Walhallow is a village in the North West Slopes region of

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, near the

Mooki River Mooki River, a perennial stream that is part of the Namoi catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands district of New South Wales, Australia. The river starts at the junction of Omaleah Creek and Phillips ...

. The town is in the south east corner of

Gunnedah Shire Gunnedah Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Liverpool Plains in the Namoi River valley and is traversed by the Oxley Highway and the Kamilaroi H ...

local government area, north west of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and west of the nearest sizeable town, Quirindi. At the , the village with neighbouring

Caroona Caroona is a small village in Liverpool Plains Shire, New South Wales, Australia. Caroona is located on the Quirindi-Coonabarabran road, about 20 kilometres WNW of Quirindi. There are also road links to Werris Creek and Pine Ridge. Caroona is ...

had a population of 179. Walhallow is the site of a former Aboriginal reserve and was previously known as "Caroona" mission. It was first gazetted in 1895 following an application made a year previously to the

Aboriginal Protection Board Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...

. The initial area gazetted was and this was expanded to in 1899. The reserve was revoked in 1962 but the residents were permitted to remain under permissive occupancy until 1973 when the land was transferred to the

Aboriginal Lands Trust In Australia, an Aboriginal land trust (ALT) is a type of non-profit organisation that holds the freehold title to an area of land on behalf of a community of Aboriginal Australians. The land has been legally granted to a community by the governme ...

under the ''Aboriginal Act (NSW) 1973''. The village consists of 42 houses of brick and tile construction. Since 1979, construction of these houses replaced timber and

fibro Asbestos cement, genericized as fibro, fibrolite (short for "fibrous (or fibre) cement sheet") or AC sheet, is a building material in which asbestos fibres are used to reinforce thin rigid cement sheets. Although invented at the end of the 19t ...

houses built in the 1940s. Management of these houses is divided between two corporations; 23 houses by the Walhallow Local Aboriginal Land Council and the remainder by the Walhallow Aboriginal Corporation. The village also has a community hall, church and a primary health post (clinic). The former health post building is now used as the Community Development Employment Project (CDEP) offices. Walhallow Public School is one of only five schools in New South Wales with an all-Aboriginal enrolment. After acquiring grant funds from the now abolished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the village was fully equipped with housing, maintained roads and upgraded water and sewerage supplies by 1998. In 1997 Wallhallow was selected to be a finalist in the "small towns" category of the Tidy Towns awards. There is another Walhallow at 17°47'0.27"S 135°39'43.53"E

References

External links

Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and their communitiesAudioA model town but wheres the pool
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Aboriginal communities in New South Wales