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‘Dreams come true’: Dilapidated Aboriginal health clinic gets $15m upgrade

After years of bureaucratic stonewalling, leaders of an Aboriginal health service in Ceduna are “very emotional” about receiving over $15 million from the state and federal governments to replace their mould and asbestos-riddled clinic.

Nov 01, 2022, updated Nov 01, 2022
Yadu Health staff with SA Senator Marielle Smith, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney outside the Ceduna clinic. Photo: Supplied

Yadu Health staff with SA Senator Marielle Smith, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney outside the Ceduna clinic. Photo: Supplied

The Albanese Government handed Yadu Health Aboriginal Corporation $13.35 million in its first budget handed down last week to cover the cost of replacing the dilapidated SA Health-owned building from which the service currently operates.

That funding, which follows a Labor election commitment, adds to the $2.5 million already committed by the Malinauskas Government in its June budget, bringing the total funding pool to $15.85 million.

InDaily first reported on Yadu Health’s plight to replace its run-down clinic in July last year, with the Aboriginal community-controlled organisation describing the building as a “ticking time-bomb” and an “accident waiting to happen”.

About one third of the 50-year-old building is deemed unsafe due to water damage, black mould and asbestos, with the service’s leaders claiming one staff member received an electric shock after water seeped into electrical wiring.

Yadu Health, which supports about 3000 people in Ceduna and surrounding communities such as Kooniba and Scotdesco in the state’s west, had repeatedly raised the clinic’s dilapidated condition with consecutive state and federal ministers.

Previous state governments claimed it was up to the federal government to fund the upgrade, while the Commonwealth rejected multiple grant applications, leaving the health service in limbo.

SA Health last year granted Yadu Health a 99-year lease on the land, allowing it to construct a new building.

Inside the Yadu Health building last year before repairs. The service says it constantly has to fix mould and water damage in the building. Photo: Supplied

A hole in the Yadu Health building ceiling last year. Photo: Supplied

Yadu Health executive strategic partnerships manager Warren Miller told InDaily that years of advocacy had now ended, with the organisation looking forward to seeing the building demolished in autumn next year.

“We were very emotional when we first found out (about the funding),” he said.

“We kind of had an idea that we might get a portion of funding, but to actually get that kind of amount and then for the state to allocate $2.5 million was just unreal.

“It was unbelievable. It was our dreams come true to have a multi-purpose building that we can deliver health services out of.”

Miller said the ceiling of the current clinic was prone to collapse, water leaked and black mould covered surfaces, making it difficult to find space to treat patients.

He said the organisation was now “holding on” until the new clinic was built.

“We’re still moving people around like a Tetris game,” he said.

“To have a new building, we can provide more services, we can employ more people, we can have more room for specialists, no one is tripping over people.

“We can provide a holistic approach to Aboriginal health, not just primary health care.”

Yadu Health has already progressed planning for a new clinic, engaging construction consultancy MDLR and Das Studio architects to deliver the project.

The new clinic will include purpose-built accommodation for allied health services such as dental.

A render of Yadu Health’s new clinic. Image: Das Studio + MDLR

A render of Yadu Health’s new clinic. Image: Das Studio + MDLR

Project manager Archie Baker said he hoped planning approval would be granted before Christmas, with Yadu Health to operate out of a temporary building from March.

He said he hoped the new clinic would be complete by June 2024.

“When you walk into a building and it’s tatty, it’s got holes in the roof, the floorboards feel like you’re going to walk through them, half the building is condemned and you can’t go through certain doors – that’s sort of giving you the impression that you’re not valued, that you’ve got a hand me down.

“I think the new building will absolutely turn that around.

“I think the community will start to feel pride for that new building and the fact that it is community-owned.”

South Australian Labor Senator Marielle Smith, who lobbied for federal funding on Yadu Health’s behalf, said now that both levels of government had committed money in their budgets the redevelopment could commence.

She described Yadu’s current clinic as one of the worst pieces of health infrastructure in the country.

“The building is catastrophic,” she said.

“I just could not fathom that this clinic has been in this state of disrepair for so long, that so many people have walked through its doors and seen the problems confronting it and just walked on by.

“Where in Adelaide would you walk into a health clinic or a GP clinic and find mould, asbestos painted over, having an instance where a staff member plugs in their phone charger and gets an electric shock from the wall?

“We want to make sure that if we’re making this investment that the clinic is really fit-for-purpose to service the unique needs of the local community.”

South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher also welcomed the federal government’s investment, saying large sections of the existing Yadu Health clinic were not even safe to use as storage.

“We are exceptionally pleased with this funding,” Maher said.

“It (the current clinic) is a completely unfit-for-purpose building, particularly for a health building for Aboriginal people.”

Federal Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health Malarndirri McCarthy said the $13.35 million committed to Yadu Health was part of a wider investment of $164.3 million for new First Nations health infrastructure across Australia.

She said investing in Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations helped fast-track efforts to close the gap for First Nations Australians and ease the burden on the wider health system.

“These critical improvements to a trusted health clinic will be a game-changer for Ceduna,” she said.

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