Purple House (Alice Springs)

Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation, better known as Purple House is an Indigenous owned and run non profit health service based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It specialises in the provision of dialysis to Indigenous Australians in remote communities across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia. [1]

Purple House
Founded2002
TypeNon-Profit Organization
FocusRemote dialysis, kidney disease
HeadquartersAlice Springs, Australia
Location
MethodRemote dialysis, social support, social enterprise, aged care, NDIS
Key people
CEO Sarah Brown AM
Website

History

Purple House was formally established in 2002 by the Pintupi people of the Western Desert in response to a growing health and cultural crisis. A series of collaborative paintings were produced by senior Pintupi artists, many of whom were represented by Papunya Tula. The paintings raised over $1 million dollars at an auction at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2000 which funded the established of Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation.[2] Remote Indigenous Australians are up to twenty times more likely to experience end-stage kidney failure than non-Indigenous people.[3] Throughout the 1990s, increasing numbers of Aboriginal people were being forced to leave their traditional lands for end-stage renal failure. Many required dialysis which meant permanent relocation to regional centres such as Alice Springs or Darwin, away from country and family, and removing their ability to pass on important cultural knowledge to their communities.[4]

Purple House began dialysis services in a suburban house in Alice Springs, which was painted purple, inspiring its name Purple House. Its first remote dialysis clinic in Kintore opened in 2004. It now runs 18 other clinics in the NT, WA and SA[5] and a mobile dialysis unit called the Purple Truck. The organisation is supported through an innovative mix of philanthropic and self-generated funds, and Northern Territory and Commonwealth Government support. [6] Three new clinics opened in 2019, including Purple House's first South Australia clinic.[7][8] Purple House has expanded significantly to offer social, aged care and NDIS support, as well as running a social enterprise called Bush Balm, which draws in Indigenous knowledge systems around bush medicine.[9]

After years of lobbying, in 2018 it was announced that dialysis in very remote areas would be funded by Medicare.[10][11]

Awards and recognitions

Purple House received an Indigenous Governance Award from Reconciliation Australia in 2016.[12] It was named Telstra NT Business of the Year in 2018.[13]

Purple House CEO, Sarah Brown AM was recognised with an Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List “for significant service to community health, to remote area nursing, and to the Indigenous community”. In 2017 she was Hesta Australia’s Nurse of the Year and in 2018 made the AFR BOSS magazine’s ‘True Leaders’ list. [14]

References
  1. "Communities". The Purple House. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. "Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation Celebrate 10 Years". Papunya Tula. Papunya Tula. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  3. "Statistics". Kidney Health Australia. Kidney Health Australia. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. "Our story". The Purple House. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  5. "Our Story". Purple House. Purple House. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. "Our story". The Purple House. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. Puddy, Rebecca (9 May 2018). "New remote dialysis clinics funded in Federal budget". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  8. Martin, Patrick; Culliver, Paul (29 March 2018). "Dialysis donation to revolutionise medical treatment in South Australia's APY Lands". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  9. "What we do". The Purple House. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  10. Breen, Jacqueline (20 April 2018). "Aboriginal communities receive Medicare funding for dialysis in remote communities". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  11. Davidson, Helen (30 April 2018). "Medicare change to give greater dialysis access to remote Indigenous Australians". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  12. Maddocks, Tom (25 November 2016). "Western Desert Dialysis helping Indigenous people in 'kidney disease capital of the world'". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  13. Shipway, Gary (10 August 2018). "Alice Springs-based remote dialysis provider Purple House named NT's Business of the Year". NT News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  14. "Governance". The Purple House. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
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