The name Ieramugadu, also spelt Yirramagardu, which is used by the local Aboriginal community to describe Roebourne, is the Ngarluma word[3] for a native fig (Ficus) species that is found in and around the area.

He and his exploration party arrived at the head of Nickol Bay, landing near what was to become Roebourne, and travelling about 60 kilometres (40 mi) inland to present-day Millstream Station.

The Withnells established themselves on the banks of the Harding River 13 km from the coast, where they had access to a reasonable fresh water supply, and took up 30,000 acres (120 km2) at the foot of Mount Welcome.

[citation needed] The government resident, Robert John Sholl, arrived in November 1865[6] from the failed Camden Harbour settlement (near Kuri Bay) to provide assistance in developing the region and set up camp near the Withnells' home while trying to find a suitable townsite.

Sholl was justice of the peace, district registrar and magistrate, and he was concerned with the plight of the local Aboriginal people and made submissions to the Government to ensure they had basic rights.

[7] Many European men located in Roebourne in the late 1800s were directly and indirectly perpetrators of the Flying Foam massacre committed on the Murujuga area against the Yaburrara people.

[citation needed] The area was struck by another cyclone in 1925 that destroyed the Port Samson jetty and lifted the Pope's Nose bridge from the river bed.

However, as mining companies seeking to exploit the iron ore in the region constructed other company towns such as Dampier and Wickham for their workers, and as pastoralism declined, and with changing attitudes to Aboriginal welfare at governmental level in the late 1960s, Roebourne became a majority Aboriginal town as people moved out of the crowded camps and reserves, and from the outlying stations.

The report showed that Roebourne (with a largely Aboriginal population of 1,200) had ratios of police to citizens that were five times that of towns in more settled parts of Western Australia.

It is a reclamation of the Victoria Hotel, infamous for a 1983 incident where police officers assaulted and killed John Pat, a sixteen-year-old Yindjibarndi boy.

For decades, NYFL has delivered the award winning Warrgamugardi Yirdiyabura (WY) Program, which promotes economic self-determination for Roebourne Ngarda-ngarli (Aboriginal people).

However, by mid 2022, the Commercial Arm, which had been temporarily rebranded as Garlbagu, lost approximately a $1,700,000 in a single financial year and accumulated major tax liabilities.

In August 2022 the NYFL Board appointed Sean-Paul Stephens to lead the restructure, revamp the Foundation and Trust, and to renegotiate major agreements.

Furthermore, the National Indigenous Times reported that NYFL, alongside elders and community leaders, had transformed the town of Roebourne and returning a sense of pride.

[21] The Pilbara News reported that community-led facilities and support, such as those led by NYFL’s new leadership have been key to Roebourne's changing identity.

NYFL operates the not-for-profit "social supermarket" at the Old Roebourne General Store located on the North West Coastal Highway, also known as Roe Street, in Roebourne-town.

In 2021-22 it delivered five project streams, including NEO-Learning, an education platform suitable for primary schools, with digital content created by Roebourne children.