Bare Island is significant to a number of well-defined groups either as a discrete entity or as part of a broader social setting. Bare Island has significance as part of the land used and exploited by members of the La Perouse Aboriginal community over the past century. This includes the use of the beaches and surrounding waters for food gathering, work and recreation, the relationships formed with soldiers stationed on the island and with the veterans, and as part of the social landscape of the community. It also has an added association with Cook, Banks, Phillip and La Perouse and therefore represents for the wider Aboriginal community a significant contact point in the history of European – Aboriginal relationships.