Marla is a town and locality in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

located in the state's north-west about north-west of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and about south of the town of

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

History

Marla was constituted as a government town under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1980'' on 21 May 1981 and was gazetted as a locality under the ''Geographical Names Act 1991'' on 8 February 2001 with the assigned boundaries being similar to that of the government town. The name is derived from the ''Marla Bore'' which is located to west of Marla and whose name is reported as being ultimately "a corruption of the Aboriginal marlu – 'a kangaroo'". Geoffrey H. Manning, the South Australian historian, reports that the town was proclaimed as a place for "the provision of essential services to travellers crossing the continent" and to act as an administrative centre for the north-west part of the state including the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands and the Mintabie Opal Field to the town's west.

Transport

The

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; it has a distance of . Its northern and souther ...

passes through the south-west side of Marla while the alignment of the Adelaide-Darwin railway is located outside of its boundaries on the south-west side of the highway. While a site is designated as a railway station with the name ''Marla Siding'' on the south side of the railway, it is not a scheduled stop for rail services such as ''

The Ghan ''The Ghan'' () is an experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor ...

'' as of 2018 for Marla and adjoining localities. However the northbound Ghan stops outside Marla for a morning breakfast experience.

Facilities

The town includes a health centre "Marla Clinic" operated on behalf of the state government by the

Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an Aeromedical retrieval, aeromedical retrieval service in Australia and the largest of its kind in the world. It is a non-profit organisation that provides urgen ...

, a regional police station and a privately owned complex called the ''Marla Travellers Rest'' which is described as consisting of "roadhouse, hotel and motel, restaurant, service station, supermarket, caravan park and much more." it also is an Australia Post LPO.

Aerodrome

Marla Airport (also known as ''Marla Aerodrome'') is located about to the south of the town in the adjoining locality of Welbourn Hill.

Governance

Marla is located within the federal

division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

, the state

electoral district of Giles Giles is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after explorer Ernest Giles, it is the largest electorate in the state by area, covering of South Australian outback. Its main population centre is ...

, the

Pastoral Unincorporated Area The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target aud ...

of South Australia and the state government region of the Far North. As of 2018, the community within Marla received

municipal services Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect the local government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), wa ...

from a South Australian government agency, the

Outback Communities Authority The Outback Communities Authority (OCA) is a statutory authority in South Australia (SA) created under the ''Outback Communities (Administration and Management) Act 2009''. It has been established to "manage the provision of public services and f ...

Weather station

The Marla Police Station has been the site of an official weather station since 1985.

References

{{authority control Railway stations in South Australia Towns in South Australia Far North (South Australia) Places in the unincorporated areas of South Australia