Australia's 'Wild West' town with no council or local police

In the ruby-like lunar landscape of South Australia's outback lies a town that locals consider one of Australia's "last frontiers." With no council or police station and only one road in and out, it's easy to see why. Andamooka is a remote outpost located about six and a half hours northwest of Adelaide.

Despite its remoteness, the town is brimming with ingenuity. Leila Day, who has lived and worked in Andamooka for five years, says the town is somewhat self-governing. “We don’t have a garbage collection service. We’re in unincorporated South Australia, so there’s no council to look after us, basically we do everything ourselves,” she told ABC’s Back Roads program. “There’s no police… it’s like the Wild West,” she said with a laugh.

Andamooka is the largest town governed by the Outback Communities Authority, a government body that manages remote communities. Rather than establishing a council, the authority works with the Andamooka Progress and Opal Miners Association, which advocates for the town's needs and priorities. Andamooka's origins can be traced back to the 1870s, when the area was leased as a pastoral run known as Andamooka Station. Decades later, in the 1930s, a group from Coober Pedy arrived in the area to try their luck mining for opals within the station's boundaries.

By the 1960s, the town was producing some of the world’s most valuable gem opals, and its population grew accordingly. However, as the supply of significant opal deposits dwindled, so did the town's population. Now, 262 people, including Leila, call it home. “Aside from opal mining, there’s always people doing curious, interesting, and different things… there’s a very active art community,” she said. One of these creatives is a "stone man"—but perhaps not in the way you'd expect.

Andamooka local Cal Prohasky, known as "Stone Man Cal," has spent thousands of hours honing his sculpting craft, which he calls "stone carving." Cal creates magnificent sculptures using thousands of uniquely carved sandstone pieces. After spending three and a half years and 8,000 hours on his piece, "The Andamooka Tiger," Cal has begun work on a new creation — "The Goddess." "She's six-foot-nine... she's a goddess, she's got to be imposing," he said.

Originally from Melbourne, he made a lifestyle change in 2019, packing all of his belongings—and a significant amount of sandstone—into his bus and driving to Andamooka. “I actually bought [my house] sight unseen,” Cal said. “But I got a great place. I was lucky, I could have been out in the sticks.” “It’s like living on the moon out here. It’s desert, it’s very different.”

When the pub recently closed, the community stepped in to organize a temporary liquor license, turning Cal's psychedelic home bar into an alternative nightlife spot for locals. “Everyone sees this place as the arse end of the world, but Andamooka is a lifestyle. It’s a beautiful lifestyle,” said local resident Margot Duke. “You can come into this place with a handshake, fossick for opals and give it a go,” said another resident, Conan Fahey. “It’s one of the last frontiers.”