Bidan is a small Aboriginal community, located 110 km east of Broome in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, within the

Shire of Derby-West Kimberley Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

. Bidan occupies a unique location in the West Kimberley settlement pattern in the sense that it is proximate to the midway point between the coastal regional centres of Broome and

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

History

Bidan Community (formally Bedunburru) was loosely established in 1985 on the lower black soils of the "old camp" to the east of the current settlement. In earlier times the

Nyikina The Nyikina people (also spelt Nyigina and Nyikena, and listed as Njikena by Tindale) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They come from the lower Fitzroy River (which they call ''mardoowarra''). ...

people would bring their children to stop in the Bidan area during the dry season. However, due to periodic inundation the existing community moved to higher ground. The existing settlement, with more permanent buildings, was established during the 1990s.

Native title

The community is located within the registered Nyikina Mangala (WAD 6099/98)

Indigenous land use agreement Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

area.

Governance

The community is managed through its incorporated body, Bidan Aboriginal Corporation (formally Bedunburru (Aboriginal Corporation)), incorporated under the ''Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006'' on 26 August 1988.

Town planning

Bidan Layout Plan No.1 has been prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 Aboriginal Settlements. Layout Plan No.1 was endorsed by the community on 26 May 2011 and the

Western Australian Planning Commission The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that exists to coordinate strategic and statutory planning for future urban, rural and regional land use. The authori ...

29 September 2011. The Layout Plan map-set and background report can be viewed at Planning Western Australia.

References

External links

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations

Native Title Indigenous Land Use Agreement summary
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Aboriginal communities in Kimberley (Western Australia)