One of these settlements was Yalata, located far to the south. The community at Ooldea was relocated there in 1952. In 1981, Barton was chosen as a community adviser for Yalata. Four years later, in January 1985, the government of South Australia handed back the native title to the Maralinga Tjarutja lands. Barton was appointed administrator of the newly created Maralinga Land Rights Council. However, the land remained contaminated from the nuclear waste and was not fit to be lived in.