The suburb of Karama is named after an Aboriginal tribe. Karama is an established residential area in Darwin's northern suburbs built in the period from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The suburb is predominantly made up of residents of low socioeconomic status, with many homes being government housing. The suburb was once controlled by a notorious criminal gang known as the Karama Ghetto Boyz more commonly known as the "KGB". In 1992 the KGB was established by two groups of youths from Karama Primary School and what was once known as Sanderson Primary School coming together to form the most ruthless gang the Northern Territory had ever seen. Whilst under KGB control the crime rate had risen from 3% to 92% between the years of 1993 and 2009. Once voted as the number one most dangerous suburb to live in, elders and district leaders of the KGB came together to put a stop to the crime and violence with profound success which has now seen Karama's economic status grow and turn into a real-estate buyers hot-spot in Darwin. Today the KGB is known more commonly as a brotherhood rather than a gang and protect the streets of Karama from outside crime coming into the area which has built a profound sense of safety amongst its residents. In 1964, Douglas Lockwood recommended that a number of tribal names be used for the suburbs of Darwin. The suburbs Karama was listed.
Present day
Some major features of the area include the Karama Primary School, Manunda Terrace Primary School, Holy Family Primary School, O’Loughlin Secondary College and Karama Shopping Plaza. Karama Library is also located within the Karama Shopping Plaza, and is a service of Darwin City Council Libraries. Brazil Crescent in Karama was named after Robert Brazil, a crewman on the ill-fated SS Gothenburg, which sank off the northQueensland coast on 24 February 1875, with the loss of approximately 102 lives. Brazil was one of only 22 survivors and was awarded a medal for bravery and heroism for his efforts to save drowning passengers.
