Old Station Pastoral Lease

Old Station is a pastoral lease owned by Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation and a key component of the Wiluna Martu Ranger Program. Initially run as an outstation of nearby Albion Downs, the lease was taken over by an individual in 1988 who ran low numbers of sheep and set up a community for Wiluna Martu. From then it became a temporary home for different family groups. These families tended to the culture of Old Station, and managed its lands using traditional practices from seed collection and cooking to hunting and right-way burning. Places and stories were rediscovered and linked to other places and stories from across the desert. Old Station covers 135,000 hectares of previously-stocked land containing a number of significant cultural sites, roughly 70 kilometers south-west of Wiluna.

The Wiluna Martu Rangers have been operating at Old Station since 2023, working to return the land to its pre-pastoral state and to use it as a space for the enrichment of cultural practices and the passing down of knowledge through the generations. Ululla is a particularly empowering space for Wiluna Martu women, with connection to important ladies’ tjukurrpa (dreaming) knowledge. Work is underway to create a People and Country Plan for Old Station, which will guide the Ranger Program in its activities.

One of the key principles underscoring the management of Old Station is karnila, which means ‘holding’, ‘looking after’ or ‘nurturing’. According to the Traditional Owners, Martu (people), ngurra (country) and tjukurrpa (law/culture) exist as indivisible realms of existence. Because of this, people have a responsibility to hold, look after or nurture Country and the underlying creative force and system (the law) that underwrites it. The Wiluna community are proud to be back in control of this responsibility for Old Station, and are excited for what they can achieve in the future.