Here is a story about a Partnership Agreement between Wiluna Remote Community School and Wiluna NAHS medical centre.  This partnership is the first for Wiluna.

Wiluna is a small town on the edge of the desert.  Warri and Yatungka  were believed to be the last of the Mandildjara tribe and were perhaps Australia’s last desert nomads leading the traditional Indigenous lifestyle. Long after the Mandildjara people (known also as Martu) had gravitated to urban settlements this couple survived for decades on their own, hunting and eating native fruits’. They left the bush for the last time and came in to Wiluna town in 1977.  They past away not long after and their deaths marked the end of an Indigenous lifestyle that stretched back more than 40,000 years.

We are trying to make things better for our children and their future.  We want to tell people our story.

So far these are the good things that have come from the Partnership Agreement in a short time of only 5 months.

1. Health partnership report approved by school council and NAHS medical board and recommendations are now being implemented
2. Official signing of the partnership to occur on Wednesday 3 July.
3. Two nurses every day for one hour to address ongoing health problems within individuals
4. With the overall screening of the students in this way has meant one girl was evacuated out of Wiluna from school for emergency surgery – had she not seen anyone that week, the doctor was adamant she would have lost an eye.
5. Students who have needed ongoing medicine/treatment and follow up are now getting this
6. Medical staff attend to an average of 7-10 students per day
7. The two service providers are sharing resources – e.g. The school and NAHS went halves in some expensive professional learning for a NAHS employee to attend Aboriginal specific counselling
8. The school has seen services come into the school they haven’t had in the past 5-10 years
9. Under the Health Partnership there has been an interagency initiative to work on a program together for children who engage in substance misuse
10. The two boards (NAHS and school council) now refer to the partnership in their decision making
11. Under the Health Partnership the school’s Student at Risk committee are now prioritising services to students in order of greatest need
12. The school is called regularly regarding new programs and initiative occurring within NAHS
13. The children love it!

If you would like to know more about our story, please contact me.

Gail Allison

Wiluna Remote Community

Collaborative Systemic Change has been having conversations with remote Indigenous communities in Queensland following the decision by Minister Elmes to review Alcohol Management Plans (AMPs) in the seventeen Indigenous Shire Councils.

It was made clear that CSC had considerable experience in developing AMPs through its experiences in the Northern Territory since 2007

Communication was then held with Minister Elmes’ office and the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs (DATSIMA) which brought a request for a submission to the Review.

CSC has also met with the Minister’s Office and DATSIMA personnel.