Bamaga ( , ) is an Indigneous town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

about from the northern tip of Cape York in the north of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is within the

Northern Peninsula Area Region The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Is ...

. It is one of the northernmost settlements in continental Australia and is the administrative centre for the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council. In the , the locality of Bamaga had a population of 1,186 people.

History

The original site for the township of Bamaga was at a site known as "

Muttee Heads Mutee Head is a headland about 20 km west of Bamaga, Queensland, Bamaga at the north of Cape York Peninsula in the Shire of Torres, Queensland, Australia. History In 1943 during World War II, the RAAF built a radar station at Mutee Head, ...

" some south of the present Bamaga township. The present site was established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by people from

Saibai Island Saibai Island, commonly called Saibai (), is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guine ...

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

, after Saibai Island was devastated by abnormally high tides. It is named after Saibai elder Bamaga Ginau, who envisaged the site but died before it was established. In 1947, the Bamaga township was moved to its present site as a result of a need by the founding people for a larger supply of fresh water. With local industries and the

Northern Peninsula Airport Northern Peninsula Airport is an airport serving Bamaga, a town near the northern tip of the Cape York Peninsula and is located southeast of Injinoo in Queensland, Australia. The airport is operated by the Northern Peninsula Area Regional C ...

(on Urradhi traditional land) Bamaga became the administrative centre for the

Northern Peninsula Area The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Isl ...

, which was made up of the three Aboriginal communities of Injinoo,

Umagico Umagico is a town and coastal locality in the Northern Peninsula Area Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Umagico had a population of 394 people. Umagico is one of the five communities which collectively form the Northern P ...

and

New Mapoon New Mapoon is a town in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and coastal locality split between the Northern Peninsula Region and Shire of Torres, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of New Mapoon had a population of 412 people. The peop ...

, and the Islander communities of Seisia and Bamaga. All five are

Deed of Grant in Trust A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions. They came about through the enactment by the Queensland Government of the '' ...

– communities with their own community councils. Bamaga Post Office opened by September 1951. Bamaga State School opened on 28 January 1964. On 23 March 2005, it was renamed Northern Peninsula Area State College. Some 20 years later, another community, "

", was established. It was set up for the forced relocation of people of "

Old Mapoon Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

" community, located some two hours north by road from the township of

Weipa Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is one of the largest towns on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is main ...

for

bauxite mining Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

. Bamaga State High School opened on 30 January 1973, but closed on 9 December 1994.

Demographics

In the , the town of Bamaga had a population of 784 people, of whom 688 (87.8%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. In the , the locality of Bamaga had a population of 1,164 people, of whom 957 (82.4%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. In the , the locality of Bamaga had a population of 1,186 people, of whom 929 (78.3%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.

Geography

Bamaga and the surrounding communities are located north of the

Jardine River The Jardine River, formally known as Deception River, is the largest river of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Course The headwaters of the river rise southwest of Helby Hill in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a ...

which supplies the town water.

Climate

Bamaga experiences a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Aw'', Trewartha: ''Awaa''), with hot conditions year-round. There is a wet season from mid-November to mid-May, and a dry season from mid-May to mid-November.

Language

The community languages of Bamaga are Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Brokan (Torres Strait Creole), and English, particularly for education and government business.

Education

Northern Peninsula Area State College is a government primary and secondary (Kindergarten-12) school for boys and girls. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 634 students with 69 teachers (68 full-time equivalent) and 34 non-teaching staff (24 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program. The college has its Bamaga senior campus at Sagaukaz Street (). Its Bagama junior campus is at Anu Street (). The college has a second junior campus in the town of Injinoo. The Cape York Campus, a

technical and further education Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

(TAFE) college, has been established at Bamaga (). The campus provides a wide range of tutorial courses including seamanship and other courses.

Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Isl ...

operates an Indigenous Knowledge Centre at HACC Centre Building in Adidi Street, Bamaga.

Media

Radio stations that broadcast to the town are ABC Far North, Star 102.7, Hit103.5 and Red Dust Country FM, is a Aboriginal-owned community radio station which broadcast from the town. Bamaga is served by five television stations, three commercial television stations (

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...

Seven Queensland STQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. The callsign STQ stands for ...

and

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...

) which are regional affiliates of the three Australian commercial television networks ( 10,

Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

and

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

), and public broadcasters the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and SBS services. Local newspaper is served by the ''Cape York Weekly'' which covers the town.

Amenities

St Stephen's Catholic Church is in Lui Street. It is within the Thursday Island Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was elevated to a diocese in 1941. It ...

Tourism

is a fishing/camping spot with access to Jardine River mouth and is west on Cairns road.

Medical

The Bamaga Hospital as an establishment has five medical doctors and 14 nurses who can capably handle most cases presented.Queensland Health; http://www.performance.health.qld.gov.au/Hospital/Index/213 ; Accessed 20200714

References

External links

*
Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Torres Strait Islands communities Populated places established in 1947 Aboriginal communities in Queensland 1947 establishments in Australia Northern Peninsula Area Region Localities in Queensland