Rottnest Island#Military history

{{See also|Australian Aboriginal prehistoric sites}}

During the late Pleistocene, when sea levels were lower, present-day Rottnest Island, Carnac Island and Garden Island were attached to the Western Australian mainland by a low-lying carbonate sand plain.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=16}} When sea levels were at their lowest, around 18,000 years ago, Rottnest would have formed "a conspicuous hill, high above the surrounding coastal plain" and approximately {{convert|12|km|mi}} west of the mainland coastline.{{sfn|Playford|2004|p=803}} Rising sea levels submerged the continental shelf and isolated Rottnest in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, with separation from the mainland occurring approximately 6,500 years ago. Sea levels continued to rise and by around 5,900 years ago the modern salt lakes in the centre of Rottnest had been inundated, resulting in the formation of up to ten smaller islands. Subsequent regressions returned the island to a single insular landform.{{sfn|Playford|2004|p=804}}

Archaeological evidence exists for human occupation of Rottnest prior to its separation from the mainland, comprising stone artefacts found in palaeosols in various locations on the island.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=21}} {{As of|2019}}, six chert artefacts and four calcrete artefacts have been identified from sites at Charlotte Point, Little Armstrong Bay and Bathurst Point.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=22}} A feldspar pebble has also tentatively been identified as a gastrolith or manuport.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=24}} Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the artefact-bearing palaeosols suggests the earliest recorded human presence on Rottnest was at least 17,000 years ago.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=23}} It has been suggested that the relative lack of recorded artefacts may be due to site loss from sea level changes and due to Rottnest's exposed position rendering it less suitable for human occupation than lower-lying sites which were later submerged.{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2019|p=25}}

The Noongar name for Rottnest is Wadjemup. There is no material evidence or oral tradition of Aboriginal occupation of Rottnest after its separation from the mainland and prior to European colonisation. A Noongar creation myth recorded by George Fletcher Moore in the 1830s held that Rottnest and other offshore islands "once formed part of the mainland, and that the intervening ground was thickly covered with trees; which took fire in some unaccountable way, and burned with such intensity that the ground split asunder with a great noise, and the sea rushed in between, cutting off these islands from the mainland".{{sfn|Dortch|Dortch|2012|p=52}} By the time of European exploration in the 1600s, the island is thought to have been unoccupied for thousands of years.{{Cite web |title=Historic Snapshot · Custom Portal |url=https://ahwaportal.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/online-catalogue/search-wadjemup/ahwa-wadjemup-beyond-the-shore/ahwa-wadjemup-info-historic-snapshot/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=ahwaportal.dlgsc.wa.gov.au}}

In 2006, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that native title did not exist over Rottnest Island, as part of a ruling that recognised the claim of the Noongar people to native title over the Perth metropolitan area.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-09-19/nyoongar-people-win-native-title-over-perth/1267420|title=Nyoongar people win native title over Perth|publisher=ABC News|date=19 September 2006|access-date=13 April 2025}} Rottnest Island was later included in the South West Native Title Settlement between the Western Australian government and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, which came into effect in 2021. The island is covered by an Indigenous Land Use Agreement between the state government and the Whadjuk people.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rottnestisland.com/learn/history/aboriginal-culture|title=Aboriginal Culture|publisher=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=13 April 2025}}

The island was observed and explored by various Dutch, French and English maritime expeditions from around 1619 onward, including by Frederick de Houtman around 28 July 1619.{{cite dictionary |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/houtman-frederik-de-2201 |dictionary=Australian Dictionary of Biography |volume=1 |year=1966 |title=Houtman, Frederik de (1571–1627) |last=van Lohuizen |first=J. |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=21 July 2017}}{{cite news |last=Drewe |first=Robert |date=16 February 2013 |title=Rottnest is the isle of caprice |newspaper=The Australian |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/rottnest-is-the-isle-of-caprice/news-story/66df9168b78c589a086053ecc82f2422 |access-date=21 July 2017}}

The first Europeans known to have landed on Rottnest Island were about 14 sailors from a Dutch expedition, including Abraham Leeman van Santwits from Waeckende Boey, who landed near Bathurst Point on 19 March 1658 while their ship was careened nearby.{{cite object |date=1983-01-31 |title=The Leeman Monument |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leeman_monument,_Bathurst_lighthouse,_Rottnest.jpg |medium=plaque |museum=Rottnest Island, Western Australia |access-date=2025-03-11 }}{{cite web|url=https://rottnestisland.com/the-island/about-the-island/our-history/maritime|title=Maritime History|publisher=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=2022-04-16|archive-date=21 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621194326/https://rottnestisland.com/the-island/about-the-island/our-history/maritime|url-status=dead}} Waeckende Boey (under command of Samuel Volkersen{{efn|Also spelt Volkersenn,{{sfnp |Heeres |1899 |p= }}{{page needed |date=April 2025}} Volkerson.}}) had been searching for survivors of Vergulde Draeck, which had been wrecked off the western coast of Australia in April 1656.{{cite web |title= Vergulde Draeck |website=museum.wa.gov.au |url=https://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/roaring-40s/vergulde-draeck|access-date=16 April 2022}}

File:Major islands off Perth, Western Australia.svg]]

Volkersen described the island in his journal:{{sfnp |Heeres |1899 |p=79 }}

{{blockquote |multiline=yes |author=Samuel Volkersen, 1658 |text=In slightly under 32° S. Lat. there is a large island, at about 3 miles' distance from the mainland of the South-land; this island has high mountains, with a good deal of brushwood and many thornbushes, so that it is hard to go over; here certain animals are found, since we saw many excrements, and besides two seals and a wild cat, resembling a civet-cat, but with browner hair. This island is dangerous to touch at, owing to the rocky reefs which are level with the water and below the surface, almost along the whole length of the shore; between it and the mainland there are also numerous rocks and reefs, and slightly more to southward there is another small island.

This large island to which we have been unwilling to give a name, leaving this matter to the Honourable Lord Governor-General's pleasure, may be seen at 7 or 8 miles' distance out at sea in fine weather. I surmise that brackish or freshwater might be obtainable there, and likewise good firewood, but not without great trouble.}}

In his 1681 chart, English captain John Daniel marked an island as Maiden's Isle, possibly referring to Rottnest. The name did not survive, however.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

The island was given the name {{lang |nl |{{'}}t Eylandt 't Rottenest}} ({{translation |Rats' Nest Island}}; the quokkas were mistaken for large rats{{cite web|url=https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/aboriginal-history/reconciliation-and-history-projects/wadjemup-the-land-beyond-the-shore|title=Wadjemup — The Land Beyond the Shore|publisher=Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries|date=2022-04-01|access-date=2022-04-16|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324075353/https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/aboriginal-history/reconciliation-and-history-projects/wadjemup-the-land-beyond-the-shore|url-status=dead}}) by Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh, who spent six days exploring the island from 29 December 1696. De Vlamingh led a fleet of three ships, De Geelvink, De Nijptang and Weseltje, searching for the survivors of {{ship||Ridderschap van Holland|1681|2}} that had gone missing two years earlier,{{cite web |publisher=VOC Historical Society |title=Willem de Vlamingh |url=http://www.vochistory.org.au/vlamingh.html |access-date=2022-04-16 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331080604/http://www.vochistory.org.au/vlamingh.html |url-status=dead }} and anchored on the northern side of the island, near the Basin. He described the island as "pleasurable above all islands I have ever seen—a paradise on earth".{{cite book |last=Playford |first=Phillip |title=Voyage of Discovery to Terra Australias by Willem de Vlamingh in 1696-97 |publisher=Western Australian Museum |year=1998 |isbn=0730712214 |location=Perth, WA |page=20 |author-link=Phillip Playford}} During their time on the island, they found no people. Holes were dug on the island, yielding water of good drinking quality. They also noted that the wood from the trees on the island had an exquisite scent{{snd}}akin to rosewood{{snd}}and a quantity was cut and brought on board the ship.

Other explorers who stopped at the island included members of the French expedition of Nicholas Baudin in {{ship|French corvette|Naturaliste||2}}{{rp|83,138–150}} and {{ship|French corvette|Géographe||2}} in 1801 (when he planted a flag and left a bottle with a letter){{cite book |last=Favenc |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Favenc |year=1888 |chapter=Chapter XVII |title=The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 |publisher=Turner and Henderson |location=Sydney |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300101h.html |access-date=4 May 2020}} and 1803, Phillip Parker King in 1822, and Captain James Stirling in 1827. Early visitors commonly reported that much of the island was heavily wooded, which is not the case today.{{cite book |last1=Appleyard |first1=R.T. |title=The Beginning: European discovery and early settlement of Swan River, Western Australia |last2=Manford |first2=Toby |publisher=University of Western Australia Press |year=1979 |isbn=0-85564-146-0}}

In 1831, shortly after the establishment of the British Swan River Colony at nearby Fremantle, William Clarke and Robert Thomson received land grants for town lots and pasture land on the island. Thomson immediately moved to the island with his wife and eight children. He developed pasture land for hay production west of Herschel Lake as well as salt harvesting from the several salt lakes which was then exported to the mainland settlement. Salt was an important commodity before the advent of refrigeration.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

File:Aboriginal slaves Rottnest 1883.png

Between 1838 and 1931, Aboriginal prisoners held on Rottnest Island were held in deplorable conditions and subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment. Of the approximately 3,600 people imprisoned there at one time or another over the 93 years the prison existed, at least 373{{cite web|url=https://ria.wa.gov.au/policy-and-reports/sustainability/Social-sustainability/Wadjemup-Aboriginal-Burial-Ground-Project|title=Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground|publisher=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=2022-10-17}} people died and were buried in unmarked graves in at least two areas{{Cite web |title=Rottnest Island Authority {{!}} Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground |url=https://ria.wa.gov.au/policy-and-reports/sustainability/Social-sustainability/Wadjemup-Aboriginal-Burial-Ground-Project#:~:text=State%20records%20indicate%20that%20at,the%20north%20of%20the%20Quod. |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=ria.wa.gov.au |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Acott |first=Kent |date=2018-03-25 |title=Old map could be key to mystery surrounding the deaths of hundreds of Aboriginal prisoners on Rottnest Island |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/rottnest/old-map-could-be-key-to-mystery-surrounding-the-deaths-of-hundreds-of-aboriginal-prisoners-on-rottnest-island-ng-b88779950z |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=The West Australian |language=en}} to the north of the Quod. It is the largest known deaths in custody gravesite in Australia.{{Cite web |title=Wadjemup Aboriginal burial ground conservation project |url=https://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/projects/aboriginal-burial-ground |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Rottnest Foundation |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Dark history of Wadjemup to finally be acknowledged |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/dark-history-of-wadjemup-to-finally-be-acknowledged/s8bzo7wis |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=NITV |date=2 June 2020 |language=en}}

Historical records note that the first cemetery, likely adjacent to the European cemetery, became full following an outbreak of influenza in 1883 and that a second was established further away from the prison. The area is now known as the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground. Although slavery, as legally defined, was never widespread in Western Australia (and, indeed, called blackbirding rather than plain slavery in the pearling industry), the "assignment" system effectively implemented a system of forced labour, and was condemned by Reverend J. B. Gribble and the Anti-Slavery Society. Aboriginal people who refused assignment were sent to Rottnest Island to be "civilised", and were used in chain gangs to perform hard labour including farming, quarrying and collecting salt.{{sfn |McGlade |2018 }} Most of the island's historic Settlement—including Government House (Hotel Rottnest), the church, Salt Store, museum, gift shop, original waterfront cottages and The Quod—was built by forced Aboriginal prison labour working under extremely harsh conditions.{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Neville |last2=Aguiar |first2=Susan |author3=Rottnest Island Authority |date=2018 |title=Far from home. Aboriginal prisoners of Rottnest Island 1838-1931 |publisher=Focus Education Service |location=Western Australia |isbn=978-0-9942119-4-1 |oclc=1076519849 }}

Six Aboriginal prisoners were sent to Rottnest Island in August 1838 under the superintendence of Constable Laurence Welch and a small military force:{{cite news |date=10 August 1839 |title=The Western Australian Journal |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/639009 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal |page=126 |via=Trove}} Helia, for murder; Buoyeen, for assault; Molly Dobbin, Tyoocan, Goodap and Cogat, for theft.{{cite news |date=1 September 1838 |title=Escape of Native Prisoners From Rottnest |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/639416 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal |location=WA |page=138 |via=Trove}} All six escaped shortly after their arrival by stealing Thomson's boat. Helia drowned during the crossing, but the others apparently survived.

The Colonial Secretary, Peter Broun, announced in June 1839 that the island would be converted to "an Establishment for the Aborigines",{{cite news |title=Lands on the Island of Rottnest |newspaper=The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal |date=22 June 1839 |page=98 |via=Trove |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/639060/1426 |access-date=24 July 2024}} and between 1838 and 1931 (except for the period from 1849 to 1855) Rottnest was used as an Aboriginal prison. Henry Vincent, the Gaoler at Fremantle, was put in charge of the establishment.

On 7 December 1848, there was another escape by Aboriginal prisoners, with eight out of the 10 prisoners then on the island escaping. Those who escaped came from the north and eastward. "The plan of escape, as related by one of themselves, exhibits considerable foresight and sagacity, being not only well conceived, but as well executed". The Aboriginals burrowed under the sill door until there was room for them to all pass underneath. They all then crept over the roof of Vincent's kitchen and proceeded to the salt house, through the window of which they got out a dinghy which was confined there. They then went to the pilot's whaleboat moored a short distance offshore, and succeeded in getting to the mainland {{convert|10|mi|km|order=flip}} north of Fremantle. Five of the escapees were retaken by J. Drummond at Toodyay.{{cite news |title=[no title cited] |newspaper=Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News |date=16 December 1848 |page=2}}

A quadrangular building was constructed between 1863 and 1864, and which is generally referred to as the Quod (deriving from the abbreviation {{linktext|quod}} for quadrangle); it was used for tourist accommodation until 2018, when it was closed after decades of protests by Aboriginal people.{{sfn |McGlade |2018 }} There were about twenty prisoners there in 1844; by 1880, there were 170. Vincent retired in 1867 after complaints regarding cruelty to prisoners; he was replaced by William Jackson. In the early 1880s, an influenza epidemic struck, killing about sixty inmates.

File:Quod, Rottnest - 1900-10.jpg

In 1902, the abolition of the prison was announced. At that time, there were 33{{nbsp}}Aboriginal prisoners serving sentences there.{{cite news |series=Rottnest Island |title=Abolition of the prison |newspaper=Western Mail |place=Western Australia |date=12 June 1902 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33211986 |access-date=2014-02-19}} However, the prison continued to be used as a forced labour camp for Aboriginal prisoners until 1931.{{Cite web |title=Rottnest Island {{!}} Aboriginal History |url=https://rottnestisland.com/the-island/about-the-island/our-history/aboriginal-history |access-date=2022-05-28 |website=rottnestisland.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Rottnest Island Legacy |url=https://www.alwayswadjemup.com/rottnest/legacy |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Untitled |language=en-US}}

Some 3,700{{nbsp}}Aboriginal men and boys were imprisoned there during the life of the establishment.{{cite report |series=Corporate Information |title=Reconciliation Action Plan |department=Rottnest Island Authority |publisher=Western Australia |url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/strategic-corporate-documents/corporate-information |access-date=2011-12-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108103804/http://www.rottnestisland.com/strategic-corporate-documents/corporate-information |archive-date=8 January 2012}} There may be as many as 369{{nbsp}}inmates' graves on the island; one writer has suggested that 95% of the deaths were from influenza.{{cite news |date=29 November 1936 |title=From a prison camp to holiday paradise |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/58775461 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Perth |page=20 |via=Trove}} In 2015—after numerous protests from local Aboriginal people for the Rottnest Island Authority to create a memorial recognising the events, deaths and unmarked graves which lie on Rottnest Island—work begun on the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground.

Artefacts from this period continue to be identified and recorded. Len Collard describes these artefacts, such as glass and ceramic spearheads, as an important demonstration of transitional cultural engineering through use of traditional methods to modify the new materials of European settlement.{{cite news |last=Zambotto |first=Louis |date=14 October 2015 |title=Rare complete glass spear unearthed on Rottnest Island |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-14/glass-spearhead-found-on-rottnest-island-off-perth/6854618 |access-date=20 October 2024 |publisher=ABC News}}

Five Aboriginal prisoners were executed on Rottnest in the late 19th century, all for murder:

• Tampin (16 July 1879): Hanged for the murder of John Moir at Stokes Inlet on 29 March 1877{{cite news |date=18 July 1879 |title=Black and White |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2981494 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Western Australian Times |location=Perth, WA |page=2 |via=Trove}}{{cite news |date=6 April 1877 |title=Native murder near Esperance Bay |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2977346 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Western Australian Times |location=Perth, WA |page=2 |via=Trove}}
• Wangabiddi (18 June 1883): Hanged for the murder of Charles Redfern at Minni-Minni on the Gascoyne River in May 1882{{cite news |date=28 April 1883 |title=Supreme Court – Criminal Sittings |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110503053 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Herald |location=Fremantle, WA |page=1 |via=Trove}}
• Guerilla (18 June 1883): Hanged for the murder of Anthony Cornish at Fitzroy River on 12 December 1882{{cite news |date=2 March 1883 |title=Occasional Notes |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2988371 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The West Australian |page=3 |via=Trove}}
• Naracorie (3 August 1883): Hanged for the murder of Charles Brackell at Wandagee on the Minilya River on 31 July 1882{{cite news |date=14 July 1883 |title=Murder at the Gascoyne |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109667143 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The Herald |location=Fremantle, WA |page=3 |via=Trove}}
• Calabungamarra (13 June 1888): Hanged for the murder of a Chinese man, Indyco, at Hamersley Range{{cite news |date=7 April 1888 |title=News from Roebourne |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32710190 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=Western Mail |location=Perth, WA |via=Trove}}

{{expand section|date=June 2016}}

In 2015 the restoration and recognition of the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground began.{{cite sign|title=Wadjemup Burial Ground|type=signs around the burial ground|date=2016-06-11|location=Rottnest Island}} {{As of|June 2016}} buildings have been removed from the site and pathway constructed around it.{{cite web|url=http://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/aboriginal-burial-ground/|title=Aboriginal Burial Ground|publisher=Rottnest Foundation|access-date=2016-06-12|archive-date=4 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804092301/http://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/aboriginal-burial-ground/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/2016/03/24/aboriginal-burial-ground-conservation-project-celebration-of-completion-of-phase-1-works/|title=Aboriginal Burial Ground Conservation Project Celebration of Completion of Phase 1 Works|date=2016-03-24|publisher=Rottnest Foundation|access-date=2016-06-12|archive-date=4 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804070310/http://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/2016/03/24/aboriginal-burial-ground-conservation-project-celebration-of-completion-of-phase-1-works/|url-status=dead}} Prior to the closure of the tourist camp in 2018, the burial ground was being using as a spot to pitch tents.{{sfn |McGlade |2018 }}

File:Wadjemup 100121 gnangarra-153.JPG

A reformatory for boys was opened on 16 May 1881.{{cite news |title=Answers to Correspondents |newspaper=The West Australian |date=22 February 1934 |page=14 |via=Trove |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32792909 |access-date=20 October 2024}} The reformatory buildings were adjacent to the Quod and included a workshop, a kitchen, two large dormitories, a school room and four small cells. Carpenter John Watson constructed the buildings and became the superintendent for the life of the establishment. Watson taught the boys carpentry, joinery and gardening.{{cite news |title=Rottnest Island |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=24 March 1934 |page=18 |via=Trove |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33015554 |access-date=7 November 2011}}{{cite news |date=5 June 1931 |title=The Early Days |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32524538 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |page=20 |via=Trove}}

During a severe influenza epidemic in 1883, the colonial surgeon, Alfred Waylen, directed one of the large rooms in the reformatory to be used as a hospital.{{cite report |last=Waylen |first=Alfred R. |author-link=Alfred Waylen |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/760586/Holdings |title=Report by the Colonial Surgeon on the Condition of the Sick Native Prisoners at Rottnest Prison |date=1883 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location=Perth |archive-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231190549/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/760586/Holdings |via=Trove |url-status=live}} An estimate of sixty Indigenous deaths for that year was given by eye-witness, Edward Watson.{{cite book |last=Watson |first=Edward Jack |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/40270970 |title=Rottnest: Its Tragedy and Its Glory |date=1998 |publisher=D.L. Watson |isbn=0646361147 |location=Western Australia |oclc=40270970}} In 1887, the prison superintendent reported one room in the reformatory still being used for sick prisoners, with two rooms used the previous winter, and made an appeal for a new hospital to be built for the Indigenous prisoners.{{cite report |title=Rottnest Prison Report for the Year 1886 |date=1887 |url=https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/report-on-rottnest-prison-for-the-year-1886-1887-005 |publisher=Western Australian Legislative Council}}

In May 1898, two boys disappeared, apparently drowned, after escaping from the reformatory and stealing a dinghy.{{cite news |date=19 May 1898 |title=The Rottnest Reformatory |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3212062 |access-date=20 October 2024 |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |page=2 |via=Trove}}

After 20 years of operation, the facility closed on 21 September 1901 when the remaining 14 inmates were transferred to an industrial school on the mainland.

The reformatory buildings were used as holiday accommodation as part of the Rottnest Lodge{{cite web |title=Heritage Icons – Rottnest Island |website=The Constitutional Centre of Western Australia |url=http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/175thAnniversary/HeritageIcons/Pages/May-RottnestIsland.aspx |access-date=6 November 2011}} until 2022 when they were closed for redevelopment of more recently constructed parts of the site to create new accommodation and tourist facilities.

In 1856, the settlement structures—the two-storey prison / workshop building, stables, barns and piggery were burnt down.Colonial Buildings of Thomson Bay on Rottnest Island pamphlet, Rottnest Island Authority, 2011 Their former locations are identified in the area between the shops in the settlement area. The fire was deliberately lit by the superintendent, Henry Vincent, after two prisoners had escaped into nearby bush.{{cite news |title=Local and domestic intelligence |newspaper=The Inquirer & Commercial News |location=Perth |date=13 February 1856 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66007188 |access-date=19 December 2011 |page=2 |via=Trove}} Vincent lit the fire with the intent of flushing the prisoners out of their hiding place. The prevailing winds at the time were blowing away from the buildings; however, the wind changed direction which brought the flames into the settlement. About {{convert|50|LT|t lb|order=out}} of hay was also destroyed.

Major bushfires occurred in March 1894, January 1910, January 1917, March 1939, February 1949, and a very significant fire which consumed around two-thirds of the island in 1955.{{cite journal |last1=Rippey |first1=M.E. |last2=Hobbs |first2=R.J. |year=2003 |title=The effects of fire and quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) on the vegetation of Rottnest Island, Western Australia |url=http://www.rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/86(2)/v86(2)rippey_hobbs.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia |volume=86 |pages=49–60 |access-date=20 June 2017 |archive-date=3 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303002008/https://www.rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/86(2)/v86(2)rippey_hobbs.pdf }} Some of these bushfires were caused by European hunting parties and on one occasion almost wiped out the quokka population.

In 1846, a pilot service was established under Captain Edward Back. It continued for 56 years until 1903.The following newspaper report includes suggestions that the service is no longer needed — the service closed the same year: {{cite news |title=Rottnest Pilot Service |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=2 April 1903 |page=7 |via=Trove |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/24858782 |access-date=18 December 2011}} The pilot's and crews quarters were located in at least three of the colonial buildings identified in the colonial buildings of Rottnest Island—buildings 4, 5 and 6.

Rottnest was the site of internment camps in both World War I and World War II{{cite news |title=Prisoners of War |newspaper=The West Australian |page=7 |via=Trove |location=Perth |date=27 February 1930 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32387441 |access-date=15 December 2011}} In World War I, it was mostly used for German and Austrian suspected enemy aliens, and was closed towards the end of the war, due to poor living conditions. The camp was sited near the present-day Caroline Thomson Camping Area.

In World War II, the camp was used exclusively for Italian enemy aliens and was situated near the airstrip.{{cite web |website=ozatwar.com |title=Rottnest island POW Hostel, WA, During WW2 |url=http://www.ozatwar.com/pow/rottnestpow.htm |access-date=2011-12-16}} It had capacity for 120 internees.

It was closed about halfway through the war, and its occupants were sent to various other internment and work camps on the mainland.{{cite web |title=Rottnest Island, Western Australia (1914–1915 and 1940) |work=National Archives of Australia |url=http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/online/feature-exhibits/internment-camps/wwii/rottnest-island.aspx |access-date=2010-06-19 |archive-date=28 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110328125135/http://naa.gov.au/whats-on/online/feature-exhibits/internment-camps/WWII/rottnest-island.aspx |url-status=dead }}

File: Rottnest Island Cannon.jpg at Oliver Hill|left]]

Also during World War II, two 9.2-inch guns were installed near the middle of the island at Oliver Hill, and two six-inch guns installed at Bickley Point,{{cite web |last=Dunn |first=Peter |title=Bickley battery Rottnest Island, Western Australia during WW2

|url=http://www.ozatwar.com/bunkers/bickleybattery.htm|work=ozatwar.com |access-date=20 May 2013}} for defence of the Fremantle port. The location of the island was seen as being important to the defense of the important port of Fremantle, the major base for the Allies in the Indian Ocean, as bombardment of any attacking ships could be made from the island before the ships would come into range of the port.

A light railway was built from the jetty at Kingstown Barracks on Thomson Bay, to transport materiel and munitions to the guns. Captain (later Brigadier) Frank Bertram Hussey (1908–1985) was seconded from the Australian Staff Corps{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/25131045 |title=Island weddings |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=4 March 1936 |access-date=3 May 2015 |page=19 |via=Trove}} to oversee the construction of this.{{cite news |url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/8298751/fortress-named-a-heritage-icon/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306205725/https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/8298751/fortress-named-a-heritage-icon/ |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |title=Fortress named a heritage icon |date=11 November 2010 |first=Kent |last=Acott |url-status=dead}} The military fixtures including the barracks and railway became known as the "Rottnest Island Fortress". A number of concrete lookouts and bunkers were built around the island also.

Near Wadjemup Lighthouse, a Battery Observation Post (BOP) was built as a lookout to coordinate aiming and firings from the Bickley and Oliver Hill Batteries. A Signals Building, associated with the BOP and a Women's Army Barracks, built to house officers and staff who operated the BOP were constructed there also. The latter building is used nowadays for occasional accommodation for University and other scientific research groups working on the island.

After World War II, the guns and infrastructure were decommissioned and parts of the railway removed. The 9.2-inch battery, however, was saved from disposal because the high cost of removing and shipping the guns to the mainland exceeded their value as scrap metal.

In the 1990s, the gun emplacements and railway were extensively reconstructed, and since then a popular tourist activity has included a tour of the guns and the tunnels, with the journey to the battery being made on a purpose-built train from Kingstown Barracks.

File:Fog signal on Wadjemup Hill.jpg

Prior to about 1880, communication with the mainland was primarily with semaphore flags and flares.{{cite book |author=Moynihan, John |title=All the News in a Flash. Rottnest Communications 1829-1979 |publisher=Telecom Australia and the Institution of Engineers, Australia |year=1988 |isbn=0-642-12107-9}} A staffed lookout at Bathurst Point included a signalling station which relayed shipping information between Wadjemup Lighthouse at the centre of the island and Arthur Head at Fremantle.

A heliograph was installed in 1879 at Signal Hill, the small rise overlooking the main settlement in Thomson Bay. A Frenchman by the name of Henri Courderot was the heliograph operator and was paid $10 per year{{anachronism inline |date=March 2025 |reason=The Australian dollar was not introduced until almost a century later. }} to operate the service once a day weather permitting.{{cn |date=March 2025}}

A single circuit submarine communications cable was laid from Cottesloe in 1900, after which the heliograph service was discontinued. This was replaced with a larger cable in 1935.

After Rottnest was proclaimed as an A-class Reserve in 1917, management was vested in the "Rottnest Island Board of Control" which continued until 1956. The first chairman was Hal Colebatch, who served from 13 May 1917 to 23 July 1956. Rottnest Island was declared an A class reserve under the Permanent Reserves Act in May 1917. A Board was then appointed under the Parks and Reserves Act to control and manage the island (excluding the lighthouse and prison reserve). The Board of Control became a Body Corporate in 1956 and became a Board of Management.{{cite web |url=https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/rottnest-island-board-of-control-au-wa-a1405 |title=AU WA A1405 - Rottnest Island Board of Control |publisher=State Records Office of WA |access-date=4 June 2018}}{{cite press release |department=Western Australia. Rottnest Board of Control | title=Spend your vacation at Rottnest : Western Australia's ideal island holiday resort | publication-date=1923 | publisher=Herald Print, Box & Carton Coy | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/20210122 | access-date=16 December 2011}}

Between 24 July 1956 and 29 May 1988, it was changed to the "Board of Management". Section 3, subsection 4 of the Parks and Reserves Act 1895–1955 provided legislative scope for the Rottnest Island Board of Control became a Body Corporate on 24 July 1956. The Rottnest Island Board of Control became the Rottnest Island Board of Management

{{blockquote |text=with power to sue and be sued in its corporate name, to acquire, hold, lease and dispose of real and personal property, to borrow money with the approval of the Governor and to do and permit to be done all things which are required by the Act to the be done by the Board"}}

until 1988 at which time it became the Rottnest Island Authority.{{cite web |url=https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/rottnest-island-board-of-management-au-wa-a681 |title=AU WA A681 - Rottnest Island Board of Management |publisher=State Records Office of WA |access-date=4 June 2018}} During this time the managing instrumentality was informally and generally referred to as the "Rottnest Island Board" (RIB). In 1988 the "Rottnest Island Authority" commenced operations.

In May 1966, Rottnest Island and Carnac Island were included in the boundaries of the Shire of Cockburn, which became the City of Cockburn in 1971. However, the council has "no involvement in or responsibility for any functions relating to the control and management of the islands".{{cite news|url=https://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/getattachment/180ced63-f5fc-40aa-88fc-7c1f1dd87c42/ECM_6469583_v1_Local-Planning-Strategy-text-pdf.aspx|title=The City of Cockburn - Local Planning Strategy|publisher=City of Cockburn|year=2017|pages=32–33}}

On 28 April 2017, the government of Western Australia announced that the Department of Parks and Wildlife would merge with the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, the Zoological Parks Authority and the Rottnest Island Authority on 1 July 2017 to form the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.The Public Sector Commissioner has released the [https://publicsector.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2017_agency_heads.pdf list of agency heads] to lead the new departments in the medium term on 28 April 2017. This follows the Premier's announcement on significant public sector reform and structural changes across the public sector. {{dead link |date=February 2021}}

Uniquely for Western Australia, the island is classified as a state reserve, the Rottnest Island State Reserve, being the only area in the state with this classification. The reserve extends beyond the island's shore and covers {{convert|5669|ha}}.{{cite web |author= |title=Terrestrial CAPAD 2022 WA summary |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/capad2022-terrestrial-wa.xlsx |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=dcceew.gov.au |publisher=Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/dashboard |title=Australian Protected Areas Dashboard |author= |website=dcceew.gov.au/ |publisher=Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |access-date=12 September 2023}}

Between March and May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the island was used as a quarantine station for arriving tourists and returning Australians.{{cite news |last1=Perpitch |first1=Nicolas |last2=Carmody |first2=James |name-list-style=and |date=29 April 2020 |title=WA coronavirus quarantine arrivals flying in from South Africa sent to Rottnest Island and Perth hotel |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-29/wa-coronavirus-quarantine-arrivals-head-for-rottnest-island/12196822 |access-date=17 May 2020 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-06-06|title=Perth pubs, zoo, Rottnest Island reopen as WA's COVID-19 count rises|url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-pubs-zoo-rottnest-island-reopen-as-wa-s-covid-19-count-rises-20200606-p5504l.html|access-date=2021-10-02|website=WAtoday|language=en}}

File:Rottnest aerial photo 2.jpgs are a refuge for the abundant birdlife.]]

Many coastal birds are frequently found in Rottnest. These include the pied cormorant, osprey, pied oystercatcher, silver gull, crested tern, fairy tern, bridled tern, rock parrot and the reef heron. The island salt lakes contain brine shrimp which support birds such as the red-necked avocet, banded stilt, ruddy turnstone, curlew sandpiper, red-capped dotterel, Australian shelduck, red-necked stint, grey plover, white-fronted chat, Caspian tern and the crested tern.{{cite book|title=Birds of Rottnest Island|author=Kilpatrick, Alan G.|publisher=The Emu|date=July 1932|url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU932030.pdf}} Several pairs of osprey nest at Rottnest each year; one nest at Salmon Point is estimated to be 70 years old. Introduced peafowl are often seen near the main settlement.

The island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports important breeding populations of the fairy terns (200 to 300 breeding pairs), over 1% of the non-breeding population of banded stilts (with up to 20,000 birds) and regionally significant numbers of wedge-tailed shearwaters and red-necked stints.{{cite web |url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Rottnest Island |access-date=2011-10-01 |work=Birdata |publisher=Birds Australia |archive-date=23 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323044014/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |url-status=dead }}

File:Rottnest Quokka 2004 SeanMcClean.jpg|left]]

Rottnest is one of the few areas in the world where the native quokka can be found.{{cite web | year = 2010 | url = http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/a-close-encounter-of-the-furry-kind.htm | title = A close encounter of the furry kind | publisher = Australian Geographic | access-date = 2010-04-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061955/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/a-close-encounter-of-the-furry-kind.htm | archive-date = 21 September 2013 | url-status = dead}} Its survival there is largely due to the exclusion of natural or introduced predators compared to the mainland.

Reptiles include dugite (Pseudonaja affinis), the southern blind snake (Ramphotyphlops australis), King's skink (Egernia kingii), bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa), marbled gecko (Christinus marmoratus), west coast ctenotus (Ctenotus fallens) and Burton's legless lizard (Lialis burtonis). There are three species of frogs: the moaning frog (Heleioporus eyrei), the western green tree frog (Litoria moorei) and the sign-bearing froglet (Crinia insignifera).{{cite web|url=https://www.rottnestisland.com/the-island/about-the-island/quokkas-and-wildlife/reptiles|title=Reptiles and amphibians of Rottnest|work=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=4 May 2020|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807032604/https://www.rottnestisland.com/the-island/about-the-island/quokkas-and-wildlife/reptiles|url-status=dead}}

File:Dolphin in Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island WA.jpg

With the extensive reefs surrounding the island, many species of fish, crustaceans and coral can be found. Cetaceans such as bottlenose dolphins, and migrating humpbacks,{{cn|date=January 2023}} and fewer southern rights, and the Perth Canyon off the island is one of main habitats for blue whales in Australia, for which there are also whale watching expeditions.{{Cite web|url=http://www.australianwhalewatching.com.au/whale-facts/blue-whales/|title=Blue Whales {{pipe}} Australian Whale Watching|website=Australianwhalewatching.com.au|access-date=3 May 2014|archive-date=3 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503182852/http://www.australianwhalewatching.com.au/whale-facts/blue-whales/|url-status=dead}} A colony of Australian sea lions reside at Dyer Island and a colony of New Zealand fur seals (Arctophoca forsteri) reside at Cathedral Rocks.{{cite web |url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/seals-making-home-on-rottnest/story-e6frg13u-1225837692792|title=Seals making home on Rottnest may attract sharks to area|website=Perthnow.com.au|date=6 March 2010}}

Domestic cats were introduced to Rottnest both as pets and as predators of commensal pest animals such as the black rat and house mouse at various times since European settlement. Historically, the Rottnest Island Authority has attempted to rid the island of all cats since the 1960s. It was suggested that cats may be influencing the abundance of native fauna and if left uncontrolled, the cat population was likely to increase and could result in considerable damage to ground-nesting birds and heavy predation pressure on quokkas and reptile species.

A feral cat monitoring and trapping campaign was conducted in November 2001 and 2002. Four cats were trapped and no further cat activity has been observed or cats sighted by Rottnest Island staff or the general public in the eight years subsequent to this program suggesting that eradication has been successfully achieved.{{cite journal |last1=Algar |first1=D |last2=Angus |first2=G J |last3=Onus |first3=M L |year=2011 |title=Eradication of feral cats on Rottnest Island, Western Australia |url=http://www.rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/94(3)/Algaretal.439-443.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia |volume=94 |pages=439–443 |access-date=24 May 2016 |archive-date=25 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625013002/http://www.rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/94(3)/Algaretal.439-443.pdf }}

In 2008, the island implemented a pest bird management plan to target birds considered to be pest species, including silver gulls, Australian ravens, common (ring-necked) pheasant, galahs, peafowl and rainbow lorikeets. Peafowl were believed to have been released on the island between 1910 and 1915. During the late 1950s, the population reached no more than fifty birds. Only three males (peacocks) were left after a 2009 cull.{{cite web |last=Amalfi |first=Carmelo |title=Rottnest culls feral peacocks |url=http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/environment/192-News/3199-rottnest-culls-feral-peacocks |website=ScienceNetwork WA |publisher=Scitech |access-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111004323/http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/environment/192-News/3199-rottnest-culls-feral-peacocks |archive-date=11 January 2011 |location=West Perth, WA |date=25 November 2010}}

File:CSIRO ScienceImage 11319 Spinifex growing on beach Rottnest Island Western Australia.jpg growing on a Rottnest beach]]

The island has three native woodland tree species: the Rottnest Island pine (Callitris preissii), the Rottnest Island teatree (Melaleuca lanceolata), and Acacia rostellifera.{{cite web|url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/About_Rottnest_Island/Flora_and_fauna/Pages/Plants_and_wildflowers.aspx|title=Plants and wildflowers of Rottnest Island|work=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=2010-06-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110610173529/http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/About_Rottnest_Island/Flora_and_fauna/Pages/Plants_and_wildflowers.aspx|archive-date=10 June 2011}} The Rottnest Island daisy (Trachymene coerulea) is a commonly occurring flowering native that is also grown widely as an ornamental garden plant. Coastal dune flora include searocket (Cakile), beach spinifex (Spinifex longifolius) and wild rosemary (Olearia axillaris).

A Pinus radiata plantation was established by internees during World War I, roughly bordering the main settlement, The Basin and Bathurst. Plantation remnants can be seen around the golf course.

Rottnest was often described as heavily wooded by early explorers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} Nearly 200 years of farmland clearing, firewood collection and bushfires has denuded much of the {{convert|19|km2}} of large trees, and a fragile and fresh water-scarce environment has limited natural recovery. A conservation program including reforestation is ongoing. An island-based nursery propagates plants with island provenance used in the reforestation program and in remediating uncontrolled beach access.

{{main|Geography of Rottnest Island}}

Rottnest Island has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Although the summers get little rain, they are humid.

{{Weather box

| location = Rottnest Island

| metric first = Yes

| single line = Yes

| Jan record high C = 41.9

| Feb record high C = 41.5

| Mar record high C = 40.8

| Apr record high C = 35.2

| May record high C = 29.2

| Jun record high C = 24.9

| Jul record high C = 23.4

| Aug record high C = 28.3

| Sep record high C = 32.8

| Oct record high C = 36.4

| Nov record high C = 38.4

| Dec record high C = 42.5

| Jan avg record high C = 36.5

| Feb avg record high C = 36.1

| Mar avg record high C = 35.3

| Apr avg record high C = 30.4

| May avg record high C = 25.8

| Jun avg record high C = 22.3

| Jul avg record high C = 21.2

| Aug avg record high C = 21.6

| Sep avg record high C = 24.0

| Oct avg record high C = 28.8

| Nov avg record high C = 32.5

| Dec avg record high C = 35.3

| year avg record high C = 38.8

| Jan high C = 26.7

| Feb high C = 27.3

| Mar high C = 26.1

| Apr high C = 23.8

| May high C = 21.2

| Jun high C = 18.8

| Jul high C = 17.9

| Aug high C = 18.0

| Sep high C = 18.9

| Oct high C = 20.6

| Nov high C = 23.1

| Dec high C = 25.3

| year high C = 22.3

| Jan low C = 19.2

| Feb low C = 19.5

| Mar low C = 18.8

| Apr low C = 17.3

| May low C = 15.2

| Jun low C = 13.4

| Jul low C = 12.5

| Aug low C = 12.4

| Sep low C = 13.0

| Oct low C = 14.1

| Nov low C = 15.9

| Dec low C = 17.8

| year low C = 15.8

| Jan avg record low C = 15.1

| Feb avg record low C = 15.3

| Mar avg record low C = 14.2

| Apr avg record low C = 13.1

| May avg record low C = 11.1

| Jun avg record low C = 9.9

| Jul avg record low C = 8.8

| Aug avg record low C = 8.7

| Sep avg record low C = 8.8

| Oct avg record low C = 10.0

| Nov avg record low C = 11.5

| Dec avg record low C = 13.4

| year avg record low C = 7.8

| Jan record low C = 11.3

| Feb record low C = 10.9

| Mar record low C = 9.5

| Apr record low C = 10.3

| May record low C = 8.8

| Jun record low C = 7.0

| Jul record low C = 6.6

| Aug record low C = 6.2

| Sep record low C = 6.7

| Oct record low C = 7.2

| Nov record low C = 6.6

| Dec record low C = 10.8

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 13.7

| Feb rain mm = 10.3

| Mar rain mm = 18.4

| Apr rain mm = 32.6

| May rain mm = 70.2

| Jun rain mm = 102.0

| Jul rain mm = 111.9

| Aug rain mm = 85.2

| Sep rain mm = 51.0

| Oct rain mm = 27.2

| Nov rain mm = 18.7

| Dec rain mm = 9.7

| year rain mm = 553.4

| Jan precipitation days = 2.2

| Feb precipitation days = 1.9

| Mar precipitation days = 3.9

| Apr precipitation days = 7.6

| May precipitation days = 11.3

| Jun precipitation days = 15.3

| Jul precipitation days = 18.3

| Aug precipitation days = 17.1

| Sep precipitation days = 13.1

| Oct precipitation days = 8.6

| Nov precipitation days = 5.4

| Dec precipitation days = 3.3

| year precipitation days = 108.0

| humidity colour = green

| time day = 15:00

| Jan afthumidity = 63

| Feb afthumidity = 61

| Mar afthumidity = 60

| Apr afthumidity = 61

| May afthumidity = 60

| Jun afthumidity = 63

| Jul afthumidity = 64

| Aug afthumidity = 64

| Sep afthumidity = 64

| Oct afthumidity = 63

| Nov afthumidity = 63

| Dec afthumidity = 61

| year humidity = 62

| source = Bureau of Meteorology{{cite web |title=Climate statistics for Australian locations – Rottnest Island |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_009193_All.shtml |website=Bureau of Meteorology |access-date=15 July 2020}}{{cite web |title=Monthly highest temperature – Rottnest Island |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=40&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_c=&p_stn_num=009193 |website=Bureau of Meteorology |access-date=15 July 2020}}{{cite web |title=Monthly lowest temperature – Rottnest Island |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=43&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_c=&p_stn_num=009193 |website=Bureau of Meteorology |access-date=15 July 2020}}
Temperatures and rain data: 1983–2020; Relative humidity: 1991–2010

| date = July 2020

}}

File:Wadjemup 100121 gnangarra-154.JPG]]

The island became largely devoted to recreational use from the 1900s, aside from a brief period of exclusive military use during World War II. It is now visited annually by 450,000 to 500,000 visitors, an average of 330,000 of those arriving by ferry or air taxi.{{cite web |year=2005 |title=About Rottnest Island |url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/About+Rottnest+Island/default.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220114752/http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/About+Rottnest+Island/default.htm |archive-date=2006-02-20 |access-date=2006-07-18 |publisher=Rottnest Island Authority}} Seventy per cent of all visitors come for the day only. The majority of visitors arrive in summer, with nearly 20% of all visitors coming in January.

The only motor vehicles permitted on the island are emergency and service vehicles, although there is also a bus service. Cycling is the transport of choice for most visitors, with many either bringing a bicycle with them or hiring one at the island's facility.{{cite web|url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/the-island/visitor-services/getting-around|title=Getting Around – By Bike|publisher=Rottnest Island Authority|access-date=2016-08-02|archive-date=14 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814152048/http://www.rottnestisland.com/the-island/visitor-services/getting-around|url-status=dead}}

The main settlement is located at Thomson Bay, which is a protected north-easterly bay facing the mainland. Other settlements are located at Geordie Bay and Longreach Bay on the northern side of the island. All are sheltered bays and well suited for boating and swimming. Many other bays around the island have permanent boat moorings which can be leased from the Rottnest Island Authority.

The island has accommodation for up to 5,500 visitors, while day-only visitors can number up to 20,000 at any one time.{{cite web | orig-year=1997 | year=2005 | url=http://eriss.erin.gov.au/settlements/industry/corporate/eecp/publications/wastewater/rottnest.html | title=Rottnest Island Wastewater Treatment Plant | work=Human settlements / Corporate sustainability | publisher=Department of the Environment and Heritage (Australia) | access-date=2006-07-18 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911053221/http://eriss.erin.gov.au/settlements/industry/corporate/eecp/publications/wastewater/rottnest.html | archive-date=11 September 2006}} Rottnest Island Authority accommodation options include 291 villas, units and cottages which sleep four, six or eight people and which are self-catering. This style of accommodation is reasonably basic. Demand for accommodation is very high during the summer months. Ballots are no longer held and guests can book up to 18 months in advance.File:Rottnest Geordie & Longreach settlements.jpgOther accommodation options include the below.

• Group accommodation at Kingstown Barracks.
• The Hotel Rottnest, formerly called the Quokka Arms Hotel and prior to that the Governor's residence.{{cite web |url=https://www.hotelrottnest.com.au/stay/ |year=2018 |title=Stay |website=Hotel Rottnest |access-date=15 November 2019}}
• The Rottnest Lodge.
• Cabins at Caroline Thomson provide an alternative to camping and are popular with families, sleeping up to six with self-contained cooking and washing facilities.{{cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/Accommodation/default.htm | title = Accommodation| publisher = Rottnest Island Authority | access-date = 2006-07-18 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20060110101435/http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/Accommodation/default.htm | archive-date = 10 January 2006}}

Most visitors arrive on one of the ferries from Fremantle, Perth and Hillarys. These are operated by Rottnest Express, Rottnest Fast Ferries and more recently SeaLink. Rottnest Island Airport for light aircraft is located near the main settlement.

The island was previously popular with Year 12 school leavers celebrating the end of their exams each November—known in Western Australia as "leavers week" or just "leavers"—RIA accommodation on the island was reserved for leavers during this time. Identification and proof of being a current secondary school leaver was required to book accommodation during this period. A decrease in attendance over this period of time has led to leavers week no longer occurring on Rottnest.{{citation needed |date=February 2021}}

File:Pinky's Bay Rottnest Island WA.JPG

Catering facilities in the Thomson Bay foreshore area include a Dôme coffee shop, Thomsons Restaurant; Quokka Joes; Rottnest Lodge and the Hotel Rottnest. The main settlement has a general store, including a liquor outlet, a bakery, cafe/coffee shop, Subway restaurant and clothing store. The Red Rooster store closed in 2011. The Lodge includes several restaurants and bars also. Geordie Bay also has a general store, liquor outlet and Geordie Cafe.

A luxury hotel was planned for the island but negotiations with preferred proponents ceased. The Authority stated that "The development of a new hotel at Mount Herschel remains a priority."{{cite web |url=http://www.wabusinessnews.com.au/en-story/1/70962/Talks-break-down-over-Rottnest-hotel- |title=Talks break down over Rottnest hotel {{pipe}} Business News |publisher=Wabusinessnews.com.au |access-date=2013-10-15 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The island was the site of an important Australian High Court case, Nagle v Rottnest Island Authority, which arose after a man dived off a rock on Rottnest Island and became a quadriplegic.{{cite AustLII|HCA|76|1993|litigants=Nagle v Rottnest Island Authority |parallelcite=(1993) 177 CLR 423; (1993) 112 ALR 393; (1993) 67 ALJR 426 |date=21 April 1993}}. It was held that, as the island authority had promoted the site as a venue for swimming and had not put up a warning notice, it was liable for causing the injury.

File:Wadjemup 100121 gnangarra-146.JPG

File:The Basin on Rottnest Island in 2019.jpg.]]

Diving is a popular activity at Rottnest. Its varied limestone reef terrain and plentiful fish make it an interesting diving destination. In particular, diving for crayfish and Western rock lobster is popular in the summer months. The season opens on 15 November each year and runs until 30 June. Crayfish may be caught in special traps or "pots", or when diving either by hand or by using a crayfish "loop". The loop is a spring-loaded steel cable attached to a long pole. It is illegal to use any means that might puncture the shell to catch the crayfish. The bag limit is 6 per licence per day, with a maximum of 12 per boat per day.

Local delicacies western rock lobsters (Panulirus cygnus) and sea scallops (Ylistrum balloti) are freshly caught and cooked on [https://rottnestcruises.com Rottnest Cruises] "Luxe Island Seafood Cruise" during open season.{{Cite web|title=Location - Rottnest Cruises|url=https://rottnestcruises.com/cruises/location/|access-date=2021-11-22|website=rottnestcruises.com}}

A snorkel trail at Parker Point features underwater interpretative plaques that give information about the marine environments surrounding Rottnest. The island is the southernmost point along the Western Australian coastline at which coral grows.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} The Rottnest Island Wreck Trail was developed in conjunction with the Western Australian Museum in 1980 as the first underwater interpretative trail in the southern hemisphere. Visits to some of the Rottnest Island shipwrecks, in essence a museum-without-walls can be made by glass-bottomed boat, or by scuba and snorkel. The SS Macedon site is one of the most visited wrecks in Australia.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}

The island's historic buildings and beaches are all reachable by cycling tracks. Cycling is the island's primary mode of transport. Private or hire cars are not allowed on the island.File:Wadjemup 100121 gnangarra-126.JPG

• The Rottnest Channel Swim is a long-distance swimming event from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island held each February.
• The Rottnest Marathon & Fun Run is an annual running event operated late each October by the West Australian Marathon Club. Event distances are {{cvt|5|km|1}}, {{cvt|10|km|1}} and the marathon distance {{convert|42.2|km|1}}.
• "Rottofest" is a popular comedy, film and music festival held annually in September.{{Cite web|url=https://rottofest.com.au/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412213122/https://rottofest.com.au/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 April 2018|title=Rottofest 2017|date=12 April 2018}}
• Leavers week (November), when high-school graduates visit Rottnest to celebrate the end of their final exams. Although in recent times 'leavers' no longer occurs due to major falls in popularity.{{Cite news |date=2019-10-30 |title=School leavers celebrations canned at Rottnest Island |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-30/rotto-leavers-canned-with-students-heading-south-instead/11656002 |access-date=2023-11-14}}{{Cite web |last=Barry |first=Hannah |date=2018-11-22 |title=Rottnest ghost town: Leavers stay away from island |url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/rottnest-ghost-town-leavers-stay-away-from-island-20181122-p50hp6.html |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=WAtoday |language=en}}
• "Swim Thru Rottnest" is an annual 1,600-metre swim held on the first Saturday in December. The event was first held in 1977. Competitors start on the east side of the Army Jetty in Thomson Bay, swim to the natural jetty and then return to the Army jetty. The event is run by the Cottesloe Crabs Winter Swimming Club.
• "The Doctor" is a {{cvt|27|km|4=0|abbr=on}} surfski and paddle race from the Army jetty to Sorrento Beach. It is held each January.{{cite web|url=http://www.oceanpaddler.com/Static/Events/TheDoctor/Default.aspx|title=The Doctor|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122061000/http://oceanpaddler.com/Static/Events/TheDoctor/Default.aspx|archive-date=22 January 2009}}
• "Fremantle to Rottnest Big Splash" is a masters swimming race from Leighton Beach to Rottnest.

File:Sea Eagle Express, Fremantle, 2015 (01).JPG|left]]

In 2017, a new ferry operator, SeaLink Rottnest Island, commenced services to the island and reduced the ferry costs by 30%.{{cite news |title=Launch of Sealink WA's Rottnest Island ferry service helps slash prices for tourist destination |date=4 November 2017 |newspaper=The West Australian |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/launch-of-sealink-was-rottnest-island-ferry-service-helps-slash-prices-for-tourist-destination-ng-b88650282z |access-date=2025-04-12 }}{{author missing |date=March 2025}}

Other ferry services are provided from Perth and Fremantle by Rottnest Express[https://web.archive.org/web/20150905142955/https://www.rottnestexpress.com.au/ferry-timetable Ferry Timetable]{{full citation needed |date=April 2025}} and Rottnest Fast Ferries from Hillarys Boat Harbour. Ferries take approximately 25 minutes from Fremantle, 45 minutes from Hillarys, or 90 minutes from Perth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottnestfastferries.com.au/packages/timetable/|title=Rottnest Ferry Timetable|website=Rottnestfastferries.com.au}}{{full citation needed |date=April 2025}}

Bus services on the island were previously operated by the Rottnest Island Authority under the Island Explorer brand. In November 2015, Adams Coachlines {{update after |2025 |11 |text=commenced a 10-year contract to operate all bus services.}}{{cite web |title=ADAMS to provide bus service on Rottnest Island |date=2015-10-08 |website=Rottnest Island Authority |url=http://ria.wa.gov.au/Articles/latest-news/adams-to-provide-bus-service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222100005/http://ria.wa.gov.au/Articles/latest-news/adams-to-provide-bus-service |archive-date=2015-12-22 |access-date=2025-04-12 }}[http://www.australianpinnacletours.com.au/about-us/news-articles/82-adams-rottnest-island Adams Rottnest Island 2015] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222115257/http://www.australianpinnacletours.com.au/about-us/news-articles/82-adams-rottnest-island |date=22 December 2015 }} Adams Coachlines[http://www.busnews.com.au/industry-news/1510/wa-operator-gets-rottnest-gig/ WA Operator gets Rottnest gig], Australasian Bus & Coach, 12 October 2015

Helicopter and light plane flights are also available.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Geoffrey |title=Helicopters to take tourists from Crown to Rottnest |url=https://thewest.com.au/travel/air-aviation/helicopters-to-take-tourists-from-crown-to-rottnest-ng-b88353335z |access-date=23 January 2019 |newspaper=The West Australian |date=15 January 2017 |language=en}}

Private cars are not allowed on the island; the most common private transport is by bicycle or walking.{{cite web|title=Application for Grant of Tavern Licence Discovery Eco - Village – Rottnest Island |url=https://www.rgl.wa.gov.au/docs/default-source/rgl/e190920018_pia_578493_1.pdf?sfvrsn=0|website=Rgl.wa.gov.au|access-date=23 January 2019|page=33}}

File:OliverHillRailwayStation.jpg

In 1993, the World War II light railway from the Kingstown Barracks to Oliver Hill Battery was extensively refurbished and turned into the Oliver Hill Railway. A {{convert|1|km|adj=on|spell=in}} spur line was built to the Settlement and services were opened to the public in 1994.{{cite news|url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/wheel-of-a-time-in-rotto-ng-ya-373300|title=Wheel of a time in Rotto|newspaper=The West Australian|date=30 June 2014|first=Leyanne|last=Baillie|access-date=3 September 2024}}

In November 2003 a new railcar was put into service for this route, named the Captain Hussey after Frank Bertram Hussey who oversaw the construction of the original railway. The railcar was built with volunteer assistance, and cost {{AUD|171,500|link=yes}}, equivalent to {{AUD|{{Inflation|AU|171500|2003|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation/year|AU}}.{{cite report |title=Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2004 |date=30 June 2004 |department=Rottnest Island Authority |publisher=Western Australia |access-date=3 May 2015 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/docs/ria-annual-report/annual_report_0304.pdf?Status=Master |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323054000/http://www.rottnestisland.com/docs/ria-annual-report/annual_report_0304.pdf?Status=Master |archive-date=23 March 2015}}

In 2019, Arc Infrastructure undertook a major refurbishment of the railway valued at over $300,000, including the installation of 1,200 new sleepers.{{cite news|url=https://www.railexpress.com.au/arc-infrastructure-invests-300-000-in-was-oliver-hill-railway/|title=Arc Infrastructure invests $300, 000 in WA's Oliver Hill Railway|newspaper=Rail Express|date=19 November 2019|access-date=3 September 2024}}

File:Wind turbine on Rottnest Island.jpg

Rottnest Island has few permanent residents, with most island workers commuting from the mainland.

As Rottnest is isolated from the mainland, and has no fresh surface water, providing water, power and waste disposal has always been difficult and expensive. In 1996, Rottnest introduced the first public-place recycling program in Western Australia. In 2000, the island won the 3R awards (reduce, reuse and recycle). A daily supply barge (the Spinifex) makes a return trip from Fremantle, delivering supplies and removing rubbish.

For many years during the twentieth century, the water supply was rainwater harvested from several large bitumen-sealed catchment areas behind Longreach Bay. In the 1970s, fresh water was found underground and was used to supplement the rainfall supply. In 1995, the supply was further supplemented with desalinated groundwater, using a reverse osmosis plant producing up to {{cvt|500|kL|usgal}} per day.

Experimental wind turbines were commissioned in 1978;{{cite web|url=http://www.verveenergy.com.au/mainContent/sustainableEnergy/Sustainable%20technologies/Wind_power.html|title=Harnessing wind power|work=Verve Energy|access-date=14 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816070936/http://www.verveenergy.com.au/mainContent/sustainableEnergy/Sustainable%20technologies/Wind_power.html|archive-date=16 August 2011}} however, high maintenance requirements and excessive power generation resulted in diesel fuel remaining the main power source. In 2004, a new {{cvt|600|kW}} wind-diesel system was erected; other works at the time included upgrades to the power station and the installation of low load diesel generators.{{cite web|url=http://www.daws.com.au/projects/Rottnest_Island.html|title=Rottnest Island|work=Verve Energy|access-date=14 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20060819050349/http://www.daws.com.au/projects/Rottnest_Island.html|archive-date=19 August 2006}} The wind turbine delivers approximately 37% of Rottnest's power requirements and saves over {{cvt|400000|L|usgal}} of diesel fuel per year.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060609074341/http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/Education+and+Environment/Environmental+Initiatives/default.htm Rottnest Island Environmental Initiatives] The Rottnest Island Authority. Retrieved 17 October 2006.

Two fully automated lighthouses operate on the island to aid passing maritime traffic: Bathurst Lighthouse and Wadjemup Lighthouse. An extensive network of flashing markers and transit beacons indicate safe passages through the rocky entrances to bays.

Volunteering has been a part of the culture on Rottnest Island since the Winnit Club began working there in the summer of 1930–1931. Other volunteer organisations have included the Rottnest Island Foundation, the Rottnest Society, and the Rottnest Voluntary Guides Association. Tasks vary, including guided tours, tree planting, litter collection, and the building of access boardwalks and stairs.

The RIA employs a full-time volunteer coordinator. Rottnest Island Volunteer Fire and Rescue Services, this brigade is a "private brigade" where the RIA funds critical funding to allow the brigade to function. The brigade is trained to be first response to any emergency on the island, assisted by agencies on and off the island. Most of the members are working residents in volunteering roles.

• A 1912 film, Trip to Rottnest, made by the Australian Government to popularise Rottnest as a holiday destination, is thought to be one of the first of its kind.{{cite web|url=http://henrietta.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b1384733~S2|title=A Trip to Rottnest [videorecording]|work=State Library of Western Australia|access-date=24 July 2010}}

• Rottnest ship graveyard

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist |30em |refs =

{{cite news |last=Duffy |first=Evelyn |date=31 October 2000 |title=Volunteers work behind the scenes |url=https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Volunteers-work-behind-the-scenes |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Business News Western Australia |quote=The work undertaken by volunteer groups ensures Rottnest not only remains the ideal location for Perth holiday makers, but has a great deal of importance for the ecology of the Island.}}

{{cite Q|Q128790983|mode=cs1}}

{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Rosie |date=9 October 2009 |title=5th Western Australian State Coastal Conference 2009. Invaluable volunteers. Making the most of volunteer contribution to the environmental and cultural wellbeing of Rottnest Island. |url=http://www.perthregionnrm.com/media/3125/cc-smith.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223213857/http://www.perthregionnrm.com/media/3125/cc-smith.pdf |archive-date=23 February 2014 |access-date=2014-02-16 |quote=There are also individuals who perform skilled tasks such as furniture refurbishment, railway maintenance and wildlife surveys. The main volunteering season runs from May to October each year.}}

}}

{{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Dortch |first1=Joe |last2=Dortch |first2=Charles |author2-link=Charles Dortch |year=2012 |title=Archaeological evidence for early human presence in the western reaches of the Greater Swan Region, Western Australia |pages=51–76 |journal=Fremantle Studies |volume=7 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Dortch |first1=Joe |last2=Dortch |first2=Charles |author2-link=Charles Dortch |year=2019 |title=Late Quaternary Aboriginal hunter-gatherer occupation of the Greater Swan Region, south-western Australia |pages=15–29 |journal=Australian Archaeology |volume=85 |doi=10.1080/03122417.2019.1594556 }}
• {{cite Q |Q133908667 |mode=cs1 |last=Heeres |first=Jan Ernst }}{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFHeeres1899}}
• {{cite news |last=McGlade |first=Hannah |author-link=Hannah McGlade |date=30 May 2018 |title=Rottnest Island 'tent land' closure an important day for Aboriginal people |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-31/quod-rottnest-island-aboriginal-land-mass-burial-gravesite/9811930 |access-date=2025-04-16 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Playford |first=Phillip |author-link=Phillip Playford |year=2004 |title=Geology and Hydrogeology of Rottnest Island, Western Australia |pages=783–810 |journal=Developments in Sedimentology |volume=54 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1016/s0070-4571(04)80049-9 |isbn=978-0-444-51644-2 }}

{{Refend}}

;Books

{{Refbegin |30em}}

• {{cite book|first1=Ann|last1=Curthoys|first2=Shino|last2=Konishi|first3=Alexandra|last3=Ludewig|title=The Lives and Legacies of a Carceral Island: A Biographical History of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island|isbn=9781032185057|year=2024|publisher=Routledge}}
• {{cite book|first1=Prue|last1=Joske|first2=Chris|last2=Jeffery|first3=Louise|last3=Hoffman|title=Rottnest Island: A Documentary History|publisher=Centre for Migration and Development Studies|isbn=9780864224255|year=1997}}
• {{cite book|first=Alexandra|last=Ludewig|title=War Time on Wadjemup: A Social History of the Rottnest Island Internment Camp|publisher=UWA Publishing|year=2019|isbn=9781760801168}}

{{Refend}}

;Journal articles

{{Refbegin |30em}}

• {{cite journal|title=Rottnest Island artifacts and palaeosols in the context of Greater Swan Region prehistory|first1=Charles|last1=Dortch|first2=Patrick|last2=Hesp|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia|volume=77|pages=23–32|year=1994}}
• {{cite journal|url=https://australianarchaeologicalassociation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Hesp-et-al-1999.pdf|title=Aboriginal occupation on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, provisionally dated by Aspartic Acid Racemisation assay of land snails to greater than 50 ka|journal=Australian Archaeology|volume=49|year=1999|first1=Patrick|last1=Hesp|first2=Colin|last2=Murray-Wallace|first3=Charles|last3=Dortch|pages=7–12 |doi=10.1080/03122417.1999.11681647}}

{{Refend}}

;News articles

{{Refbegin |30em}}

• {{cite web |last=Hirini |first=Rangi |date=2 June 2020 |title=Dark history of Wadjemup to finally be acknowledged |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2020/06/02/dark-history-wadjemup-finally-be-acknowledged |publisher=NITV News |access-date=14 June 2020|ref=none}}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-25/rottnest-island-black-prison-to-white-playground/7962940 |title=Rottnest Island: Black prison to white playground |first=Kirsti |last=Melville |date=2016-10-25 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=2022-05-12 }}

{{Refend}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{Official website |https://ria.wa.gov.au/ |Rottnest Island Authority}}
• {{Official website |https://www.rottnestfoundation.org.au/ |Rottnest Foundation}}

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