The Wadjemup Project

The WA Government is working in partnership with the Whadjuk, Noongar and greater Aboriginal communities, to acknowledge the history and ongoing impacts of Aboriginal incarceration and segregation on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) from 1838-1931. For nearly a century, from 1838 to 1931, Rottnest Island was used as a place of incarceration, segregation and forced labour for over 4,000 Aboriginal men and boys who were forcibly taken from regions across WA. Of those taken to the Island, almost 400 died while imprisoned, and were buried in unmarked graves on the Island.

The Wadjemup Project is working to deliver strategies for:

• Truth-Telling - to acknowledge Wadjemup’s history of Aboriginal incarceration and its role in the colonisation of WA.
• Ceremony - to facilitate healing in line with Aboriginal cultural protocol.
• Commemoration through memorialisation - of the former prison sites on Wadjemup, including the old prison building at the historic Thomson Bay Settlement (the Quod) and the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground.

Aboriginal governance is critical to the Project’s success. The first stage has involved Whadjuk Elders and Leaders working together with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Rottnest Island Authority to support and develop an Aboriginal decision-making structure for the Project, known as a Cultural Authority Framework (Framework).  

The Aboriginal-led Framework will guide how State-wide Aboriginal consultation will occur, ensuring cultural protocols are observed, and all Aboriginal people and communities with a connection to Wadjemup and the Quod are included, or have the opportunity to have their say. As host Nation, Whadjuk Noongar Traditional Owners and custodians will be responsible for authorising, coordinating and enabling cultural protocols and processes through to completion of the Project. This process ensures Aboriginal people decide how their ancestors will be honoured, and how their cultural groups, communities or countries are to be represented in the final memorial.

The first stage of the Wadjemup Project is set to be completed by mid-2022 with the development of a Whadjuk Wadjemup Cultural Authority to guide future stages. Details of the process for wider engagement with the greater Noongar and State-wide Aboriginal consultation will follow. There will be regular announcements as the project progresses.

For more information about the Wadjemup Project, read the Media Statement ‘McGowan Government commences historic Rottnest Island Wadjemup Project’.