Palm Island, Queensland

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This article is about the community. For the island on which the community is located, see Great
Palm Island.

Palm Island

Queensland

Great Palm Island highlighted.PNG

Palm Island, North Queensland

Palm Island is located in Queensland Palm IslandPalm Island

Coordinates 1844S 14635ECoordinates: 1844S 14635E

Population 1,984 (2006 census)[1]

Postcode(s) 4816

Time zone UTC+10 (UTC)

Location

57 km (35 mi) N of Townsville

46 km (29 mi) E of Ingham

224 km (139 mi) S of Cairns[2]

LGA(s) Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council

State electorate(s) Townsville

Federal Division(s) Herbert

Palm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the
Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland,
Australia[3] The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission",
Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community.[4]

Palm Island is often termed a classic "tropical paradise" given its natural endowments, but it has
had a troubled history since the European settlement of Australia.[5] For much of the twentieth
century it was used by the Queensland Government as a settlement for Aboriginals considered
guilty of such infractions as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with
"mixed blood".[6]

The community created by this history has been beset by many problems and has often been the
discussion point of political and social commentators. Of significant sociological concern is a lack
of jobs and housing.[4] Since its creation as an Aboriginal reserve, Palm Island has been
considered synonymous with Indigenous disadvantage and violence.[7] At the same time it has
been at the forefront of political activism which has sought to improve the conditions and
treatment of Australia's Indigenous peoples as well as redress injustices visited on them broadly
as a race and on Palm Island specifically.[5]

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