About Us
Paupiyala Tjarutja Aboriginal Corporation (PTAC) manages the Tjuntjuntjara community on behalf of the Spinifex people and provides a range of local programs and services.
Tjuntjuntjara is located in the southeast of Western Australia, in the Great Victoria Desert (just inside the Great Victoria Desert Nature Reserve). It is about 690 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie. The nearest place with more people is the town of Laverton, 460 km away. Tjuntjuntjara is connected to Irrunytju in the north by a dirt track. Access to the community is regulated by entry permits.
For information on applying for an entry permit to access the Spinifex Native Title area please contact Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation via their website.
There are about 200 people living at Tjuntjuntjara today. Anangu [the people] speak the Pitjantjatjara language and identify as pilanguṟu (meaning "from the sand hills or pila"). They were removed from their homelands in the 1950s and 1960s due to nuclear weapons testing at Woomera Test Range and Maralinga. Most of the people now living at Tjuntjuntjara were previously living at Cundeelee, then a Christian mission, to the south west. Tjuntjuntjara residents are closely related to Oak Valley and Yalata, two remote communities over the border in South Australia.
You can find details of PTAC's rules and governance online at the Office of Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC).