Wadjemup remains confirmed as Aboriginal as calls grow for cultural protocols to lead response

Western Australian police say human remains uncovered during construction work on Wadjemup/Rottnest Island have been confirmed as those of an Aboriginal person, a development that has renewed calls for strict cultural protocols and stronger heritage oversight on the former prison island.

The bones were discovered on Wednesday during ground‑disturbing works on a hill beneath the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, about 20 kilometres off Fremantle. Police later attended the site with the State Anthropologist and have said inquiries are continuing.

A WA Police spokesperson said specialist advice indicated the remains were “historical in nature and consistent with Indigenous ancestry”.

The discovery comes as the Rottnest Island Authority continues a broader program to acknowledge Wadjemup’s history as a colonial place of incarceration. From 1838 to 1931, Aboriginal men and boys from across Western Australia were transported to the island to be imprisoned and forced to work. State and government records estimate up to about 4,000 Aboriginal prisoners were held there across that period, with many never returning home.

Whadjuk Aboriginal Corporation (WAC) has been engaged by the Rottnest Island Authority to provide Noongar cultural heritage monitoring for ground works on registered Aboriginal cultural sites. In this week’s case, a WAC‑appointed heritage monitor was present when the remains were located, enabling work to stop and the discovery to be handled under established procedures.

WAC chief executive Leon Ruri said the priority was to ensure the person’s resting place and family connections were respected, and that decisions about what happens next are guided by Traditional Owners. “We want to make sure that whoever’s remains it is that are there are honoured in the most appropriate way possible” he said.

Noongar academic Glen Stasiuk, who has documented burials linked to the prison period, has described the island’s burial sites as “a sacred site of remembrance and sorrow”, underscoring the broader emotional and cultural weight attached to any new discovery.

For many Aboriginal families, Wadjemup is not simply a tourism destination but a place of ongoing grief and unresolved history. Elders and community leaders have long argued that truth‑telling, memorialisation and cultural authority must sit at the centre of how the island is managed — particularly when human remains or artefacts are uncovered.

Authorities have not publicly detailed the next steps for testing or how the remains will be reinterred. Traditional Owners and heritage organisations say the coming days will be critical for ensuring the response is culturally safe, transparent and led by those with responsibility for Country and ancestors.