Roxby Downs: New Kid On The Block

As the last purpose built mining town in Australia, Roxby Downs is a bit of an anomaly on the mining town landscape. 

Just 25 years old, the town has not been built on a century or more of mining or community history. It is shiny new in relative terms but this creates different challenges for the “new kid on the block”. Roxby Downs was built to service the Olympic Dam Mining operation and is located in South Australia’s outback, 560 km from Adelaide. It was built 16 km from the mine site to house mine workers and their families along with supporting infrastructure and services. In these few short years the town has grown into a thriving community of around 4,500 people. Unlike other mining communities which are moving to a fly in fly out model, Roxby Downs continues to support a growing residential population, particularly families.

The Olympic Dam mine, now owned and operated by BHP Billiton, is a place of superlatives: Australia’s biggest underground mine; the world’s 4th largest known remaining copper and gold deposit; and the largest known uranium deposit as well as significant quantities of silver. Unlike other mines with shorter lifecycles, Olympic Dam has a projected life of 100 years or more.

With such world-wide importance it is no wonder that the local council, with support from BHP Billiton and the State Government of South Australia, desires for Roxby Downs to be recognised as a World Class Town Supporting a World Class Mine. This is the philosophy that drives everything the local council does. Council’s Administrator Bill Boehm explains

“To attract people with high specialist skills to Olympic Dam we need to build a world class community that encourages people to come here with their families, rather than choose other world-wide alternatives. To establish Roxby Downs as destination of choice we are focusing our attention on projects and programs that support high quality facilities, build social capacity and enhance quality of life”.

Located on a former pastoral station and surrounded by extensive pastoral lands where there were once more sheep than people, a town emerged from the red sand dunes in 1988. Just 13 years earlier exploratory drilling by WMC Ltd on Roxby Downs Station near a man made stock watering hole set off a chain of events that bring us to the present day. But it could have been a very different story. Geologists were on the verge of giving up.

“While they were originally only looking for copper they discovered a treasure chest of minerals previously not found together in such large concentrations anywhere else in the world.”

It was not until the 10th and final exploration hole that they finally hit pay dirt. While they were originally only looking for copper they discovered a treasure chest of minerals previously not found together in such large concentrations anywhere else in the world. A world class mining operation was born.

Unlike some other mining communities Roxby Downs is not a designated ‘company town’ and the town management rests with the local council. The council itself is unique because it does not have elected members. This creates a unique community management structure and a point of difference from other communities. The Council Administrator has a unique role with the combined functions of a Chief Executive Officer and Mayor. A Community Board was established by the council in2006 as a separately incorporated body. The Community Board and its associated subcommittees undertake a range of community development activities that enhance the quality of life of residents.

The Board also acts as a voice for community concerns and with a council representative and BHP Billiton representative at the table the community is assured that their voice will be heard.

Like the town itself the community is young with a median age of 29 years. This is reflected in the high number of children and young people aged under 20 years. Totalling over 1,300, the town’s youth have access to quality education through two schools (an Area School and R-9 Catholic School), two childcare centres and a kindergarten. Roxby Downs is the perfect place to raise a young family with many activities and events to engage and entertain.

On the flip side the proportion of people aged over 55 years is low. With few grandparents in town many children miss out on these important intergenerational links. But as ABS statistics show Roxby Downs is a highly connected community with 85% of households connected to the internet. Access to Skype, Facebook and online shopping are just some of the ways residents reduce any feelings of isolation living in the outback.

New residents are often surprised at the quality of housing and cultural and recreation facilities. There have been several new housing developments over the years as the town population expanded. With a large outdoor aquatic complex and indoor swimming pool, ovals, sports stadiums, auditorium, cinema and new community library, there is much to do. Over 40 different sports are represented. The Aussie Rules Football league alone has five teams and has a long history of rivalry. Premiership teams paint their place in history on a strategic local telegraph pole on the road to Woomera. This is a tradition that goes way back but no one can remember exactly how it started.

New arrivals from overseas particularly from countries like South Africa, New Zealand, India and Papua New Guinea are contributing to the community’s cultural diversity. This has only really occurred in the last few years. With BHP Billiton’s South American assets like the Escondida mine in Chile there was an influx of mine workers from South America initially but this has grown to include other countries. Today there are over 40 nationalities represented and with the large contingent of South Africans and New Zealanders there is talk of creating a tri-nations rugby event.

The community loves to celebrate cultural diversity and in 2012 the town’s first “World Food and Music Festival” was celebrated. Planning is underway for the next festival which is due to take place later this year.

Michelle Hales from Roxby Council notes that these changing demographics have highlighted new community needs which have to be considered and catered for.

“As a community we need to expand our services and programs to support the needs of people coming from overseas. This includes understanding religious diversity, the availability of particular foods in the local supermarket, and access to English language courses. These weren’t even on our radar a few years ago.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are also making Roxby Downs their home and each year in July during NAIDOC week the community celebrates Indigenous art, food and music.

Ms Hales believes cultural diversity has added a richness and vibrancy to the community. “We have all learnt so much from each other and this is great for our kids because they are interacting with children from all over the world. They will grow up to be global citizens with a greater appreciation of different cultures”.

Roxby Downs is a town that likes to celebrate life with regular community events including the Red Earth Arts Festival, an annual Outback Cup, Christmas Pageant and regular market days. The town’s award winning main street, Richardson Place, is the hub and venue for community activity. The town’s forward thinking planners designed the main street with a 30 metre wide tree-lined, grassed median strip which doubles as the town park. The street is closed during community events to create an active and safe community space.

Newcomers are always made to feel welcome and there is no sense of not being a local as Ms Hales explains “We have all come from somewhere else. After 25 years second and third generations are being created but no-one is made to feel like an outsider. Expectant mothers are required to leave town at least 4 weeks before their babies are due so they can access maternity care so even the babies are not born in Roxby Downs. I guess we all have one foot planted somewhere else and this makes us all equal”.

The community loves a party and in October 2013, to mark the 25th anniversary, a birthday bash was held. This all day event included Jon Stevens as the headline act, an historical exhibition, food and activities and entertainment. The whole community was out in force that day with former residents returning to share in the celebrations.

“2013 was a time that we looked back and reflected on how far we have come. For the first time we started to document and record our cultural history. Volunteers were trained in oral history interviewing techniques to record and capture the stories of past and present residents. The stories we gathered highlighted the pioneering spirit, a ‘can do’ attitude, innovation and improvisation, a sense of humour in the face of adversity and a place where friends become family”, Ms Hales said. She also reflects that these are the attributes that build strong communities and the foundation on which the town thrives today.

Long time resident, Vicki Mason, remembers arriving in town in December 1988 and living in the caravan park at Olympic Dam.

“In the early days we had to do it a bit tough. You didn’t have family down the street and you had to depend on your friends for help. To us long termers this is home”.

Ms Mason is also a member of the Roxby Downs Community Board and many community committees. Like other rural communities, Roxby Downs relies on volunteers but this can prove problematic when most people work and the community is highly transient. Volunteer retention is a huge challenge for local organisations like emergency services, sporting groups and event organising committees. People are moving into and out of the community all of the time and this is particularly hard when key community group members leave and cannot be replaced.

“We try and connect new residents to volunteering opportunities as soon as possible because they bring in fresh ideas, new skills and expertise and fill gaps. We find new people are always willing to pitch in and help because they are keen to make new friends and social connections.” Ms Hales said.

Local community radio station RoxFM has proven to be a great training ground for local volunteers. The station thrives on volunteer support with volunteers hosting their own shows and sitting on the board of management.

The station is regularly recognised by the SA Community Broadcasters Association with Bilby Awards received across many categories over the years. Volunteers are trained in studio desk operation and produce their own shows. With an eclectic mix of music tastes and interests of volunteers RoxFM program line up is diverse with something of interest for everyone.

Volunteers are also fundamental to the running of Arid Recovery. Arid Recovery is a 123 km2 fenced reserve located 20 km from Roxby Downs. Feral cats, rabbits and foxes have been completely eradicated from a 60km2 part of the reserve which has provided a safe haven for the four species of local mammals thought to be locally extinct. This is the largest reserve of its kind in Australia and the exclusion fence protects a range of native plants and local mammals and reptiles. Locally extinct mammal species including the Greater Stick Nest Rat, Burrowing Bettong, Greater Bilby and Westered Barred Bandicoot have been successfully reintroduced. Volunteers assist with many tasks including feral animal control, checking of perimeter traps, fixing fences and taking tours. Over 50 volunteers of all ages recently took part in an external Bettong release project which involved capturing and relocation of Burrowing Bettongs.

“The community is not immune to the ups and downs of the mining industry.”

The community is not immune to the ups and downs of the mining industry. In 2011 BHP Billiton announced a major expansion of the mine with plans for an open cut operation and expanded workforce. This held high hopes for local residents and businesses but in 2013, after reviewing the costs of the project, the expansion was put on hold while BHP Billiton reviews and considers an alternative, less capital intensive design of the open pit expansion and explores new technologies to substantially improve the economics of the project. This had an immediate impact on the town. Job restructuring led to some families leaving which had a domino effect on local retailers. The population appears to have stabilised now and there is a renewed sense of optimism for the future. Everyone appreciates that this is the nature of the mining industry.

People are often curious about where the name Olympic Dam came from. It was actually named after the watering hole on Roxby Downs station located near the successful drill site. The watering hole, which most of the time was a clay pan, had been affectionately known as Olympic Dam since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Little did the station owners know at the time that this very ordinary looking clay pan would become the site of a world class mining operation of Olympic proportions.