Permits for South Australia

For travel over aboriginal lands in the northern part of South Australia, which includes for example, the Giles-Mulga Park Road from Mulga Park Station to Wingellina, contact the Anangu Pitjantjatjara/Yankunyjatjara Land Council.



But bear in mind that currently the Land Council does not normally issue transit permits for that part of the Giles-Mulga Park Road, nor for any of the other tracks in the area. However, if you simply wish to visit any of the very worthwhile art galleries located on AP-Y lands at Indulkana, Fregon, Nyapari, Amata and Papulankutja, then it is strongly suggested that you simply contact the Manager of the particular art gallery concerned. The web site for Amata is www.minymakuarts.com.au and information on a number of other art galleries in the area is available on www.marshallarts.com.au.

If you do manage to gain a permit to visit any of those areas you will find that it is the most beautiful document you will ever have been issued. The permits are a work of aboriginal art in themselves. There is a per person charge of $22 for the issue of a Permit.

AP-Y do have a website where some further information about Permits is available, but bear in mind the general principle that AP-Y do not normally simply issue transit permits.

If you go to their website (see below) and have a look at the pdf download Permit Application Form on page 2, there is a prominent note that states: “No Transit Permits will be issued for tourists/travelers wishing to pass through any part of the AP-Y Lands”.

To gain a permit you must have a need to travel to conduct proper and appropriate business in a community or to visit someone in a community. Their website is at www.waru.org/organisations/ap and click on “Permits”. A pdf download application form for a permit is available on the site. or fax (08) 8954 8110.

Surveyor-Generals Corner

To visit Surveyor-General’s Corner, the normal access is from Warakurna on the Great Central Road down to Wingellina (where you pick up an escort/guide) and then out to the Corner. The turn off from the Great Central Road onto the Giles-Mulga Park Road to access Wingellina is 29 k’s east of the Warakurna Roadhouse. Applications for permits are made to the Ngaanyatjarra Land Council – see Permits for Western Australia.

To visit Surveyor-General’s Corner, the normal access is from Warakurna on the Great Central Road down to Wingellina (where you pick up an escort/guide) and then out to the Corner. The turn off from the Great Central Road onto the Giles-Mulga Park Road to access Wingellina is 29 k’s east of the Warakurna Roadhouse. Applications for permits are made to the Ngaanyatjarra Land Council – see the Western Australia pdf on this web site – Surveyor-General’s Corner information.

For travel over aboriginal lands in the central part of South Australia, for example to traverse the Anne Beadell Highway, contact the Maralinga Lands Council at Maralinga Tjarutja Inc.



Also bear in mind that a range of other permits are also required to travel the Anne Beadell Highway, including a Desert Parks Pass (see below), or at least a permit to access and camp in the Tallaringa Conservation Reserve and one for the Mumungari Conservation Park (see below). And very importantly, you will need a pass for the Woomera Prohibited Area (also see below).

For the Tallaringa Regional Reserve contact the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Outback Region, P.O. Box 78, Port Augusta, SA 5700. Telephone (08) 8648 5300 and fax (08) 8648 5301.

Unnamed Conservation Park (now Mumungari CP)

For entry and camping applications for Mumungari you can apply online. See - http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/flinders-ranges-outback/tallaringa-conservation-park#fees.

Mt Davies Track

Permits to travel the Mt Davies Track, which most maps show as running from Anne’s Corner on the Anne Beadell Highway north west to Iltur, are NOT being issued by the Land Council. Apparently the track has never been used since it was first put in by Len Beadell in the 1960’s and in the main simply no longer exists.

The WPA is a declared Prohibited Area under the Defence Force Regulations and is used for the "testing of war material". Tourists must have a Tourist Permit issued by the Woomera Test Range before accessing any part of the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) except the Stuart Highway, Lake Cadibarrawirracanna Road (Public Access Route), Olympic Way—Pimba Road (B97), William Creek Road, and Woomera Village. Access permits are required for all other roads. This includes the Anne Beadell Highway, a 4WD track from Coober Pedy to Western Australia.

Tourists will require a Tourist Access Permit - details and online form is available here from the Australian Government Dept of Defence Website.

Permits are required for each vehicle in the party and cannot be issued more than 12 months in advance.

Be aware that access can be closed at certain times of year due to scheduled defence activity. For travellers of the Anne Beadell Highway, you will need to traverse an Amber Zone 2 area so you must check the Exclusion Periods. Permits will not be issued for travel in an access zone during an exclusion period.

Exclusion periods are published in March of each year, showing the access restrictions which will apply during the following financial year (1 July to 30 June). You can check the Road Alerts section on ExplorOz to check the latest publication (or read back copies).

woomera.enquiries@defence.gov.au or phone (08) 8674 3370. More information on access zones, exclusion periods and permits can be viewed at www.defence.gov.au/woomera.

For travel through any part of the Simpson Desert in South Australia, each vehicle MUST have a Desert Parks Pass. Remember also that the Simpson Desert is now closed to visitation over the period of each summer. The closure period is December 1 to March 15 and covers the Simpson Desert Conservation Park and the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve and the Simpson Desert area in Queensland. Fines of up to $1,000 can apply to transgressors. Note though that Witjira National Park and the camping area at Dalhousie Springs will remain open during the closure period.

To access Googs Track you will need a Camping Permit normally issued by the SA

Department of Environment & Natural Resources

11 McKenzie Street, Ceduna, SA 5690.
PO Box 569, Ceduna, SA 5690.
Telephone (08) 8625 3144
Fax (08) 8625 3123

Camping Permits (as at August, 2010) cost $6 per night per vehicle. So a 3 night stay will only cost you $18. There is no entry fee.

N.B.: Currently, (2010), the Dept. of Environment & Natural resources office in Ceduna appears to be restricted to an administrative office only, with no public counter facilities available. Camping Permits for Googs Track however, are available from the Ceduna Visitor Information Centre which is located at 58 Poynton Street, Ceduna, 5690. Their telephone number is (08) 8625 3343. Like most Visitor Information Centres they are open 7 days a week, except Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Most of Googs Track is now located within the Yumbarra Conservation Park and the Yellabinna Regional Reserve. Best camping areas are at Googs Lake and at Mount Finke. You will get a small information package and mud map with your permit. The Department makes the suggestion that if possible, Googs Track should be traveled from south to north. This is a request in the interests of safety and on the basis that travel from south to north is a little easier over the dunes.

The northern end of Googs Track has recently been realigned, and now exits on to the access road beside the Transcontinental Railway about 10 kilometres west of Malbooma via a properly constructed and marked crossing. When you get to that point you must turn right and head towards Tarcoola. The access track beside the Transcontinental Railway is a public road from the top end of Googs Track to the Stuart Highway. (See Transcontinental Railway info immediately below).

Please note that none of the tracks immediately to the north of Malbooma are public roads; all of them are private station tracks

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has confirmed that the only publicly accessible parts of the access road which runs parallel to the transcontinental rail line are those parts between Kalgoorlie and Haig in Western Australia and between Kingoonya and a point a short distance west of where the recently realigned northern end of Googs Track now exits to the transcontinental rail access road in South Australia. Both of those sections remain gazetted as public roads.

It is thus illegal to travel east of Haig or essentially west of the Googs Track northern exit point utilising the rail access road. It is private property and absolutely no permits are being issued. This situation arose consequent to the corporatisation of Australian National Railways some years ago. Regrettably, there had been far too many instances of travellers breaking down, or needing help, and they were, incredibly, flagging down the trains! Management have simply barred access and will have transgressors dealt with as trespassers. The fine can be quite hefty. You have been warned!

Additionally, ARTC advise that the only places where it is legal to actually cross the rail line are at properly constructed and marked rail crossings.

Only the North section (off the Adventure Way to the east of Innamincka) of the Bore Track is accessible for visitor traffic. This route is intended for south bound traffic so you'll find an honesty box to pay a $10 track fee and you can pick up a mud map. The Bore Track South is permanently closed with no visitor access permitted across the Bollards Lagoon. Phone Bollards Lagoon Station on (08) 8091 3873 for more information.

Yalata Indigenous Protected Area is located at the Head of the Great Australian Bight, 1,000km west of Adelaide on the Far West Coast of South Australia. Spanning over 458,000 hectares Yalata Lands are recognised by the National Wilderness Inventory as of biodiversity importance with little damage and development, and the continuation of natural ecological processes. Given the fragility of its soil and cultural significance, there are strict ‘No access’ areas, that are maintained as environment conservation zones.

Yalata Community is closed to the public, and entry only permitted via a Permit system for essential service, maintenance contractors, Health Care Providers, Service Providers, and visitors.

All Yalata Lands are deemed Private Property (penalties apply for trespassing), however a designated areas of Yalata Lands are open to the public for recreational Camping and Fishing which is monitored through a strict Permit system. Guests can book one of 15 remote off-grid campsites, spread 55km along Yalata coastline, with campsites ranging from 100 to 900 meters off the beach, with several marked entry points allowing vehicle/ATV access directly onto the beach.

Campsites and access roads are not marked on any map and ONLY accessible with a Permit. For more info and to book campsite, please visit www.yalata.com.au

Access to “The Old Eyre Highway”, between Nullarbor to Yalata crossing Yalata Lands, is no longer permitted and been closed to the public since 2019. Yalata Rangers have set up blockades and signposted “no access”, but unfortunately people continue to drive around these blockades causing vegetation damage and trespassing in doing so. All Yalata Lands are deemed private property, and anyone caught on Yalata Lands who are not permitted will be removed and may be charged with trespassing.

South Australia also operates what they refer to as Public Access Routes. These are generally station tracks that lead to a place of interest on a station property where no public road otherwise provides access. This allows for public access without seeking permission from the lessee. Generally, PAR’s can be categorized as “non maintained tracks” and should not be compared to the normal road network in terms of surface, maintenance or general condition.

The SA Government Department of Environment & Natural Resources and the Department of Water publish an excellent information brochure and map titled “4WD Tracks & Repeater Towers” which also lists and maps nineteen (19) of the current twenty two (22) PAR’s. (The additional (3) PAR’s have only very recently been added to the list).

Generally, each PAR is signposted at its start point. Information as to whether or not camping is permitted, and if so where, is generally included.

No specific permits are required to traverse these PAR’s, however if they fall within, or give access to, a National Park or Reserve, then a permit may be required to both access and/or camp in the Park or Reserve.

Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this information, no responsibility can be accepted for either the accuracy of the contents or for any errors or omissions.