Kiwirrkurra Community, Western Australia


Kiwirrkura, officially known as Kiwirrkurra,—is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland and 700 km west of Alice Springs. It had a population of 216 in 2011. It has been described as the most remote community in Australia.

Naming

Although the community name is gazetted as "Kiwirrkurra", the correct spelling is "Kiwirrkura" and this spelling is used in many printed materials and websites.

Location

Although situated in a desert, it is in a low-lying area without drainage, and thus prone to flooding.

History

It was established around a bore in the early 1980s as a Pintupi settlement, as part of the Outstation movement, and became a permanent community in 1983. It was one of the last areas with nomadic Aboriginal people until about that time
It was flooded in early 2000, and further flooding between 3 and 5 March 2001 forced the evacuation of its population of 170, first briefly to Kintore and then for four weeks to NORFORCE's base in Alice Springs and finally to Morapoi Station in the Goldfields of Western Australia, SSW of Kiwirrkurra. The stay in Alice Springs and Morapoi brought the community into contact with alcohol for the first time and led to violence and social disruption. By late 2002 the community had moved back to Kiwirrkurra.
On 19 October 2001 the Kiwirrkurra people gained native title over of the surrounding land and waters.
On 19 June 2009, a 26-year-old man from Kiwirrkura was the first Australian to die of the 2009 flu pandemic; he was initially treated in Alice Springs hospital but he died in Royal Adelaide Hospital.
In the past decade, a Perth Catholic boys' school, CBC Fremantle, has established an immersion partnership program with the local Kiwirrkura community to both further Indigenous relations, improve local facilities and further the students' social and pastoral developments. Students and teachers organise trips about once a year.

Indigenous Protected Area

The Kiwirrkura community worked to establish the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area, which was formally launched in September 2014.