Ngangganawili Aboriginal Health Service

Ngangganawili Aboriginal Community Controlled Health and Medical Services Organization trading as the Ngangganawili Aboriginal Health Services (NAHS) was incorporated as an Aboriginal Corporation in 1993. NAHS is an Aboriginal community controlled organisation that has been providing holistic and culturally secure health services to the Aboriginal people of the Wiluna and surrounding remote communities since 1993. The 14 members of NAHS Board of Directors are all Aboriginal people; two directors represent each of the Aboriginal Communities in the Wiluna region.

The Shire of Wiluna covers an area of some 184,000 square kilometres, which is predominantly a mining and pastoral area. The town of Wiluna is the principal centre in the Shire, and there are also a number of surrounding mining villages and Aboriginal communities. The township of Wiluna is approximately 949 kilometres northeast of Perth and is situated on the edge of the desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. Meekatharra, 185 Km west of Wiluna is the closest town. The road between Wiluna and Meekatharra is unsealed and closed to traffic after moderate and heavy rainfall. A sealed (all weather) highway runs from Wiluna 530 Km south to Kalgoorlie. Towns north or east, Halls Creek and Alice Springs, are both 1,800 Km from Wiluna

In 1995, the Department of Health WA licensed NAHS to operate its Nursing Post in Wiluna. For the past 21 year NAHS has been the sole health services provider to all Aboriginal and non-indigenous residents and visitors in the Wiluna shire and wider region. From 1995 to 2013, NAHS operated its Medical Centre from WA Department of Health owned property in Wiluna. In 2012 the State and Commonwealth Governments jointly funded a purpose built Health Campus in Wiluna. In 2013 NAHS took ownership and moved its services to the new Health Campus.

The GP Medical Centre operates in Wiluna, and outreach clinical services are delivered to the Kutkabubba and Bondini communities, providing a range of comprehensive primary health care and management of chronic disease services. NAHS plays an integral role in health service provision for the Aboriginal and non­indigenous population in the Central Desert Region. NAHS delivers more than 10,000 episodes of health care per annum to up to 4,000 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal clients. NAHS is a critical first point of contact between the community and the WA health care system.

The Martu people traditionally came from the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. The area extends from Hall Creek south to Leonora, and east from Newman across Australia to Alice Springs. The area around Wiluna was on the western edge of Martu country and the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway became funnels for the Martu people to leave the desert and move south and west to settle in the Wiluna area. This exodus from the desert was encouraged by government in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the last of the Martu settling in Wiluna in the 1970’s. There are people living in Wiluna who remember coming in from the desert and living on the fringes of the town or on pastoral stations. The Martu people of the Wiluna district have maintained strong cultural links to their land and their language is intact. In July 2013 the Martu people were granted Native Title over approximately 50,000 square kilometres in and around Wiluna.

The population of the region is highly mobile. Factors that affect the movement of the community are generally related to social and cultural engagement; including temporary migration to larger population centres, funerals, family issues, and travel to other communities for camps, meetings and law ceremonies.

The mobility of the population has implications for service planning and delivery. The current model of service delivery enables NAHS to be responsive to meet the needs of the population's mobility and provide an additional level of service activity when the need arises.
As a long standing and successful fully Aboriginal Controlled health service, NAHS is seen by the Wiluna Aboriginal Community as the organization that primarily represents its interests, and NAHS is often called upon to advocate for Aboriginal people on issues outside of Health.

NAHS has active partnerships with the Wiluna Remote Area School, Shire of Wiluna, Durack TAFE, Wiluna Police, Wiluna DCP, and GETS (the local Jobs Services Provider). NAHS is a member of AHCWA, and participates in the Goldfields Aboriginal Health Planning Forum.

NAHS Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management service are jointly funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health (approximately 70% of the total budget) and the Department of Health WA (approximately 30% of the total budget).

NAHS Medical Centre is accredited to RACGP standards. NAHS holds ISO 9001:2008 accreditation for Quality Management Systems.