The Torres Strait Regional Authority is an

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Governmen ...

body established in 1994 to administer the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total la ...

. It consists of 20 elected representatives. The primary function of the authority is to strengthen the economic, social and cultural development of the peoples of the Torres Strait area.

The islands

The Torres Strait Islands lie to the north of

Tropical Queensland Tropical Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland, Australia that lies north of latitude 23.5 degrees South in the tropical latitude. It contains the Tropical North Queensland including the Far North Queensland, North Queensland and th ...

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

and comprise 274 small islands, of which 17 are inhabited, located in

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

which separates Australia and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Each island community elects a member to the Torres Strait Regional Authority.

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

(Waiben) and Horn Island (Nurupai) are the most well-known of the Torres Strait Islands. Activities on the islands are quite traditional, with fishing being the major economic activity. To travel to the remote islands (other than Thursday and Horn Islands) permission is required from the Torres Strait Island Regional Council. The five major island groups of the Torres Strait include: * Northern Division (Boigu, Dauan, Saibai) * Eastern Islands (Darnley, Murray, Stephen) * Western Division (St. Pauls, Kubin, Badu, Mabuiag) * Central Division (Yorke, Coconut, Warraber, Yam) * Southern Division (TI and Inner Islands, NPA and Mainland Australia)

History of the Torres Strait Regional Authority

The authority was established in 1994, as a separate authority from the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...

, to deliver better services and programs to the

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia ...

people living on the Islands. Together with the Island Co-ordinating Council, the Torres Strait Regional Authority has been active in implementing community based management strategies. The adoption of a Marine Strategy for the monitoring and management of

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

and

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

populations in the seas around the islands was undertaken in 1999. A 2001 evaluation found that employment and housing were the two areas of greatest need for improvement, being even worse than that of Torres Strait Islander people on the mainland and

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

people. However, in most other areas, such as health, cultural integrity and crime, the people on Islands fared better. The Torres Strait Regional Authority's 2001 Bamaga Accord, which proposed a new regional governance framework for the Islands, was an expression of the people's aspiration to have greater autonomy. In 2006, successful lobbying by the authority and the Island Co-ordinating Council resulted in the granting of $300,000 from the Federal Government to study the risks of climate change on the six largest Torres Strait Islands. In 2010, after a nine-year legal battle, the Torres Strait Regional Authority made a successful

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

claim to 40,000 km² of sea between Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. This was the largest native title claim in Australia's history. The Torres Strait Territory Coalition was formed in 2010, by the elected leaders of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council, the Torres Strait Regional Authority and the Torres Shire Council, with the aim of gaining official Territory status for the Torres Strait Islands. The plan would see the Torres Strait Regional Authority and local governments in the area abolished, but this has not come to pass.

Governance

The Torres Strait Regional Authority consists of 20 elected representatives, with its primary function being to strengthen the economic, social and cultural development of the peoples of the Torres Strait area. The Torres Strait Regional Authority board is led by a chair of the Torres Strait Regional Authority and a deputy chair. The current chair is Napau Pedro Stephen. The day-to-day functions of the Torres Strait Regional Authority are carried out by an Administration Department led by a chief executive officer, currently Vonda Malone.

Chairs of the Torres Strait Island Regional Authority

*1 July 1994 – March 1997: Getano Lui (Jnr). (b. 1952) *March 1997 – 19 April 2000: John Abednego *19 April 2000 – May 2004: Terry Waia *May 2004 – November 2012: John Toshie Kris *November 2012 – September 2016: Joseph Elu * September 2016 – Present: Napau Pedro Stephen

References

External links