Traditional Owners

The original inhabitants of the Outback Communities Authority Region were various Aboriginal tribes.

Settlement history

European settlement of the Region dates from the 1840s, with land used mainly for sheep and cattle grazing and grain growing. Growth took place during the late 1800s as numerous small townships developed, spurred by the establishment of gold, copper and coal mining, the surveying of the Overland Telegraph, and the construction of railway lines. More significant mining occurred from the 1940s, with open cut brown coal mining at Leigh Creek from 1941 and talc mining at Mount Fitton from 1945. The township of Woomera was established in 1947 to accommodate workers on the Woomera Rocket Range. The Rocket Range had later uses as a test and development centre, a tracking station, and an immigration detention centre, and is currently owned by the RAAF. The population of the Region fluctuated from the 1990s, although the overall pattern was one of decline, impacted by changes in the usage of the Woomera Range Complex and restructuring and reduction in the mining industry.

Land use

The Outback Communities Authority Region is a rural and national park area, with small townships at Andamooka, Iron Knob, Leigh Creek and Woomera, and numerous smaller townships and settlements. Land is used largely for mining and agriculture, particularly sheep and cattle grazing and grain growing. Tourism is also an important industry. The Region encompasses a total land area of about 625,000 square kilometres.

Transport

The Outback Communities Authority Region is served by the Barrier Highway, the Eyre Highway and the Stuart Highway.

Major features

• Major features of the Region include numerous National Parks (Gawler Ranges,
• Ikara-Flinders Ranges,
• Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre,
• Lake Gairdner,
• Lake Torrens,
• Malkumba-Coongie Lakes,
• Nullarbor,
• Witjira and Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges),
• various Conservation Parks (Danggali,
• Elliot Price,
• Fowlers Bay,
• Lake Gilles,
• Pureba,
• Simpson Desert,
• Tallaringa,
• Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs,
• Wahgunyah,
• Warraweena and Yumbarra),
• several Regional Reserves (Chowilla,
• Innamincka,
• Lake Frome,
• Nullarbor,
• Simpson Desert,
• Strzelecki and Yellabinna),
• Boolcoomata Reserve,
• Gluepot Reserve,
• Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area,
• Bunkers Conservation Reserve,
• Chadinga Conservation Reserve,
• Point Bell Conservation Reserve,
• Aroona Sanctuary,
• Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary,
• Lake Blanche,
• Lake Callabonna,
• Lake Eyre,
• Lake Frome,
• Lake Gairdner,
• Lake Torrens,
• various waterholes and sandhills,
• Oodnadatta Railway Museum,
• Penong Woolshed Museum,
• Woomera Heritage Centre,
• Woomera Baker Observatory,
• Oodnadatta Health Service,
• Woomera Golf Club,
• The Woomera Range Complex (including RAAF Woomera Test Range and RAAF Base Woomera),
• The Oodnadatta Track and the Birdsville Track.

Included areas