| Halls Creek Western Australia |
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Halls Creek
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| Population: | 1,211 (2006)[1] | ||||||
| Established: | 1887/1949 | ||||||
| Postcode: | 6770 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 422 m (1,385 ft) | ||||||
| Location: | |||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Halls Creek | ||||||
| State District: | Kimberley | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Durack | ||||||
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Halls Creek is a small town situated in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located between the towns of Fitzroy Crossing and Turkey Creek (Warnum) on the Great Northern Highway. It is the only sizeable town for 600 km on the Highway.
The town functions as a support centre for remote cattle stations in the area and is also a major welfare hub for the local indigenous population.
Halls Creek is the administration centre for Halls Creek Shire Council.
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For tourists, there are several nearby attractions such as:
Halls Creek moved 12 km west from its original location in 1949 because the new Great Northern Highway did not follow the route of the old Duncan Road. The town would have ended had it not moved to its current location. Halls Creek was initially a gold mining town, named after prospector Charles Hall. In 1885, he and others in his prospecting party found the alluvial gold that led to the Kimberley gold rush, the first gold rush in Western Australia. [2]
Today, some gold mining is still carried out by local prospectors; however, large-scale mining has ceased with the closure of the White Elvire River Mine.
It is home to the indigenous Jaru (Djar-u) and Kija (gKid-ja) peoples as well as some Tjurabalan peoples from the desert to the south of the town. They represent over 60% of the town's population.
In 2006, The West Australian newspaper ran a series of articles highlighting the living conditions and health of the Halls Creek indigenous population. However, Halls Creek is by no means unusual in this regard, with many other towns and communities in the Pilbara, Kimberley, and other parts of the state facing the same issues. It is estimated that 90 percent of pregnant women in the town are alcoholic, with nearly a third of babies suffering Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.[3]
In May 2009 the state Director of Liquor Licensing imposed a "prohibition on the sale of packaged liquor with an alcohol content greater than 2.7 per cent from licensed premises" in the town.[4] In September 2009 it was reported that assaults and drink driving arrests had decreased dramatically as a result of the bans.[5]