Cosmo Newbery

Cosmo Newbery (also spelt Cosmo Newberry, also known as Yilka) is a small Aboriginal community in Western Australia, 1, 036 kilometres (644 mi) east of Perth between Laverton and Warburton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Cosmo Newbery (also spelt Cosmo Newberry, also known as Yilka) is a small Aboriginal community in Western Australia, 1,036 kilometres (644 mi) east of Perth between Laverton and Warburton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. In the 2011 census, Cosmo Newbery had a total population of 74, including 64 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The town is named after James Cosmo Newbery, an industrial chemist noted for his work on improving the chlorination method of gold extraction.The area was originally leased by two returned soldiers as a cattle station, then as a penal colony for a short time, then later became a government ration depot. The town was first settled in 1920.By 1953 the Uniting Church set up a mission but eventually, in 1976, gave the land back to the Aboriginal people living in the area at that time. The town operated for 11 years and was then abandoned for 4 years. In 1989 four families moved back into the town, quickly followed by others. The town now has a health clinic, school, a hall, windmills, communication centre, fuel station and shop.

The town is one of the stops along the Great Central Road that tracks through the Great Victoria Desert and eventually connects with the Gunbarrel Highway; there is a roadhouse operating in the town.