Warburton Health Clinic

Clinic Profile

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Location
The Warburton (Milyirrtjarra) Community is in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Gibson Desert in Western Australia. It is located 1,050kms South West of Alice Springs and 920kms North East of Kalgoorlie on the Great Central Road (Outback Way). It is situated between the Gibson Desert (to the North) and the Great Victoria Desert (to the South).

Category
John Flynn Scholars

Population
Approx 600 residents, 90% of whom are Indigenous.

Major Language Groups
The main language spoken is Ngaanyatjarra, with English as the second language.

Access via Road
1,050km West from Alice Springs, 460km from Yulara (Ayers Rock), 560km East of Laverton and 920km North East of Kalgoorlie. Access is by Great Central Road (also known as the ‘Outback Highway’) and Gunbarrel Highway. The Great Central Road is unsealed and 4WD recommended.

Access via Air
Warburton is an isolated community has its own airport with sealed airstrip and aerodrome. Stratos Jet Charters specializes in arranging private jet charter flights and air charter service at Warburton Airport.

Seasonal Access
The access road is in good condition with some slightly rough and corrugated sections. It can be impassable due to heavy rain and subject to severe weather events during the wet season from November to April.

Outstations Serviced
Warburton clinic provides a clinic service to any smaller outstations on a fortnightly basis, e.g. Tjirrkarli and Patjarr.

Health Centre Information

Warburton Health Clinic is an Aboriginal Community controlled health service that provides accessible and effective primary health care to all community members. It is directed by Ngaanyatjarra Health Service which has an administration office based in Alice Springs. The student placements and other information are provided from the head office in Alice Springs rather the clinic itself.

Facilities and rooms: the clinic has 5 consulting rooms, dental consultation rooms, waiting room and reception, and conference/training room.

Staff: the hospital is typically staffed by one General Practitioner, five Registered Nurses, three Aboriginal Health Workers and other support staff.

Community Programs
Well Men’s and Well Women’s screening
Children 0-5 Years and Old People’s Health Care
Health Education
Healthy School Aged Kids’ program
Childhood and Adult Immunisation Program
Preventable Chronic Disease Management Program
Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or Gamblers Anonymous meetings

Visiting Specialists
Ngaanyatjarra Health Service arranges visits of Paediatricians, Ophthalmic teams and Audiologists to Warburton Health Clinic. Doctors and support staff make regular weekly clinic visits and see all referrals from the Clinic Nurse or Health Worker.

Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP) through Rural Health West.

Open Times
Mon – Fri: 0900hrs – 1200hrs | 1400hrs – 1700hrs

Closed Wednesday afternoon for training and up-skilling.
AHWs and RANs are on call after hours on weekdays. Emergency services on a roster basis are available on weekends.

Contact Details
Warburton Health Clinic
PO Box 644, Alice Springs, NT 0871
2/58 Head Street, Alice Springs, NT 0870
P: (08) 8950 1730 | F: (08) 8953 4581
E: [email protected] or [email protected]

Additional information
All Weather Night Emergency is available at Warburton clinic. Emergency evacuations can be made to Darwin via Care Flight. Patients suffering medical emergencies are evacuated by air to Alice Springs Hospital (4 hours) and Kalgoorlie Hospital (3.5 hours).

Useful Links
www.nghealth.org.au

Community Profile

Community Information
Warburton is the centre of a very large Aboriginal reserve, Ngaanyatjarra, which is extremely isolated, stretching East to the Northern Territory border. It is one of 10 Aboriginal communities in the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku, located 920km North East of Kalgoorlie and 500km South West of Uluru. The shire covers almost 160,000 km2 of the traditional lands of the Ngaanyatjarra people of the Central Desert of Western Australia. With a district population of just over 1800, the Ngaanyatjarra people are predominately concentrated in Warburton.

History
Warburton (Mirlirrtjarra) was the first community to be established on the Ngaanyatjarra lands, it is also the largest of the Ngaanyatjarra Communities and considered the metropolis of the lands. The settlement has been an Aboriginal mission since 1934, when Will Wade established the mission under the auspices of the United Aborigines Mission (UAM). It is named after explorer Peter Warburton, the first European to cross the Great Sandy Desert. In 1973, the United Aborigines Mission handed control of the Warburton settlement to the Aboriginal people, and responsibility for economic development was undertaken by the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority of the State Government of Western Australia. Since then, Warburton has worked under the umbrella of the Ngaanyatjarra Council.

Art & Culture
The Warburton people belong to the Western Desert Cultural Region and Warburton is also in the area of the Papunya Tula art movement (the emergence of ‘dot’ paintings). Tjulyuru Regional Arts Gallery is the regional centre for Ngaanyatjarra culture which houses an exhibition of local Aboriginal artworks including paintings, artefacts and stunning glass pieces based on the lifestyles, histories and vibrant stories of the Ngaanyatjarra.

City/Shire Council
Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku

Local & Govt Services
Police Station, primary and secondary school, community college.

Facilities
Wilurarra Creative Centre is a community facility which offers year round programs including music, fashion performance, land & cultural practice, digital media, print media and art. The town also has a youth drop-in centre, community store, post office, open air swimming pool, sports field, coffee shop and roadhouse.

Attractions
Driving the Great Central Road section of the Outback Way traversing the middle of Ngaanyatjarraku Shire is a great eco-tourism experience passing through the Rawlinson Range, Walter James Ranges, and Gill Pinnacle. Other sites along the way are Beadell’s Tree and Giles Meteorological Station.

For more information visit the Shire of Ngaanyatarraku website.

Telecommunications reception and internet access

• Phone access
• ADSL Internet/email access
• satellite dish

There is Telstra mobile phone reception (including 3G) in Warburton only.

Permits required ie camping, alcohol, beach etc
Warburton is an Aboriginal community on private land and is not open to the public. Tourists and visitors need a permit from the Ngaanyatjarra Council to enter the town and use any of the highways in the area. Warburton is a dry community where the use and import of alcohol is prohibited under local by-laws.

Useful Links
milyirrtjarra.ngurra.org
warburtonroadhouse.com.au