The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku is a remote local government area in

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 ...

near 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 ...

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 ...

n border. It is from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. It was formed on 1 July 1993 following a report of the Local Government Boundaries Commission in 1992. The

Shire of Wiluna The Shire of Wiluna is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about northeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Wiluna. History The Wiluna Road ...

was divided with the eastern area becoming the new Shire. It is a community of interest within the traditional lands of the

Ngaanyatjarra The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory. Language Ngaanyatjarra is a ...

people of the

Central Desert The deserts of Australia or the Australian deserts cover about , or 18% of the Australian mainland, but about 35% of the Australian continent receives so little rain, it is practically desert. Collectively known as the Great Australian desert, th ...

of Western Australia. The 99-year leases held by the Ngaanyatjarra Land Council on behalf of the

traditional owners 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 ...

also form the boundaries of the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku. The Shire has of gravel road and is far from bitumen roads. The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

on 29 June 2005 consented to the

Native Title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

claim over approximately (about the size of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

) of land in the Central Desert Region in the Shires of Laverton and Ngaanyatjarraku.

is the first language of most residents (65%, see below) with the other language significantly represented being

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

Population

The 2021 ABS Census indicated that the region's 1,358 residents comprised 48.5% males and 51.5% females, with 84.5% of the population being

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. The Ngaanyatjarraku community has a greater proportion of younger people than the overall Australian population and a lesser proportion of older people, reflected by the median age of 30 years of age compared with 38 Australia-wide. Some other statistics: * 84.5% of the population identify as

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

* 71.4% (970) speak

at home * 9.9% speak English only at home (cf 72.0% nationwide)

Communities

The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku covers and is the

local government authority A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

responsible for the provision of services to the communities. There are 10 small local centres within the Ngaanyatyarra Lands: * Irrunytju (Wingellina) * Papulankutja (Blackstone) * Mantamaru (Jameson) * Warburton * Wanarn *

Warakurna Warakurna is a large Aboriginal community, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku and is situated on the Great Central Road (part of the Outback Way ultimately connecting Perth to ...

* Tjukurla * Tjirrkarli * Patjarr * Kanpa

Kiwirrkurra Kiwirrkurra, gazetted as Kiwirrkurra Community, is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland, Western Australia, Port Hedland and west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Alice Springs. It had a popul ...

and Yilka (Cosmo Newbery) lie outside the Lands, but are served by the Shire.

Giles Weather Station Giles Weather Station (also referred to as Giles Meteorological Station or Giles) is located in Western Australia near the Northern Territory border, about west-south-west of Alice Springs and west of Uluru. It is the only staffed weather sta ...

is also within the Shire.

Council statistics

*Location:

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...

s *Length of Sealed Roads (km): 12.6 *Length of Unsealed Roads (km): 1,444 *Population: 1,335 (2006 Census) *Educational Institutions **Colleges 1 **Primary & High Schools (K −10) 8

Ngaanyatjarra Council (Aboriginal Corporation)

The associated Ngaanyatjarra Council operates *Air services (contracted to

Missionary Aviation Fellowship Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is a Christian organization that provides aviation, communications, and learning technology services to more than 1,000 Christian and humanitarian agencies, as well as thousands of isolated missionaries and ind ...

(MAF)) *

Tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

( Ngaanyatjarra Community College, Warburton) *Communities *Land Management *

Representative Body *Ngaanyatjarra Agencies and Transport Services Inc (NATS) *Ngaanyatjarra Services (Aboriginal Corporation) *Roadhouses ** Tjukayirla **Warakurna **Warburton *Service Stations **

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. It is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as New Zealand, and previously ...

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 ...

fuel franchise supplies Caltex fuel and petroleum products to all Ngaanyatjarra communities, workshops and roadhouse facilities at a fair price, and operates the Caltex fuel dealership throughout Central Australia. **Caltex Roadhouse – Alice Springs

Heritage-listed places

As of 2021, two places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku, the

Giles Meteorological Station Giles Weather Station (also referred to as Giles Meteorological Station or Giles) is located in Western Australia near the Northern Territory border, about west-south-west of Alice Springs and west of Uluru. It is the only staffed weather st ...

and the Warakurna Multi-Function Police Facility, neither of which are on the

State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the 1970s, following its establishment of the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shire Of Ngaanyatjarraku Ngaanyatjarraku, Shire of Aboriginal communities in Goldfields-Esperance