Channel Island



Connected to the mainland by a bridge, Channel Island on Dawrin Harbour is officially classified as a suburb of Darwin. It is home to Channel Island Power Station. From the mainland and across the sparkling azure waters of Darwin Harbour, the secluded slice of paradise is a vision of perfection. But the natural beauty of Channel Island masks an ugly past; remnants of which still lie within the dense overgrown vegetation thriving from within it. The site was used for a leprosy patient in 1885 and for small-pox patients from 1887. The Leprosarium was originally built for use as a Commonwealth Quarantine Station in 1914.

Where is it?: Channel Island is about 40km from the city. Either take Channel Island Rd from Palmerston or follow Berrimah and Wishart Rds from Berrimah.



Hundreds, possibly thousands, of mostly indigenous people, including children, suffering leprosy were forcibly removed from their homes across the Northern Territory and sent by the Commonwealth Government to live in isolation at the Channel Island Leprosarium between 1931 and 1955. Once ripped from the arms of their loved ones and banished to the island, many were subjected to forced labour and held captive there for years. And most were never to see their families again. An estimated 140 people never made it out of the Channel Island Leprosarium alive, dying an early death from a range of illnesses and a lack of medical care. At least 60 bodies are thought to remain in unmarked graves on the island.

There was no known cure for leprosy - a chronic bacterial disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms and legs  at the time. Those suffering the infectious disease were deemed lepers  and outcasts of society. There were no staff quarters on the island. The patients were largely left to fend for themselves, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. They grew their own vegetables and cooked their own meals. The waterless and rocky outcrop of Channel Island was a difficult home, with no farming land and an infestation of biting insects and flies.

By 1941 it was recognised officially that the Leprosarium should be relocated but World War II delayed its closure. The Catholic Church took over staffing the site following the Bombing of Darwin during World War II, and in its final years the inmates were cared for by Sisters from the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Channel Island ceased operating in 1955. It was superseded by East Arm Leprosarium, which ran until 1982, after which sufferers were treated in regular hospitals.

Although many buildings were dismantled and removed following the closure, many historical artifacts remain on the island. The jetty, foundations of the original quarantine hospital, burial sites and associated artifacts provide evidence of a unique period in Australia's history.



Channel Island Conservation Reserve
The Channel Island Conservation Reserve also includes the reef between the mainland and the island containing many small colonies of coral. The Channel Island Reefs are significant due to its relatively diverse coral community which is not consistent with its location well inside a large ria (drowned river valley) system characterised by substantial depression of salinity during the wet season, high turbidity and deep, fine muds over much of its area. Both the leprosarium and the reefs are Heritage Listed sites.





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