Laynhapuy Health Resource Centre
Clinic Profile
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Location
The headquarters of Laynhapuy Health Resource Centre (LHRC) is located at Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem Land, which provides a range of services to an area of some 6500 km2 to the South and Southwest of Nuhulunbuy (Gove). It is operated by Laynhapuy Homelands Association Inc (LHAI).
Category
GP Registrars
Population
Laynhapuy homelands have around 900 residents during the dry season, the population is fluctuating between 700 and 800 during the wet; it is difficult to identify them in isolation of the Yirrkala population (1650).
Major Language Groups
Yirrkala and the Laynha homelands are in the most Easterly area of the Yolngu-speaking bloc, where varieties of Yolngu-matha are still the first languages for nearly all the Aboriginal population. English is usually a third or fourth language.
Access via Road
20km (15 mins drive) by sealed road from the regional center Nhulunbuy (Gove) and 7km from Gove Airport, approx 1000km from Darwin (flight only option from Darwin to Gove).
Access via Air
Layhna Air (Balamumu Mungurru Aviation Pty Ltd) runs a charter service between Gove airport and the Laynhapuy homelands. Air North and Qantas runs a regular service from Darwin to Gove.
Seasonal Access to homeland settlements within the Laynhapuy Homelands area
Several homelands may become inaccessible by road during the wet season after heavy rain. The homelands mostly have all-year round airstrips of their own, although one or two do not.
Homelands Serviced
LHAI provides services to 19 remote ‘Yolngu-matha’ speaking outstations or homeland settlements across a vast area of Northeast Arnhem. For detailed information, please check: Homelands List
Health Centre Information
Facilities and rooms: LHRC has eight homeland offices and nine homeland clinics or clinic rooms, which are supported by satellite connections and generators and have access to modern communications (phone, fax, internet) and to computer and information technology.
Staff: LHAI is one of the largest employers of Yolngu people in the region. Laynhapuy Health has a Clinic Manager, five Registered Nurses, five GPs, one Occupational Therapist and Ten Aboriginal Health Workers.
Community Programs
Services provided by LHAI include Primary Health Service, Age and Disability Care Service, Adult and Child Health Checks and a range of population health programs.
Visiting Specialists
Visiting Optometrist and audiologist.
Open Times
Mon – Fri: 0800hrs – 1200hrs | 1300hrs – 1630hrs
Contact Details
Laynhapuy Homelands Association Inc / Laynhapuy Health Resource Centre
PO Box 1546, Nhulunbuy NT 0881
86 Galpu Rd, Yirrkala, NT 0881
P: (08) 8939 1800| F: (08) 8987 1143
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.laynhapuy.com.au/home
Additional information
Laynhapuy Homelands Association Inc is a community controlled and Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) funded association. The Association provides health, education and development services to remote Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land and also promotes the preservation of their culture, language and traditions. LHAI has provided an aviation service for logistical support and passenger transport since 1987. Although the Association’s Health Resource Centre is based at Yirrkala, it speaks only for the Yolngu people living on affiliated homelands, rather than the Yirrkala community.
Laynhapuy Health Resource Centre has a S100 contract with the Gove pharmacy and purchases non-S100 drugs such as cough medicines, creams and lice treatments from Gove Hospital. Registrars who want to take placement there should be in their GPT2 – GPT3 term.
Useful Links
http://www.laynhapuy.com.au/home
Community Profile
Community Information
The East Arnhem Region is located in the far North of the Northern Territory, stretching from the Arafura Sea in the North and the Gulf of Carpentaria in the East. The region covers the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Trust (excluding Bulman), an area of approximately 41,000 sq km. It encompasses the towns of Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsular, Alyangula on Groote Eylandt, the islands of Galiwin’ku and Milingimbi and the major Aboriginal communities on the main land. Yirrkala is the largest Yolngu community on the peninsula in close proximity to Nhulunbuy, it acts as a regional centre for Yolngu people living in surrounding Laynhapuy homelands.
History
Aboriginal people have inhabited this region for more than 40,000 years. The Methodist Church of Australasia established a mission at Yirrkala in 1935 and during the following decades, members of the 13 clans that owned land in the surrounding area were gradually drawn into the mission. In the 1970s several groups set up outstation communities on their own lands. By the 1980s there were about 10 outstations, with a total population around 200. Today all clans have at least one homeland centre, and many people live partly in Yirrkala and partly in their homelands. In the mid-1970s the church handed control of the mission to the Yirrkala Dhanbul Community Association, which then became part of the East Arnhem Shire Council in 2008 when Yirrkala became part of the East Arnhem Shire and the Shire took over local government.
Art & Culture
Yolgnu people have a rich and vibrant culture that goes back tens of thousands of years. The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre and Museum at Yirrkala has a fine collection of Aboriginal bark paintings, carvings and artefacts, including the original Yirrkala Church panels. Nambara Arts and Crafts Centre at Nhulunbuy features bark and canvas paintings, carvings, string weaving, shell necklaces and ceramics.
City/Shire Council
East Arnhem Shire Council
Local & Govt Services
Government preschool, primary and high school, plus a Christian school. Training and university courses are available from the Charles Darwin University study centre.
Facilities
Nhulunbuy offers a wide variety of excellent facilities including a hospital, two shopping precincts (Endeavour Square and Captain Cook), supermarkets, takeaways, hair/beauty salons, chemist, sporting clubs, yacht club, bank, post office, specialty shops and newsagency etc.
Attractions
East Arnhem Land is one of the last wilderness areas on earth; it is scenic with wild coastlines, deserted islands, azure waters and green vegetation. There are many beaches, rivers forests and cliffs in short driving distance from Nhulunbuy, some of the more popular ones being Little Bondi beach, Latram river, Cape Arnhem and the Giddy river. Camping and four wheel driving are popular in the dry season as it close to Gove Peninsula, swimming is possible for short periods of the year when box jellyfish are not present. Boating and fishing are other regular activities are popular with the locals. The Gove Fishing Club also organises many fishing tournaments throughout the year.
For more information, please visit:
Attractions in Arnhem Land
Travel guide in Arnhem Land & Gove Peninsula
Telecommunications reception and internet access
- Phone access
- ADSL Internet/email access
- satellite dish
Telstra mobile is the preferred network operator in Nhulunbuy as they have the best coverage available in the area.
Permits required ie camping, alcohol, beach etc
Yirrkala is on Aboriginal land but no permit is required to visit. The East Arnhem region is a designated dry area (alcohol free area), including the town of Nhulunbuy and the surrounding communities of Gunyangara (Ski Beach) and Yirrkala. Laynhapuy homelands have always been alcohol free.
Drinking in public places is prohibited, with the exception of some popular recreational areas that are sign posted such as hotels, clubs and restaurants, but a liquor permit is required to buy takeaway alcohol and drink in a private home (Licences can be obtained from the Department of Justice in Endeavour Square, Nhulunbuy upon receipt of proof of accommodation and photo ID).
Useful Links
www.transremote.com.au
www.eastarnhem.net.au
www.rahc.com.au
