Tjuntjuntjara is a large Aboriginal community located 650 km north east of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

in the

Goldfields–Esperance The Goldfields–Esperance region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the south eastern corner of Western Australia, and comprises the local government areas of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie–Bo ...

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 Menzies The Shire of Menzies is a local government area in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia located to the north of Kalgoorlie. It covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Menzies. History The Shire of Menzie ...

in the southern part of the

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 ...

. The community relies upon regular supplies trucked from

Ceduna Ceduna may refer to: *Ceduna, South Australia, a town and locality *Ceduna Airport Ceduna Airport is a public airport in Ceduna, South Australia. The airport, which is owned by the District Council of Ceduna is located adjacent to the Eyre ...

in South Australia.

History

The community was established in 1988 after a water bore was drilled at the location. The Tjuntjuntjara community members are part of a larger group known as the

Spinifex people The Pila Nguru, often referred to in English as the Spinifex people, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia, whose lands extend to the border with South Australia and to the north of the Nullarbor Plain. The centre of their h ...

, who were removed from their homelands (which range across the WA and SA border lands) prior to the

British nuclear tests at Maralinga Between 1956 and 1963, the United Kingdom conducted seven nuclear tests at the Maralinga site in South Australia, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area about north west of Adelaide. Two major test series were conducted: Operation Buffalo in 1956 ...

in the 1950s and 1960s.

Native title

The community is located within the fully determined Spinifex People (WAD6043/98)

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 area.

Governance

The community is managed through its incorporated body, Paupiyala Tjarutja Aboriginal Corporation, incorporated under the ''Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976'' on 19 April 1989.

Town planning

Tjuntjuntjara 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 3 December 2003 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 ...

on 4 May 2004.

References

External links

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations

Native Title Claimant application summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tjuntjuntjara Community Towns in Western Australia Aboriginal communities in Goldfields-Esperance