We’re taking the government to court over Woodside’s destructive and damaging gas project!
Come and hear more about this unique archaeological treasure and our 20-year battle to save it on Sunday 19 July 2026 at 2pm
Tickets may be purchased at - https://events.humanitix.com/the-ancient-rock-art-of-murujuga-will-it-survive
Friends of Australian Rock Art's Federal Court challenge to Woodside's North West Shelf extension will begin in Melbourne on Tuesday 21 July.
This hearing represents the next chapter in a fight that has been decades in the making.
We can no longer stand by while Ministers make decisions to enable Woodside’s highly polluting gas developments while conveniently ignoring the legislation which is intended to protect our environment, including the most significant rock art in the world at Murujuga!
We urgently need your help to fund these legal challenges.
Every dollar will go directly towards legal costs in these critical court cases.
Donate via bank transfer or Paypal or Chuffed.
Murujuga is the oldest and largest rock art site in the world, with approximately 2 million petroglyphs/rock engravings spread across the Burrup Peninsula, part of the Dampier Archipelago in WA’s Pilbara region. These include long-extinct megafauna, marine mammals and archaic faces - the oldest known depictions of the human face on earth.
Murujuga represents a continuous, unbroken record of human history in stone dating back 50,000 years. Dr Benjamin Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), University of Western Australiadescribes it as the most significant rock art site on the planet.
Although it was World Heritage Listed in July 2025, it is still being degraded by toxic chemical emissions from Woodside’s massively polluting LNG plant which was granted an extension until 2070 byboth the WA and Federal governments. Friends of Australian Rock Art will be challenging these approvals in the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne on 21-27 July 2026 and we are delighted to be joined by a UN Special Rapporteur – the first time such an eminent authority on international law has appeared in an Australian court. The Australian Conservation Foundation is bringing a separate challenge to the project, to be heard in the same week as FARA’s case.
Come and hear more about this unique archaeological treasure and our 20-year battle to save it on Sunday 19 July 2026 at 2pm. Our speakers will be -
Raelene Cooper - Mardathoonera woman, Murujuga traditional custodian and lead campaigner with Save our Songlines
Dr Ken Mulvaney - archaeologist, world authority on the Murujuga rock art and long-term resident in the Murujuga area
Dr John L Black – responsible for pioneering scientific research demonstrating how industrial emissions are degrading the Murujuga rock art
Piers Verstegen - Director, Climate Safe Solutions, discussing the impacts of emissions on the rock art and climate change
Judith Hugo OAM - FARA Co-convenor and public lecture Chair.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures, and to the elders, past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised this website contains the names, images and stories of people who have passed away.
Since 2006, we’ve advocated for the preservation of Australian rock art.
We work to protect, preserve and promote Australian rock art, particularly the petroglyphs found in the Dampier Archipelago (including Murujuga/Burrup Peninsula) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Western Australia is home to precious, priceless cultural heritage.
The Burrup Peninsula, or Murujuga, is a unique ecological, spiritual and archaeological area containing the world’s oldest, largest and most important collection of petroglyphs and ancient rock carvings.
Join our supporter’s list to stay up to date on our work to protect the Murujuga rock art.
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