Toomelah Station (formerly Toomelah Aboriginal Mission) is an

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 ...

community in the far north of inland

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

within the

Boggabilla Boggabilla is a small town in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia in Moree Plains Shire. At the , the town had a population of 551, of which 63% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The name Boggabilla c ...

locality in

Moree Plains Moree Plains Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The Shire is located adjace ...

Shire. The mission was established in the 1930s. Toomelah is the home of about 300

Gamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

people, located north of Moree on the MacIntyre River and is close to the town of

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people. Geography Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...

across the border in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Following a report by the

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

on the community in 1987, there was a public outcry over poor sanitation at Toomelah and action was taken to improve water and housing. In 2008 the Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in New South Wales heard evidence of abuse and neglect of children at Toomelah. In May 2012 the ABC's

7.30 ''7.30'' is an Australian nightly television current affairs program which broadcasts on ABC and ABC News at on Monday to Thursday nights. The program is currently hosted by Sarah Ferguson. History The program first aired on 7 March 2011, re ...

program ran a special report dealing with child abuse, housing and the collapse of social services in Toomelah. In August 2013 a house fire killed a 14-year-old girl while two other children managed to escape. A specialised unit of the Australian Army was deployed in Toomelah in 2017 to run a six-month works project to restore infrastructure including roads and the community hall.

Notable residents

Singer/songwriter

Roger Knox Roger Knox (born 1948) is an Australian country singer, known as the Black Elvis and the Koori King of Country. Early life Knox is from the Gamilaroi nation, part of the Aboriginal Australian community, and was born in Moree, New South Wales. ...

is from Toomelah. In 1994, the Toomelah Tigers rugby team won the Aboriginal

NSW Koori Knockout NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout Carnival is one of the biggest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The first knockout was held at Camdenville Park, St Peters, on the October long weekend of 1971 with seven participating teams. The winning team ga ...

, defeating La Perouse in the grand final.

Toomelah Country Women’s Association

The first Aboriginal branch of the

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is the largest regional and rural advocacy group in Australia. It comprises seven independent State and Territory Associations, who are passionate advocates for country women and their families, working ...

was established by a Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) member from the

district, Una Armstrong. The branch of the CWA was established in 1956, at Boggabilla Aboriginal Station, and was known as Toomelah Country Women's Association. This branch in NSW was supported by Queenslanders because their own by-laws prohibited Aboriginal women from joining their organisation in Queensland. Although it was established on the New South Wales side of the border, the Gwydir CWA reported that "the Queensland folk have taken it under their kindly wing and have promised to help in every way". Toomelah CWA remained a stand-alone initiative in New South Wales until 1959, when it was suggested by an Aboriginal Welfare Board inspector that a branch be formed in the Kempsey area at Green Hill.

References

{{authority control Aboriginal communities in New South Wales