Roxby Downs, South Australia
Roxby Downs is a town in South Australia, about 511 kilometers north of Adelaide. It was built in the late 1980s to support the nearby Olympic Dam mine and officially opened in 1988. The town has around 3,900 people (based on the 2016 census) and offers many facilities such as a swimming pool, cinema, cultural spaces, a shopping centre, schools, and sports clubs.
Where it is and how it’s run: Roxby Downs sits in the Far North region and is managed by the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, with parts of the area in an unincorporated region. Water is drawn from the Great Artesian Basin, desalinated by the mine, and piped to the town. In 2004, the town’s daily water use was about 3 megalitres.
Nearby towns: Andamooka (opal mining) is about 30 kilometers to the east, and Woomera is about 84 kilometers to the south.
Environment: The area was heavily overgrazed after European settlement, which harmed local plants and animals. Some native species are now extinct or threatened. The Arid Recovery Reserve, about 20 kilometers north of Roxby Downs, protects arid lands and removes feral animals like rabbits, cats, and foxes. The reserve covers about 123 square kilometers as of 2024 and focuses on conservation, research, and education. In 2020, nine bilbies were released to help increase biodiversity and gene variety.
Climate: Roxby Downs has a hot desert climate with very hot summers and mild winters. Summer highs average around 37°C, winter highs around 18–19°C, and winter nights can fall to around 4°C. The area gets about 149 millimeters of rainfall each year, spread across the year. Extreme temperatures have ranged from very close to -6°C to nearly 50°C.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:15 (CET).