Lombadina, Western Australia


Lombadina is an Aboriginal community on the north-west coast of Western Australia, situated on Cape Leveque, north of Broome in the Kimberley region. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word. The community is largely made up of Bardi people.
Lombadina is part of a single urban area that incorporates Djarindjin and Lombadina. At the 2016 Census, the single urban area had a population of 397, including 312 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In 191011, a Catholic mission was established at Lombadina with the help of Thomas Puertollano, a Filipino from Manila. In 1916, to prevent the mission being taken over by the Western Australian government because it was illegal for an "Asiatic" to employ Aboriginal people, the land was bought by the brother of the controversial Irish Redemptorist priest, John Creagh. Creagh was the rector of the Redemptorist monastery in North Perth.

Native title

The community is located within the determined Bardi Jawi native title claim area.

Education

Children of school age at Lombadina attend the Lombadina-Djarindjin Catholic Primary School. The school runs classes for students from pre-school to Year 10. The total number of students is approximately 90.

Governance

The community is managed through its incorporated body, the Lombadina Aboriginal Corporation, incorporated on 16 July 1987 under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976.

Town planning

Lombadina Layout Plan No.3 was prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 Aboriginal Settlements. It was endorsed by the Western Australian Planning Commission in 2001 but was not endorsed by the community, and exists in draft format only.

General references

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