Lajamanu: Everything we know about remote NT community

It’s the latest remote NT community to be faced with lockout settings. But where in the world is it and what do we know about Lajamanu?

ANOTHER remote NT community has been forced into lockdown after positive Covid results were found in their wastewater.

Lajamanu was sent into lockdown on November 27 and moved to lockout settings on December 1.

As of December 1 there have been no positive cases.

Katherine West Health Board chief executive Sinon Cooney said morale in community was positive.

“The general feel on the ground is pretty good,” he said.

“There’s definitely challenges when you lock a whole community down with very little notice.”

But Mr Cooney said the challenges have been dealt with in a quick and positive manner.

”The feedback we have is once people get the information then they’ve been really good receptive, and very responsible and by and large incredibly supportive of the teams down there,” he said.

There is also a sense of relief at the lockdown settings being moved to lockout, but with a largely unvaxxed population there would still be challenges.

“I think everyone’s very relieved but still alert — the feeling is cautiously optimistic.

“A lockout provides less freedoms in a community that has lower vax rates,” he said.

So the efforts are now turning to getting the rest of the community vaccinated.

“We have had to work hard and are having lots of quiet and gentle conversations,” he said.

“There are still significant pockets of the community where there is hesitancy.”

So what do we know about the town and its population?

WHERE IS LAJAMANU?

The community is 560kms, or a 6 hour drive, south west of Katherine and approximately 870kms south of Darwin.

It sits on the northern edge of the Tanami Desert and the eastern side of Hooker Creek,

It can be accessed via the sealed Buntine Highway and then 100kms of unsealed road.

WHO LIVES IN LAJAMANU?

Data from the 2016 Census stated there were 606 people in the area, with the median age being 22.

48.2 per cent of the population was male and 51.8 per cent were female.

Lajamanu has an 89.3 per cent Indigenous population.

The community has a school, library, aged care facility, service station, local store and police station.

Lajamanu is a dry community.

WHAT IS THE VACCINATION RATE OF LAJAMANU?

The latest data shows that the vaccination rate for both first and second dose is below 70 per cent.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF LAJAMANU?

Lajamanu is governed by the Central Desert Regional Council.

The main heritage language is Warlpiri, although much of the official business and education is delivered in English.

There are strong ties to art in the community with Warlpiri people using wooden artefacts, the body, the ground and rocks to create art.

The town made headlines again in February 2010 when it was reported hundreds of live fish started falling from the sky. The same phenomenon happened in 2004 and 1974.

Originally published as Lajamanu: Everything we know about remote NT community