__NOTOC__ Lake Mackay is a locality in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

located on the territory’s south-west adjoining the border with the state 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 ...

about south of the territory capital of Darwin and about west of the municipal seat in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. The locality consists of the following land (from north to south): the Lake Mackay Aboriginal Land Trust, the

Mount Doreen Station Mount Doreen Station is a pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about north east of Papunya and approximately north west of Alice Springs just off the Tanami Track in the cent ...

pastoral property, the former Newhaven Station pastoral property and the western part of the Haasts Bluff Aboriginal Land Trust. It fully surrounds the localities of Kintore and Nyirripi. The

Tanami Road __NOTOC__ The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track, Tanami Highway, and the McGuire Track, is a road in Australia that runs between the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory and the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia. It is a ...

passes through the locality from

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...

in the south to the north-west via Mount Dooreen Station on its way to

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

. The locality’s boundaries and name were gazetted on 4 April 2007. Its name is derived from

Lake Mackay Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous Pintupi people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout the Pilbara and northern parts of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia and the Norther ...

, the “intermittent lake feature on the Northern Territory/Western Australian border” which is located within the locality’s boundaries and which itself was named in 1934 after the explorer and long-distance cyclist, Donald Mackay. The

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Lake Mackay had five people living within its boundaries. Lake Mackay is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Stuart and the local government areas of the

Central Desert Region The Central Desert Region is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia, administered by the Central Desert Regional Council (formerly Central Desert Shire). The council's main towns are Ti-Tree, Yuendumu, and Lajamanu. Th ...

and the

MacDonnell Region The MacDonnell Regional Council is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. The region covers an area of and had an estimated population of 6,863 people in June 2018. Geography MacDonnell Regional Council occupies the so ...

References

Notes

Citations

{{Localities and communities of the MacDonnell Region, state=collapsed Populated places in the Northern Territory Central Desert Region MacDonnell Region