Amata, South Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Amata
state = sa


caption =
lga = Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
postcode = 5710
est = 1961
pop = 319 "2006 Census" Census 2006 AUS
id=UCL400600
name=Amata (Urban Centre/Locality)
accessdate=2007-10-25
quick=on]
elevation= 690
maxtemp = 37.1
mintemp = 5.0
rainfall = 222.6
stategov = Giles
fedgov = Grey
dist1 = 1407
dir1 = North West
location1= Adelaide via

Amata is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Ernabella/ Pukatja, Fregon/ Kaltjiti, Indulkana, Mimili and Pipalyatjara).

Geography

Amata (coord|26.150661|S|131.143112|E|region:AU-SA_type:city(500)) is situated to the west of the Ernabella/Pukatja community. Amata sits approximately 250 kilometres west of the Stuart Highway and 40 kilometres south of the Northern Territory/South Australia border at the base of the Musgrave Ranges.

Climate

Based upon the climate records of the nearest weather station at Marla Police Station, Amata experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of 37.1 degrees celsius in January and a winter maximum average temperature of 19.7 degrees celsius in June. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of 21.8 degrees in January to 5.0 degrees in June.

Annual rainfall averages 222.6 millimetres. [Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology data [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_016085.shtml] ]

Population

Amata's population is approximately 319 [http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?locationLastSearchTerm=amata&locationSearchTerm=amata&newarea=UCL400600&submitbutton=View+QuickStats+%3E&mapdisplay=on&collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=UCL400600&geography=&method=Place+of+Usual+Residence&productlabel=&producttype=QuickStats&topic=&navmapdisplayed=true&javascript=true&breadcrumb=PL&topholder=0&leftholder=0&currentaction=104&action=401&textversion=false&subaction=1 Population 2006 Census] Australian Bureau of Statistics] people. It is situated outside of the traditional territory of the Anangu people, some of whom nonetheless live there.

Australian Bureau of Statistics research indicated in 2003 that the 2001 census data showed that Amata had one of the State's highest proportions of Aboriginal residents (89%) and, in all of South Australia, Amata at that time had one of the highest ratios of women : men in the State, 54.6% (the highest being Springton, with 57.2%). Amata, like most APY communities, has one of the State's highest proportion of Australian-born residents (97%), the highest proportion of single parent families (27.3%) but the lowest ratio of home computer use (5.5%). [ABS, Census of Population and Housing: Selected Characteristics for Urban Centres and Localities, South Australia, 2001, [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/productsbytopic/563CE29E965278DDCA256CF4007EA8D1?OpenDocument] ] .

Amata appears to have a growing population, against the trend for Aboriginal communities. From 180 residents in 1981, it has grown steadily past 350 in the 1990s ( [John Summers, School of Political and International Studies Flinders University, Refereed paper presented to the Australasian Political Studies Association Conference University of Adelaide, 29 September—1 October 2004 [www.sapo.org.au/binary1001/The.pdf] ] ) to 536 in 1996. [Anangu population dynamics and future growth in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, [http://dspace.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41430/1/2001_DP211.pdf] ] .

History

Amata was established under the name of "Musgrave Park" in 1961 by the South Australian State Government. The community was established to take the pressure off the increasing growth of Pukatja (formerly Ernabella). The aim was to use it to educate the Aboriginal people in how to work in the cattle industry. A school was opened 7 years later, in 1968.

Facilities

Amata relies on a weekly truck for supplies and twice weekly air service for mail. It comprises approximately 60 houses, council buildings, the school, general store, a police station (not 24-hour) and health clinic. The water supply is single reticulation: water from bores is held in ground level tanks and pumped on demand to elevated tanks for gravity flow. [Water Trials report, Bureau of Rural Sciences Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry [http://www.hydrosmart.com.au/pages/amata_trials.html] ]

The school was upgraded in between 2003-2005 and there has been a commitment in 2007 by State and Federal Governments to improve the associated swimming pool facility. The swimming pool was opened on 24 June 2007 by the South Australian Premier Mike Rann.

Amata has facilities for a college of Technical and Further Education (commonly referred to as "TAFE" in South Australia). Amata is a community that has been tainted by the scourge of substance abuse, which has led to the South Australian Government proposing the establishment of a rehabilitation centre at Amata.

Amata also has a community centre and community church (the latter run by the Uniting Church in Australia [Uniting Church in Australia list of congregations [http://ns.uca.org.au/congregations/congregations.html] ] ).

Amata does not have a permanent police presence, though it has a police station. South Australian police are based at Marla and run patrols in the area. An independent review by Tony Abbott MHR announced in May 2007 that Amata merited a permanent police presence with approximately 2 officers a worthy representation. [Tony Abbott MHR, "AN INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF POLICING IN REMOTE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES" [http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/news/Article.aspx?ID=2209] ] Some night patrols by residents have in the past been conducted to augment policing of the community. In the absence of police, the community is served by 2 community constables [SA Police Association [http://journal.pasa.asn.au/apps/uploadedFiles/news/293/APY_lands.pdf] ] . The Amata police station is considered by the Police Association of South Australia to be a "disgrace", "dirty, ill-equipped sheds". Government funding for new stations has apparently been directed to upgrade of the Amata station first. ["Police Stations like ill-equipped sheds", Adelaide Advertiser, 7 July 2007 [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22030204-2682,00.html] ] with confirmation on August 3, 2007 that the SA State Government would spend $7.5 million AUD at Amata and Pukatja for new police stations, court facilities and cells along with associated police housing and facilities [ [http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/news.php?id=1971 "$34 million package for the APY Lands" 'Minister Weatherill Media Release, 3 August 2007'] 'Retrieved on August 8, 2007'] .

Amata has the only sealed airstrip in the APY Lands.

A permit from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara is required to access Amata, is the land is owned freehold by the resident Aboriginal people.

For State elections (ie to elect the Parliament of South Australia), a mobile polling booth is taken to Amata.

Arts

The sale of local artwork plays a large role in the success of the Amata community. Tjala Arts, founded in 1999, exhibited the works of 7 Amata artists in Canberra in 2006 [Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Review - Art of Amata women | newspaper = The Canberra Times | pages
year = 2006 | date = 2006-08-23 | url = ] . In the 2007 State Budget, the South Australian Government announced $350,000 for a new arts centre in Amata [cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = '07 STATE BUDGET ABORIGINAL ARTS | work = | pages = 83 | language = | publisher = The Advertiser | date = 2007-06-08 | url = | accessdate = ] .

Footnotes

Further external links

*cite web
last =
first =
year =
url = http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=amata,+south+australia&ie=UTF8&ll=-26.150661,131.143112&spn=0.036827,0.05785&t=k&z=14&om=1
title = Google Maps reference to Amata community
format = HTML
work =
accessdate = 2007-07-05
*cite web
last =
first =
year = 2007
url = http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21961430-601,00.html
title = As leaders spar, Red Centre ready to save children
format = HTML
work = The Australian
accessdate = 2007-07-05
*cite web
last =
first =
year = 2007
url = http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21960475-662,00.html
title = Return kids' stolen future
format = HTML
work = Melbourne Herald-Sun
accessdate = 2007-07-05