No Wonderland: Alice’s Shameful Australian Aboriginal Camps

Alice Springs, located in the heart of Australia's Red Center, has been home to the Arrernte Aboriginal people for over 30,000 years. Sadly, this remote land now bears deep scars, both old and new. The most recent tragedy was the April murder of a five-year-old girl named Kumanjayi Little Baby. The girl disappeared from the Aboriginal Old Timers Camp, one of the 18 camps surrounding Alice Springs, and was found dead after her disappearance. The alleged killer, Jefferson Lewis, was also staying at the camp.

These camps, known as "Alice Springs Community Living Areas," have long been plagued by dire living conditions. The Sydney Morning Herald aptly described them as "gathering places for the powerless and the outcast, where the most vulnerable are easy prey, and protections are minimal." The family of Kumanjayi Little Baby, who were staying at the camp after traveling from their remote community in the Tanami Desert for medical care, have raised concerns about the safety of these environments.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Kumanjayi Little Baby's aunt, echoed these sentiments, stating that many camps have become unsafe for children and that there has been a reluctance to speak plainly about these conditions. The living conditions in the camps are deeply troubling. There is a chronic shortage of housing, leading to overcrowding, particularly during major events like the football carnival and the Alice Springs Show.

Furthermore, infrastructure repairs are often delayed, and the governance of the camps is fragmented, with unclear lines of responsibility and opaque funding distribution.

These conditions are not unique to Alice Springs; similar struggles plague Aboriginal communities all across Australia. They face poverty, health inequities, high incarceration rates, inadequate housing, and violence. In this "Lucky Country," Aboriginal people remain the unlucky first inhabitants. For many locals and advocates, the time has come to return the management of these town camps to the community, as it would provide clearer accountability and more responsive services.