Sprinter Cathy Freeman lit the Torch at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and later became the first Indigenous Australian to win an individual Olympic gold medal.

Mills, point guard at the San Antonio Spurs, has won four Oceania Championships with Australia and represented them at the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, at the last of which they missed a medal by one position.

"As a proud Kokatha, Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man, it’s incredible," Mills said.

"A very passionate moment I can feel in my bones.

"As the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag bearer my connection between our country - the land, the sky, the sea, our culture, our history and this particular moment runs extremely deep".

Campbell, a former world 100m freestyle world champion who won 4x100m freestyle relay gold at the last two Olympics, will also be competing in her fourth Games.

She will be the first female swimmer to be the flag bearer for Australia and also be the third from the sport following Max Metzker at the 1980 Moscow Games and Andrew "Boy" Charlton at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Mills is the third basketballer to be honoured in this way following Lauren Jackson at the London 2012 Olympics and Andrew Gaze at Sydney 2000.

For the first time, the International Olympic Committee has asked all countries to have a male and a female flag bearer to promote gender equality.