Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia

Kiwirrkurra is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, 1,200 km east of Port Hedland and 850 km west of Alice Springs. It had a population of 216 in 2011. It has been described as the most remote community in Australia.

It was established around a bore in the early 1980s as a Pintupi outstation and became a permanent community in 1983. It was one of the last areas with nomadic Aboriginals until about that time.

Although situated in a desert, it is in a low-lying area without drainage. 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, 2,000 km 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. Despite their displacement, on 19 October 2001 the Kiwirrkurra people gained native title over 42,900 sq km of the surrounding land and waters.

On 19 June 2009 a 26-year-old man from Kiwirrkurra 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.

Although the community name is gazetted as kiwirrkurra, the correct spelling (according to the standard Pintupi orthography) is kiwirrkura and this spelling is used in many printed materials and websites.

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