Facilities
PY Media website "waru.urg" states:
The local store is provided with fresh produce by road train once a week, a local workshop provides limited services, but only diesel and avgas fuels are available. Persons with petrol driven vehicles are advised to check with their mechanic regarding the use of Avgas in their vehicle.
There is a weekly mail delivery by air from Alice Springs on friday; general freight is delivered weekly by road train. [4]
Since the introduction of non-sniffable fuel throughout central Australia, Watarru has stocks of suitable unleaded fuel for cars. Avgas is no longer available.
Watarru has a community office for administration purposes, which also provides an Internet service and a place for co-ordinating the local arts project.
Management of the land provides employment opportunities for the Watarru community, managing and monitoring native fauna populations whilst also rounding up, shooting or culling pest species such as camels, foxes and feral cats. [5]
The Watarru Anangu school was opened in 1986 and has approximately 25 students. [6]
Watarru no longer has an operational medical clinic and does not have a permanent police presence. South Australian police are based at Marla and run patrols in the area. The community has no Indigenous community constables.
Electricity is provided to the community using a combination of solar power and a wind turbine, with the energy stored in batteries. [7] Power is also generated by two diesel generators.
As with most APY settlements, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Special Broadcasting Service television are available. Watarru also receives the Seven Network affiliated station Golden West Network from Western Australia, as well as Imparja television. Subscription television service Austar is also available to residents.
Residents can vote in elections for the Parliament of South Australia at a booth that visits Pipalyatjara.
A permit is required for a member of the public to visit any community on the APY lands, as they are freehold lands owned by the Aboriginal people. Entry to any APY community without a permit is an offence, and harsh penalties apply.
The Pitjantjatjara are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible.
Mutitjulu is an Aboriginal Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the eastern end of Uluṟu. It is named after a knee-shaped water-filled rock hole at the base of Uluṟu, and is located in the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Its people are traditional owners and joint managers of the park with Parks Australia. At the 2011 census, Mutitjulu had a population of 296, of which 218 (71.2%) were Aboriginal.
Aṉangu is the name used by members of several Aboriginal Australian groups, roughly approximate to the Western Desert cultural bloc, to describe themselves. The term, which embraces several distinct "tribes" or peoples, in particular the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara groups, is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable:.
Kalka is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia administered under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981.
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or the Lands, is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the Aṉangu (people) of the Western Desert cultural bloc, in particular Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, inhabit the Lands.
Amata is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Mimili is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Mimili had a population of 243.
Pipalyatjara is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". Other smaller communities include Nyapari, Kanpi, Kalka, Yunyarinyi. At the 2016 census, Pipalyatjara had a population of 189. The residents are mainly Anangu who speak Pitjantjatjara as their first language.The closest community is Kalka to the West.
Umuwa is an Aboriginal community in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, serving as an administrative centre for the six main communities on "The Lands", as well as the outlying communities.
Pukatja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Kaltjiti is an Aboriginal community in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Indulkana is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Indulkana had a population of 256.
Kaltukatjara, also known as Docker River, is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is southwest of Alice Springs, west of the Stuart Highway, near the Western Australia and Northern Territory border. The township is on a wadi called the Docker Creek on the north side of the west end of the Petermann Ranges in the southwest corner of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Mintabie is an opal mining community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It was unique in comparison to other communities situated in the APY Lands, in that its residents were largely not of Aboriginal Australian origin, and the land had been leased to the Government of South Australia for opal mining purposes since the 1980s.
The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 grants certain land and other rights to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It began its life as the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act and commenced operation on 2 October 1981. Its long name title is "An Act to provide for the vesting of title to certain lands in the people known as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara; and for other purposes". The Act has since had several amendments, the latest in 2017.
Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians who occupied their particular region before the arrival of European settlers. They have historically advocated for recognition of traditional land rights, and also for the rights of Indigenous people in other areas such as equal wages and adequate housing. Land councils are self-supporting, and not funded by state or federal taxes.
Yunyarinyi is an Aboriginal homeland on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of the border with the Northern Territory, 320 km (200 mi) south of Alice Springs.
Kaṉpi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby town of Nyapari is 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east.
Nyapaṟi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby community of Kanpi is 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west.
Betty Muffler is an Aboriginal Australian artist and ngangkari (healer). She is a senior artist at Iwantja Arts, in Indulkana in Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, South Australia, known for a series of works on large linen canvases called Ngangkari Ngura .
