Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory, more commonly known as stations or cattle stations, are some of the largest in Australia. There are 223 pastoral leases gazetted into 11 pastoral districts over approximately 600 000 square kilometres of land.
Established from the late 1800s onwards, the leases were initially issued by the South Australian government, which administered the Northern Territory until 1911, and enable long-term tenure of Crown land. The first leases were Owen Springs and Undoolya Station in Central Australia in 1872. The expansion of the cattle industry caused widespread dispossession of Aboriginal people, with significant damage to water sources and sensitive environments.
There is only one remaining sheep station, at Avon Downs, the rest rear cattle which is sold domestically or live into South East Asia, mainly Indonesia. They also support other non-dominant agricultural uses and tourism.
All pastoral leases are managed under the Pastoral Land Act 1992 of the Northern Territory.
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