Marla is a town and locality in the Australian state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
located in the state's north-west about north-west of the state capital of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and about south of the town of
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 ...
in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
.
History
Marla was constituted as a government town under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1980'' on 21 May 1981 and was gazetted as a locality under the ''Geographical Names Act 1991'' on 8 February 2001 with the assigned boundaries being similar to that of the government town.Geoffrey H. Manning
Geoffrey Haydon Manning (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian, commonly known as Geoff Manning and cited as an author as Geoffrey H. Manning. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place ...
, the South Australian historian, reports that the town was proclaimed as a place for "the provision of essential services to travellers crossing the continent" and to act as an administrative centre for the north-west part of the state including the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
lands and the Mintabie Opal Field to the town's west.[
]
Transport
The Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...
passes through the south-west side of Marla while the alignment of the Adelaide-Darwin railway is located outside of its boundaries on the south-west side of the highway. While a site is designated as a railway station with the name ''Marla Siding'' on the south side of the railway, it is not a scheduled stop for rail services such as ''The Ghan
''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...
'' as of 2018 for Marla and adjoining localities. However the northbound Ghan stops outside Marla for a morning breakfast experience.
Facilities
The town includes a health centre "Marla Clinic" operated on behalf of the state government by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
, a regional police station and a privately owned complex called the ''Marla Travellers Rest'' which is described as consisting of "roadhouse, hotel and motel, restaurant, service station, supermarket, caravan park and much more." it also is an agent for Australia Post LPO.
Population
At the 2016 census, Marla had a population of 100.
Aerodrome
Marla Airport (also known as ''Marla Aerodrome'') is located about to the south of the town in the adjoining locality of Welbourn Hill.
Governance
Marla is located within the federal division of Grey
The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who wa ...
, the state electoral district of Giles
Giles is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after explorer Ernest Giles, it is the largest electorate in the state by area, covering of South Australian outback. Its main population centre is th ...
, the Pastoral Unincorporated Area
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
of South Australia and the state government region of the Far North.municipal services
Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect to the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), wate ...
from a South Australian government agency, the Outback Communities Authority
The Outback Communities Authority (OCA) is a statutory authority in South Australia (SA) created under the ''Outback Communities (Administration and Management) Act 2009''. It has been established to "manage the provision of public services and ...
.
Weather station
The Marla Police Station has been the site of an official weather station since 1985.[
]
References
{{authority control
Towns in South Australia
Far North (South Australia)
Places in the unincorporated areas of South Australia