Cape Barren Island

Aboriginal people inhabited or used the islands in the Bass Strait long before ships came from the other side of the world, when Tasmania was joined to the mainland, but the Furneaux group had been uninhabited and not managed for around 2000 years before Europeans came. The south-eastern point of the island was named Cape Barren by Tobias Furneaux in on 17 March 1773. The name of the Cape Barren goose was first ascribed to this species by shipwreck survivors in 1797, when Sydney Cove ran aground off Preservation Island, south of the island. The sailors who survived the wreck used the geese as one of few sources of food on the island, and named it after Cape Barren. The rescue mission for the stranded sailors led to further interest in the islands, Operations began in Kent's Bay and nearly 9000 seal skins were taken in the first season. Other vessels followed from Sydney and the United States. Competition between the sealing gangs led to a violent clash between American and British sealers in 1803. The sealers brought Aboriginal captives or wives from other islands, and farmers started deforesting and breeding sheep there. They hunted the geese for food. In 1871 the residents of the island petitioned Governor Charles Du Cane to give them exclusive use of the mutton bird rookeries, and some land to call their own. They were allocated two blocks for homesteads and farming. The church had been under Bishop Henry Montgomery, who was appointed as the fourth Anglican Bishop of Tasmania in 1899. He was interested in remote Aboriginal communities, and visited the island 10 times. However, after his departure, the church fell into disuse by around 1908. The old church was replaced by a new one in the 1940s. made it even harder for Aboriginal people to obtain land. The 1997 Bringing Them Home report gave accounts of children removed under these policies. thus formally recognising Aboriginal ownership. This marked the first – and, as of November 2025, last – official handover of Crown land to an Aboriginal community in Tasmania. ==Description and demographics==

Cape Barren Island is the second-largest island of the Furneaux Group, with the larger Flinders Island to the north, and the smaller Clarke Island to the south. The official name of the island, gazetted in February 2014, is "truwana / Cape Barren Island". truwana, in the local palawa kani Aboriginal language, means "sleeping water". In 2007, the residents of Cape Barren Island consisted of an Aboriginal community of approximately 70 people. Most of the residents are descended from people of mixed European and Aboriginal descent, who had originally settled on several smaller nearby islands but relocated to Cape Barren Island in the late 1870s. The 2021 census recorded 64 people on the island, with a median age of 51. Most residents live in a settlement called "The Corner", on the north-west coast. In November 2025, the number of permanent residents was estimated at around 80, most of whom live in The Corner. ==Governance==

The island is within the Municipality of Flinders Island (Flinders Council) area. The Cape Barren Aboriginal Association (CBIAA), was established in 1972. It receives funding from the state and federal governments, and collaborates with the Flinders Council on some matters, such as the removal of garbage. The Association is responsible for the roads, water (supplied by two dams), electricity (generated from solar panels), and housing, as well as running the shop and post office. The truwana rangers practice cultural burning as part of a range of land management practices. The rangers created a fire management plan in collaboration with the Tasmania Fire Service. ==Facilities==

Cape Barren island is a short boat trip away from Flinders Island. The roads are all unsealed. There are three mail flights each week. There is a small school, in 2025 attended by 11 children from infants through to teenagers. Their day starts with a song in palawa kani, the resurrected Tasmanian Aboriginal language. ==Flora and fauna==

The truwana rangers have found the rare Furneaux Burrowing Crayfish around the island, as well sighting native wasps and the Cave Cricket. There are several important wetlands on the island, which provide habitat for wetland birds. ==See also==