The lands administrative divisions of Western Australia refer to subdivisions of the state of Western Australia for cadastral (land title) purposes, most of which have been in place since the 19th century. The state is divided up for this purpose into five land divisions, which in turn are subdivided into land districts, which correspond to counties in other Australian states. These districts are then subdivided further into numbered locations, as well as gazetted townsites. Together, they form part of the lands administrative divisions of Australia.
There are five land divisions in Western Australia, as specified in Schedule 1 of the Land Administration Act 1997. [1]
The Rabbit-proof fence is the border between the North West and South West divisions on the western side, and the others on the eastern side. In practical terms, the divisions are rarely used — in 1897, the Under Secretary for Lands described their purpose as "really only for the purpose of classifying land for Pastoral Leases". [2]
The system of divisions developed as follows:
Date enacted | Divisions | Enabling act | Maps |
---|---|---|---|
11 October 1882 | Central, Central-Eastern, South-Eastern, North, Kimberley [3] | Land Regulations | |
2 March 1887 | South-West, Kimberley, North-West, Gascoyne, Eucla, Eastern | Land Regulations, s.39 [4] | [5] [6] [7] |
1 January 1899 | South-West, Kimberley, North-West, Western, Eucla, Eastern [8] | Land Act 1898, s. 38 | [9] |
1 February 1907 | South-West, Kimberley, North-West, Central, Eucla, Eastern | Land Act Amendment Act 1906, s. 26 | [10] |
28 March 1917 | As above, but merged Central into Eastern | Land Act Amendment Act 1917 (No. 19), s. 4 | |
6 March 1934 | As above | Land Act 1933 (No. 37), s. 28 | |
30 March 1998 [11] | As above | Land Administration Act 1997 (No. 30), s. 6 and Sch. 1 |
The land district is the highest level of land division actively used in Western Australian land titles, and has been in use in some form since the earliest days of the Swan River Colony, although only achieved statutory recognition with the enactment of section 7 the Land Act 1898. They are recognised today through section 26 of the Land Administration Act 1997. [12] Under the system in place, there are two methods of distributing titles within a district: one is to gazette a townsite from land within the district and henceforth treat it entirely separately from the district; the other is to create locations (almost always numeric) within districts, such as Windell Location 7 or Swan Location 1315, and then either dedicate the location as a reserve with reference to the Governor's powers under the 1997 Act, grant the location in fee simple to an individual or company, or subdivide it into lots for sale or lease. [13]
In 1831, instructions were issued from the Colonial Secretary in London for "the division of the whole of the territory of Western Australia into Counties, Hundreds and Parishes of fixed size". [14] However, the system was all but abandoned within a few years, and district names were simply applied to areas without any effort to fix boundaries for them. [15] Areas within declared townsites were managed separately.[ citation needed ]
At this time, the population of the colony was small, and the Governor had complete control over the affairs of the state, receiving advice from experts such as the Surveyor General, who was responsible for the Department of Lands and Surveys. In 1890, the colony achieved responsible government, and in 1892–1893, gold was discovered in the Kalgoorlie region, leading to a gold rush. In 1895–1896, the Department, by now quite overwhelmed, attempted to define boundaries for districts based on where land had already been granted, but the result was irregular boundaries which did not follow natural features. [15] Furthermore, in assigning and alienating the land, the Department's officers were in somewhat uncharted territory due to the mix of pre-1890 regulations from the Governor with overly specific statutes from the legislature (such as the Homestead Act 1893 and Transfer of Land Act 1892) that they had to navigate. The Under Secretary for Lands noted in August 1896 that "there is no provision in any Act or Regulations for the declaration of land districts... it is only an office arrangement". [16]
The Surveyor General and his staff agitated for a "Consolidated Land Bill" which would consolidate then repeal all previous arrangements, provide a statutory framework which recognised existing practice, and establish a more formal method for establishing and recording land districts. [17] New broad-acre settlements in areas of the colony not already covered by districts (most notably at Carnarvon and Esperance) made the matter more urgent.[ citation needed ]
In the interim, the Department started two new files at the beginning of 1897 which ultimately recorded the correspondence between the Chief Draftsman, Surveyor General, Under Secretary for Lands and the responsible Minister in setting up a consistent means of generating and naming new land districts which would form the basis of a statutory system once one emerged, and 25 new districts had been approved by year's end. [18]
On 1 January 1899, the Land Act took effect, and the Department's new system became the norm, with the only change being that all new districts or changes to existing ones were printed in the Government Gazette. Until 1902, with only some exceptions, names used were usually those of explorers or early settlers, but in 1902, the Surveyor General rejected a suggested list of new names, advising the Chief Draftsman that "I should much prefer euphonious native names if they can be obtained for these proposed new districts, as I think we should lose no opportunity of perpetuating the nomenclature of a fast disappearing race, apart from which the liability of duplicating names is largely increased if the surnames of individuals are devoted to land districts." [19] Between 1902 and 1906, a considerable rush to gazette new districts was promoted by the desire to impress land agents in London — the Minister noted that "it will not hurt the State to show as few blanks as possible". [20] Prior to the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway, the Eastern Division, which consists almost entirely of the Great Victoria and Great Sandy Deserts, did not contain any districts. [21]
The list below represents a complete list of land districts, together with the division of which they are part and the year where they came into being — either through granting of locations prior to 1896, delineation in Department files between 1896 and 1898, or gazettal from 1899 onwards.
Historically, there were 26 counties in the south-western part of the state, designated shortly after the Swan River Colony was founded in 1829. It was originally intended for these to be subdivided into hundreds and parishes in a manner similar to South Australia, but this did not occur, as the division/district system took precedence.
Yalgoo is a town in the Mid West region, 499 kilometres (310 mi) north-north-east of Perth, Western Australia and 118 kilometres (73 mi) east-north-east of Mullewa. Yalgoo is in the local government area of the Shire of Yalgoo.
The County of Ward is a county in the south-eastern corner of Queensland, Australia. The main urban area within the county is the city of the Gold Coast, and it also extends to include the southern parts of the West Moreton region centred on Beaudesert and Boonah.
Ranford is a town located 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-east of Boddington along the road from Pinjarra to Williams.
For lands administration purposes, New South Wales is divided into 141 counties, which are further divided into parishes. The counties were first set down in the Colony of New South Wales, which later became the Australian state of New South Wales.
Lands administrative divisions of Australia are the cadastral divisions of Australia for the purposes of identification of land to ensure security of land ownership. Most states term these divisions as counties, parishes, hundreds, and other terms. The eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania were divided into counties and parishes in the 19th century, although the Tasmanian counties were renamed land districts in the 20th century. Parts of South Australia (south-east) and Western Australia (south-west) were similarly divided into counties, and there were also five counties in a small part of the Northern Territory. However South Australia has subdivisions of hundreds instead of parishes, along with the Northern Territory, which was part of South Australia when the hundreds were proclaimed. There were also formerly hundreds in Tasmania. There have been at least 600 counties, 544 hundreds and at least 15,692 parishes in Australia, but there are none of these units for most of the sparsely inhabited central and western parts of the country.
Irrara County is one of the 141 cadastral divisions of New South Wales. It is located south of the border with Queensland, east of the Paroo River, and west of the Warrego River.
Sussex Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the South-West Land Division on the state's west coast. It covers the south-western corner of the state and includes the townsites of Busselton, Margaret River and Augusta as well as Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin.
Nelson Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the South West Division on the state's south coast. It covers part of the state's Lower South West region and includes the townsites of Bridgetown, Manjimup, Pemberton, Northcliffe and Nannup as well as Point D'Entrecasteaux and, at its far southeastern corner, Walpole.
Wellington Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the South-West Land Division on the state's west coast. It spans roughly 32°56'S - 33°40'S in latitude and 115°25'E - 116°50'E in longitude.
Murray Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the South-West Land Division on the state's west coast. It spans roughly 32°25'S - 32°56'S in latitude and 115°25'E - 116°30'E in longitude, and is located on the Indian Ocean coast, taking in the Shires of Murray and Waroona, the eastern part of the Serpentine-Jarrahdale and the western suburbs of Mandurah.
Neridup Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the Eucla Land Division on the state's south coast. It spans roughly 33°15'S - 34°00'S in latitude and 122°20'E - 123°30'E in longitude.
Fitzgerald Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the Eucla Land Division inland from Esperance. It spans roughly 32°35'S - 33°15'S in latitude and 121°00'E - 122°15'E in longitude.
Esperance Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the Eucla Land Division on the state's south coast. It spans roughly 33°15'S - 34°00'S in latitude and 121°00'E - 122°20'E in longitude.
Dundas Land District is a land district of Western Australia within the Eucla Land Division. It spans roughly 31°40'S - 32°40'S in latitude and 121°00'E - 122°15'E in longitude.
Oldfield Land District is a land district of Western Australia partly within the Eucla and South-West divisions on the state's south coast. It spans roughly 33°15'S - 34°00'S in latitude and 119°45'E - 121°10'E in longitude.
Yerilla is an abandoned town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia. It is found between Kalgoorlie and Laverton.
The County of Raglan is a county in Queensland, Australia, located mostly within the Shire of Banana in Central Queensland. The county was first created in January 1854 by the office of the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales. On 7 March 1901, the Governor issued a proclamation legally dividing Queensland into counties under the Land Act 1897. Its schedule described Raglan thus:
Bounded on the south by the southern boundaries of Winterbourne, Callide and Prairie; on the west by the western boundaries of the parishes of Prairie, Spier, Earlsfield, Bundalba, Dundee, Gelobera and Calliungal; on the north by the county of Livingstone; and on the east by the counties of Livingstone, Deas Thompson, and Clinton.
The County of Flinders is a county in Queensland, Australia, located in the Central Queensland region between Gladstone and Bundaberg. The county is divided into civil parishes. It was named for Matthew Flinders who explored the Australian coastline.
The County of Deas Thompson is a county in Queensland, Australia. It is situated between the cities of Gladstone and Rockhampton. The county is divided into civil parishes. The county was named for Edward Deas Thomson, a New South Wales politician, but the name was misspelt Thompson when applied to the county.
Coondle is a small acre farming estate in the Shire of Toodyay in Western Australia. It started as an estate developed under the provisions of the Agricultural Lands Purchase Act (1896) near what was then known as Newcastle.