RECONCILIATION 

Acknowledgement

The Shire of Carnarvon acknowledges and respects the Yinggarda (Carnarvon) and Baiyungu (Coral Bay) people as the Traditional Custodians of the Lands where we live and work, as well as all Native Title claims within our Local Government Area. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. The Shire of Carnarvon is committed to honouring the Traditional Custodians’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the Land, waters and their rich contribution to the region and society.

Aboriginal sites in Carnarvon are of immense cultural, scientific, educational and historic interest and provide Aboriginal people with an important link to their present and past culture. 

Read more on: Heritage » Shire of Carnarvon

INNOVATE RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN 2025-2027

The Shire of Carnarvon is committed to our journey to reconciliation by focusing on learning, promoting and celebrating the world’s oldest continuing cultures, and by building our cultural competency. Our vision is to build an inclusive, unified community where the cultures, histories, and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are acknowledged, celebrated, and woven into the fabric of our shared future.

In collaboration with Yinggarda Aboriginal Corporation and Nganhurra Thanardi Garrbu Aboriginal Corporation along with community representatives, on our second Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), the Innovate RAP 2025-2027.

View Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2025-2027

This follows the successful completion of the Reflect RAP 2022-2023

Aboriginal Culture 

First nations culture is part of what makes Shire of Carnarvon incredibly special. There is strong connection country in Carnarvon, and the influence of culture enriches our community. Shire of Carnarvon is committed to supporting ongoing reconciliation and helping our Aboriginal community celebrate and share their culture.

Carnarvon's traditional owners are the Aboriginal Yinggarda people, who named this area long ago, Gwoonwardu, meaning 'neck of water'. Carnarvon is home to Gwoonwardu Mia Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre, which is a multipurpose centre that celebrates the culture and country of the five Aboriginal language groups of the Gascoyne Region. Based in Carnarvon, the centre has worked with people from each of the local language groups to celebrate and share their stories and culture.

The Carnarvon Shire is an area of great social, cultural and spiritual importance to the Thalanji, Yinggarda, Baiyungu, Thudgari, Malgana and Wadjarri peoples. 2021 ABS Census data recorded 857 first nations community members of the population of 5251, making up 16% of the population. This data evidences that culture is strong in Carnarvon, compared to state average of 3%.

There is one town-based Aboriginal Community located in Carnarvon which is Mungallah Village governed by Mungallah Community Aboriginal Corportation. Located in East Carnarvon, current residents comprise Aboriginal people from many communities and language groups from the Gascoyne and beyond. This Aboriginal community are working collaboratively on important social and community initiatives being driven by members of this community in partnership with local non-government organisations and the Shire of Carnarvon.

Gnulli Claim

In 1996, five local language groups including Bayungu, Yinggarda, Thalanji, Thudgarri and Malgana people came together to lodge the first Native Title Claim over the whole of the Gascoyne region of WA. The Gnulli (meaning “all of us”) claim was lodged and sought the right to negotiate over this area. A land use agreement between the State of WA, the Shire of Carnarvon and Gnulli was signed in November 1997 for the purpose of subdivisional development for housing, commercial, tourism and community purposes under the name Carnarvon Fascine.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations

Shire of Carnarvon has several Indigenous Corporations, including but not limited to:

• Gascoyne Community Services Aboriginal Corporation
• Friends of Bibbawarra Bore Aboriginal Corporation
• Gulungoor Yammatji Aboriginal Corporation
• Yamatji Media Aboriginal Corporation
• Baiyungu Aboriginal Corporation
• Pelican Resources Aboriginal Corporation
• Gascoyne Sports Aboriginal Corporation
• Carnarvon Medical Service Aboriginal Corporation
• Carnarvon Community Mens Group Aboriginal Corporation
• Mundatharrda (Kennedy Range) Aboriginal Corporation
• Gascoyne Aboriginal Women's Council & Aboriginal Corporation
• Woggadong Aboriginal Corporation
• Carnarvon Trustees Aboriginal Corporation
• Mungullah Community Aboriginal Corporation
• Gulungoor Yammatji Aboriginal Corporation
• Jindi Jindi Grandmothers Aboriginal Corporation

Bernier and Dorre Islands Lock Hospital Tragedy

The Lock Hospitals off the coast of Carnarvon on Bernier and Dorre Islands were the site of brutal colonial trauma inflicted on the Aboriginal population across the state. 

The Lock Hospitals operated on Bernier and Dorre Islands via Carnarvon between 1908 and 1919. Several hundred Aboriginal people across Western Australia were forcibly removed from their families and country to the lock hospitals. Many family members who were separated during the lock hospital scheme never saw each other again. It is conservatively estimated that more than 200 people died on the islands. The prisoner patients were said to have the non-specific diagnosis of “venereal disease”, although there are many questions about the reliability of this diagnosis.

Non-Indigenous people with venereal diseases were not subject to such measures. These lock hospitals were part of a wider history of racially-based medical incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia that took place in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland for almost a century from the late 1800s.