closely with Indigenous communities for several decades. In 2001, he began working on the first edition of the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia with Frances Morphy, which took out the award of Overall Winner in the 2006 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing (EEPA). In 2017, they began working on a second edition of the Atlas which was published in 2019. In 2020, Bill began working with Managing Editor Victoria Morgan on the Junior Atlas of Australia, adapting the content of the previous editions to create an edition suitable for an audience in their upper primary and lower secondary school years. Across all editions, there have been over 40 contributors who have researched, written and mapped the content in the Atlas.