Great Sandy Desert vs Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations

Great Sandy Desert and Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations are both very sparsely populated areas. There are stark differences in how people live; in Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations, 94.2% of homes are within a 15-minute walk of health services and groceries, while only 3.7% are in Great Sandy Desert. This makes Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations mostly car-dependent, whereas Great Sandy Desert is completely car-dependent. Additionally, the First Nations unemployment rate is far higher in Great Sandy Desert at 56.0%, compared to 0.0% in Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations.

Both areas share a very similar typical First Nations household income, sitting around $780. They also both lack easy access to public transport and parks, with almost no homes within a short walk of either. While First Nations residents are noticeably older in Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations, where the typical age is 28, a very high proportion of people in both places speak a First Nations language—84.9% in Great Sandy Desert and 90.6% in Nyirripi and Tanami Outstations.