The Shire of Aurukun is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The shire covers part of western Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.
It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government area since 1978.
In the , the Shire of Aurukun had a population of 1,101 people.
The territory of the Shire of Aurukun was previously an Aboriginal reserve administered under the Queensland Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 by the Presbyterian Church. The Aurukun Mission was established in 1904 and Aboriginal people from all over Cape York were relocated there.
In 1978, the land was taken over by the Queensland Government, who enacted the Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978, proclaimed the Shire of Aurukun and granted to it Aboriginal Land Lease No. 1. An elected council lasted just one month and an administrator was appointed. The State's media at the time generally was of the opinion that bauxite revenues were a major factor in the Government's decision making on the issue.
In the 1990s, an elected council once again took charge.
Towns and localities
The Shire of Aurukun includes the following settlement:
- Aurukun
Language
Aurukun is known as part of the Wik Nation. in partnership with the State Library of Queensland. This was the sixth IKC to open, on 22 November 2002. The council has operated the IKC for 20 years, with periods of closure for various reasons. The IKC currently offers library services, as well as a location for the Aurukun Flexi Learning Centre which focuses on culturally based learning, including Wik language classes.
Demographics
The population of the Shire of Aurukun, along with the Shires of Cook, Torres and Mornington, have been singled out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), who conduct the Australian census every five years, as particularly difficult to measure accurately. Reasons for this include cultural and language barriers, transport and geographical spread of the population, who are mostly located in isolated communities. As such, all figures are likely to be lower than the actual population on the census date.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Population
|-
| 1981 || 791
|-
| 1986 || 937
|-
| 1991 || 784
|-
| 1996 || 781
|-
| 2001 || 1,032
|-
| 2006 || 1,043
|-
|2016 ||1,269
|-
|2021 ||1,101
|}
In the , the Shire of Aurukun had a population of 1,269 people.
In the , the Shire of Aurukun had a population of 1,101 people.
Chairs and mayors
{| class="wikitable"
!Start of term
!End of term
!Chairman/Mayor
!Notes
|-
|2008
|2012
|Neville James Pootchemunka
|
|-
|2012
|2020
|Dereck Walpo
|Elected on 16 June 2012 in a postponed election due to the death of one of the original candidates. Re-elected unopposed in 2016.
|-
|2020
|present
|Kerrie Pauline Tamwoy
|
|}