Cape York covers approximately 150,000 square kilometres of Far North Queensland. The area stretches from the Daintree River in the south to the very northern tip of mainland Australia , and from the Coral Sea in the east to the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea in the West. Stretching nearly 650 kilometres from north to south, this huge area contains a multitude of landscape types. This ranges from lush tropical rainforests of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in the south-east, to the wetlands of the Gulf coast, endless grasslands and dry, open, eucalypt-dotted country.
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The region is vast and diverse with three Local Government Shires; Carpentaria, Torres and Cook Shire. Around the coastal fringes of the Cape are ten Aboriginal Community Councils administering lands held in trust under Deeds of Grants of Land in Trust (DOGIT). Most Indigenous people live in areas under the jurisdiction of Aboriginal Community Councils. There are also three community corporations servicing Cape York Aboriginal people in the townships of Cooktown, Laura and Coen. Further north are two island councils, Seisia and Bamaga servicing the mainly Islander descendants.
The Aboriginal Communities are Wujal Wujal , Mossman Gorge, Gungarde , Hope Vale , Ang-Gnarra, Lockhart River , New Mapoon, Aurukun , Kaurareg , Injinoo , Umagico, Old Mapoon , Pormpuraaw, Napranum and Kowanyama . These communities comprise a diverse group of people with many distinct cultures and languages.
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Cape York is home to approximately 15,000 people, most of whom are Indigenous Australians. The population is generally spread over seventeen separate communities, most of which are sited on or close to the coastal fringes of the peninsula.
It is a region experiencing social and economic crisis belying its location within a developed nation. The most telling indicator of the extent of this crisis is that life expectancy for Cape York Indigenous people is around 50 years – more than 20 years below the Australian average . What is more, it is believed that life expectancy is falling. Underlying this crisis is welfare dependency, substance abuse and the breakdown of social order
Despite the problems currently facing its Aboriginal people, Cape York is a vast area rich with Indigenous history. Indigenous connection to the land stretches back millions of years. The Cape York Regional organisations are striving to ensure that young people growing up in the Cape today can build on a strong Aboriginal culture where there is pride of place and a celebration of the past and the future.
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Where is Cape York?
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