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With the recent inclusion of the community along the Birdsville Track (represented by the Marree Soil Conservation Board) and the opal mining settlement at Seven Waterholes (on Lambina Station, east of Marla), the Trust now formally recognises and assists 36 communities. These are situated in some 30 locations in all pastoral districts outside the Aboriginal lands and reserves.
The communities are situated at, or within, the following centres or districts:
These organisations determine community needs and priorities and, where human resources allow, maintain facilities and services and undertake important town management roles.
Generally the Trust recognises one principal organisation in each locality and requires that, to the extent possible, this organisation represents the interests of the local community as a whole. Other special interest groups are expected to direct their approaches to the Trust through the principal organisation.
However the Trust also recognises coexisting Aboriginal community groups in three towns – the Marree Arabanna Peoples' Committee (Marree); Dunjiba Community Council (Oodnadatta) and the Aroona Aboriginal Council (Copley).
All communities that the Trust assists are constituted under the Associations Incorporation Act, 1985. Among other things this legislation allows the community groups, which are usually progress associations, to receive, hold and disperse funds. Incorporation under this Act is a pre-requisite to Trust financial assistance.
Most, but not all, of the communities centre around a small town or settlement. Some like Ash (near Whyalla), Gawler Ranges, Birdsville Track and Eastern Districts represent a small, sparse and very widely scattered population.
The towns and settlements range in size from Andamooka (with a population of just over 600) down to Tarcoola and Kingoonya that now have skeleton populations only as a consequence of new management arrangements for the Indian-Pacific and Ghan Railway lines.
The towns and communities include Leigh Creek and Woomera which have both seen significant population reductions in the last five years as a result of rationalisation at the coal mining operation at Leigh Creek and the closure of the Nurrungar Joint Defence Facility and the departure of American Service personnel from Woomera. Leigh Creek now has a population of about 300 and Woomera about 300.
Continuity of membership and involvement has been a feature of the Trust's operations since inception – and this relates both to the Trust membership and the small group that supports its operations.
The senior serving member of the Trust is the Trust Chairman, Bill McIntosh, he has been a member for 18 years.
There continues to be a high level of empathy between the Trust and its client communities and a shared vision of equitable assistance and support for those communities and people who chose to reside in and manage this State's great arid heartland.
Economies and distance mean considerable operational reliance on the telephone, facsimile, electronic communications and surface mail. But the Trust stays in touch.
The Trust's Manager and the Community Development Officer aim to ensure that one of them is available to attend every second meeting of each community organisation recognised by the Trust. They only, however, attend by invitation.
The annual visit program attempts to ensure that the Chairman visits every community at least every two years. Other Trust members participate in the annual visit program on a regular basis aimed at ensuring that each member visits every community during the three years of his or her term.
Trust Meeting Arrangements - Fact Sheet
