Jabiru is a town located within the boundaries of the Kakadu National Park, and the Mirrar clan are the recognised traditional title holders of Jabiru township. ¹ The town was named after the black-necked stork often seen in the wetlands and billabongs of Kakadu. The settlement began as a mining town as the result of discoveries of Uranium at Kakadu in 1970 and the "Jabiru" airstrip that was built to service the mining camp. ²

The township of Jabiru began construction in 1982, as the result of a small tract of land being leased to the Jabiru Town Development Authority (JTDA) in 1981 by the Director of National Parks and Wildlife. When the lease was let, its conditions stipulated the town was only for permanent residents who were associated with the operation of the mine, government agencies or essential services. The lease also limited the town's population to no more than 3500. These conditions were intended to protect the world heritage site by minimising urban development. In 1986, a new management plan for the Kakadu National Park allowed the town's role to expand to also being a tourism service centre, with the development of accommodation and tourism businesses subject to agreement by the traditional land owners and Northern Land Council. ³

In addition to the Ranger mine, Jabiru is home to multiple tourism-related businesses and industries, Aboriginal arts and culture, plus the town centre includes government offices, magistrate's court, emergency services. The town is dotted with picnic areas with barbecues and is popular for freshwater fishing for barramundi and water cruises. Sporting pastimes are also well catered for; Jabiru has an Olympic-size swimming pool, cricket ovals where cricket and Australian rules football are played, and there is also a 9-hole golf course. ⁴

Population:

755 ⁵

Postcode:

0886

Location:

218 km east of Darwin

Main Roads:

Kakadu Hwy (B21) and Arnhem Hwy (B36)

Radio Stations:

FM:

ABC Radio National (107.7 MHz), Flow FM (100.5 MHz), National Indigenous Radio Service (106.1 MHz), RadioTAB (103.7 MHz), TEABBA Radio (98.9 MHz) and Territory FM (99.7 MHz)

AM:

ABC Darwin (747 kHz) and RadioTAB (1242 kHz)

Click or tap the map to enable panning and zooming

Council Chambers:

Western Arnhem Regional Council chambers, Tasman Cr, Jabiru, 2003.

Image © Jamie Scuglia

¹ The Guardian, Jabiru handed to Indigenous owners the Mirarr people after long-running native title dispute, 26 June 2021.
² NT Government, NT Place Names Register, Place Names Register Extract, Town of Jabiru.
³ Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australia's Kakadu - Protecting World Heritage, April 1999.
⁴ West Arnhem Regional Council, Our Communities, Jabiru.
⁵ Australian Government, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census Data, 2021, Jabiru, Census All persons QuickStats, Suburbs and Localities, SAL70136.