Catchment: Flinders River

The Flinders River rises in the Great Dividing Range, 110 kilometres northeast of Hughenden and flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria, west of Karumba.  It has a catchment of approximately 109,400 square kilometres.  Major tributaries include the Cloncurry and Corella Rivers.

Socio-economic Profiles for the Flinders and surrounding catchments

The population of the Flinders catchment is approximately 6,000, only 12% of whom are Aboriginal people. With a catchment area of more than 100,000 km2, the population density is less that 0.1 person per km2.

Some 90% of households own a motor vehicle, a high percentage for the TRaCK region. About 90% of people speak English only at home, much higher than the regional average of about 60%. The percentage of people with more than 10 years of schooling is also relatively high at 70%. The Flinders has an ARIA (Accessibility / Remoteness Index of Australia) of 10 (on the scale of 15), which equals the regional average.

A high percentage of people are employed in government administration or services and agriculture. However, percentages of people employed in mining, construction and retail are much higher than TRaCK averages.

The region is relatively well surveyed and thus hosts a number of registered heritage sites. Almost all of the land in the catchment is reported as under agricultural production. (synopsis from TRaCK Fact Sheet, Socio-economic Profiles: Larson, S, Alexandridis, K.  2009.  Profile: Flinders River. )

Projects operating in the catchment