Outback Communities Authority South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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![]() The extent of the Pastoral Unincorporated Area of South Australia (shown in white) | |||||||||||||||
Population | 3,524 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 0.0056444/km2 (0.0146188/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 2009 | ||||||||||||||
Area | 624,339.0 km2 (241,058.6 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Cecilia Woolford [2] | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Port Augusta Andamooka | ||||||||||||||
Region | Far North [3] Eyre and Western [4] | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Giles, Stuart, Flinders [5] [6] [7] | ||||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Grey [8] | ||||||||||||||
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The Outback Communities Authority (OCA) is a statutory authority in South Australia (SA) created under the Outback Communities (Administration and Management) Act 2009. [9] It has been established to "manage the provision of public services and facilities to outback communities" which are widely dispersed across the Pastoral Unincorporated Area which covers almost 60% of South Australia's land area. [10] The authority has its seat at both Port Augusta which is located outside the unincorporated area and at Andamooka. The authority serves an area of 624,339 square kilometres (241,059 square miles), [11] slightly smaller than France. The area has a population of 3,750, of whom 639 are Indigenous Australians (mostly if not all Aboriginal), and includes several large pastoral leases and mining operations. [12]
The authority's area of responsibility does not include Aboriginal Local Government Areas, the largest of which are Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in the northwest of SA and Maralinga Tjarutja in the west of SA.
Wangkangurru (also known as Arabana/Wangkangurru, Wangganguru, Wanggangurru, Wongkangurru) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Wangkangurru country. It is closely related to Arabana language of South Australia. The Wangkangurru language region was traditionally in the South Australian-Queensland border region taking in Birdsville and extending south towards Innamincka and Lake Eyre, including the local government areas of the Shire of Diamantina as well as the Outback Communities Authority of South Australia. [13]
Yawarrawarrka (also known as Yawarawarka, Yawarawarga, Yawarawarka, Jauraworka, Jawarawarka) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Far Western Queensland. The traditional language region includes the local government area of the Shire of Diamantina extending into the Outback Communities Authority of South Australia towards Innamincka. [14]
The Outback Communities (Administration and Management) Act 2009 established the Outback Communities Authority as the legal successor to the Outback Areas Community Development Trust [9] which had previously been established in 1978 under the Outback Areas Community Development Trust Act 1978. [15]
The authority consists of a board of seven members of which four must be residents of client communities. The board oversees a small team of support staff led by a general manager. As of 2012, support staff consisted of six persons employed full-time with one additional person employed part-time. [16]
As of 2014, the authority provided services to the following communities: Andamooka, Beltana, Blinman, Border Village, Cockburn, Coorabie, Copley, Fowlers Bay, Glendambo, Innamincka, Iron Knob, Kingoonya, Leigh Creek, Lyndhurst, Marla, Mannahill, Marree, Oodnadatta, Parachilna, Penong, Pimba, William Creek, Woomera and Yunta. [17]
Because of the size of the Pastoral Unincorporated Area of South Australia, the authority provides services in an area bounded by a large number of local government areas (LGAs), 29 in total, both in South Australia and in the adjoining jurisdictions of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. Its service area also completely surrounds the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs and the District Council of Coober Pedy. The following LGAs, which border the unincorporated area, total 27 with 17 being in South Australia:
Lake Eyre, officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the lowest natural point in Australia at approximately 15 m (49 ft) below sea level (AHD), and on the rare occasions that it fills completely, is the largest lake in Australia covering an area up to 9,500 km2 (3,668 sq mi). When the lake is full, it has the same salinity level as seawater, but becomes hypersaline as the lake dries up and the water evaporates.
The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Australian desert, with an area of 176,500 km2 (68,100 sq mi).
Andamooka is a town approximately 600 km north of Adelaide in the Far North of South Australia. Andamooka is the largest town administered by the Outback Communities Authority instead of a local government area. It is in the state electoral district of Giles and the federal Division of Grey.
The Lake Eyre basin is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia. It is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about 1,200,000 square kilometres (463,323 sq mi), including much of inland Queensland, large portions of South Australia and the Northern Territory, and a part of western New South Wales. The basin is also one of the largest, least-developed arid zone basins with a high degree of variability anywhere. It supports about 60,000 people and a large amount of wildlife, and has no major irrigation, diversions or flood-plain developments. Low density grazing is the major land use, occupying 82% of the total land within the basin.
The Finke River, or Larapinta (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its water usually disappears into the sands of the Simpson Desert, rarely if ever reaching Lake Eyre.
Flinders Ranges Council is a local government area (LGA) located in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.
The Far North is a large region of South Australia close to the Northern Territory border. Colloquial usage of the term in South Australia refers to that part of South Australia north of a line roughly from Ceduna through Port Augusta to Broken Hill. The South Australian Government defines the Far North region similarly with the exception of the Maralinga Tjarutja Lands. the Yalata Aboriginal community and other unincorporated crown lands in the state's far west, which are officially considered part of the Eyre and Western region.
Innamincka, formerly Hopetoun, is a town and locality in north-east South Australia, with a population of 44 people. It is 821 kilometres north-east of Adelaide and 365 kilometres north-east from the closest town, Lyndhurst. It is also 66 kilometres north-east of the Moomba Gas Refinery. The town lies within the Innamincka Regional Reserve and is surrounded by the Strzelecki Desert to the south and the Sturt Stony Desert to the north. The township is situated along the Cooper Creek, a part of the Lake Eyre Basin.
The Shire of Diamantina is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Bedourie.
Pimba is a small settlement lying on the transcontinental railway line in the Australian state of South Australia. It lies at the junction of the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs and the road to Woomera, Roxby Downs and Andamooka. It is 441 kilometres (274 mi) from Adelaide. There is an iconic roadhouse, named "Spud's Roadhouse", which sells fuel and general shop items and meals and has accommodation. At the 2016 census, Pimba had a population of 36.
Kingoonya, historically spelt Kingoonyah, is a small almost totally abandoned farming settlement in the central outback of the Australian state of South Australia. It was established in the early 1900s as a railway support town for the 200 or so sheep farming families on the train-line extending west across the Nullarbor Plain to Western Australia. It played a significant role in the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway.
Olary is a town and locality on the Barrier Highway in South Australia. It is situated near Olary Creek and is one of the easternmost settlements in South Australia. The name "Olary" was first given to a nearby well or waterhole by pastoralists Duffield, Harrold and Hurd.
Yandruwandha is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan family. Yawarawarga is considered a dialect by Dixon (2002), a closely related language by Bowern (2001). It is also known as Yawarrawarrka,Yawarawarka, Yawarawarga, Yawarawarka, Jauraworka, and Jawarawarka).
Western Queensland is split into three regions:
Macumba River, once known as Treuer River, is an ephemeral freshwater stream in the far north of South Australia, that is part of the Lake Eyre Basin.
Durrie Station most commonly referred to as Durrie is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland.
Morney Plains Station most commonly referred to as Morney Plains is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in south west Queensland.
The Yandruwandha, alternatively known as Jandruwanta, are an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the Lakes area of South Australia south of Cooper Creek and west of the Wangkumara people.
The Wangkangurru, also written Wongkanguru and Wangkanguru, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Simpson Desert area in the state of South Australia. They also refer to themselves as Nharla.
County of Taunton is a cadastral unit located in the Australian state of South Australia on land on the east coast of Lake Torrens about 160 kilometres (99 mi) from the city of Port Augusta. It was proclaimed in 1877 and named after Lord Taunton who was the Secretary for the Colonies from 1855 to 1858. It has been partially divided in the following sub-units of hundreds – Bunyeroo, Carr, Edeowie, Nilpena, Oratunga and Parachilna.
32°29′25″S137°45′46″E / 32.490245°S 137.762817°E Coordinates: 32°29′25″S137°45′46″E / 32.490245°S 137.762817°E