Burringurrah (also referred to as ''Mt Augustus'') is a medium-sized
Aboriginal community, located in the
Gascoyne
The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...
region of
Western Australia, within the
Shire of Upper Gascoyne
The Shire of Upper Gascoyne is a local government area in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, inland from Carnarvon and about north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire has an area of , much of which is uninhabited land or sparsely ve ...
. In the , Burringurrah had a total population of 117, including 102 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The
inselberg also once known as
Mount Augustus is situated nearby.
History
The community is situated on a reserve that was excised from the Mount James
pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
. It was incorporated in 1999.
The community store had to close in 2011 saying that the
transient
ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program ( signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that ...
population made the business non-viable. The remote CMS had taken over the store in 2009 and had kept it running until 2011 despite closing for a short while from seasonal
flooding.
The 2011 floods had isolated the community for a few weeks and it was not until nearly a year later, in early 2012, that all basic services were returned to the town.
Native title
The community is located within the registered area of the
Wajarri Yamatji
Yamatji (or Yamaji) is a Wajarri word that has at least three different meanings:
* a member of the Watjarri people
* any Aboriginal Australian person from the Murchison region of Western Australia
* any group made up of members of different I ...
(WAD6033/98)
native title claim.
Governance
The community is managed through its incorporated body, Burringurrah Community (Aboriginal Corporation), incorporated under the ''Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976'' on 9 September 1987.
Town planning
Burringurrah Layout Plan No.2 has been prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 Aboriginal Settlements. Layout Plan No.2 was endorsed by the community on 16 February 1999 and the
Western Australian Planning Commission WAPC on 21 October 2003. The Layout Plan map-set and background report can be viewed at Planning Western Australia's website.
References
External links
* Planning Western Australia's official site – Burringurrah (Mt Augustus) Layout Plan (https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/information-and-services/state-planning/aboriginal-communities/aboriginal-community-maps/layout-plans)
{{Towns Gascoyne WA
Shire of Upper Gascoyne
Aboriginal communities in Western Australia