Our travelling kit includes washers, taps, door handles and other small items, allowing us to make immediate repairs to each house.
Next Project
Nyirripi Learning Centre and Recreation Hall
Warlpiri Country
Ngurra Palyamaniny
The remote Martu communities of Punmu, Kunawarritji and Parnngurr faced a critical housing crisis, with many properties barely habitable after years of neglect, poor maintenance, fluctuating occupancy and harsh environmental conditions, compounded by the lack of systemic funding for housing maintenance and repairs.
Jamukurnu Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC), the Martu trustee corporation for native title rights, saw an opportunity through the WA Government’s Social Housing Economic Recovery Package (SHERP) to improve these conditions. This project formed part of a long-term community revitalisation movement driven by Martu, with JYAC having already completed preliminary surveys that identified what was needed to bring homes up to standard.
JYAC partnered with us to provide comprehensive project management services, including grant writing, scope development, team coordination, budget management, community communications, and grant acquittal. We collaborated with two trusted partners, HealthHabitat and Aboriginal-owned CAdd Building and Maintenance Group, and built on our enduring relationship with JYAC and the Martu communities.
The project evolved using HealthHabitat’s Housing for Health ‘survey/fix’ methodology, which focuses on immediate improvements to existing houses rather than expensive rebuilding. This approach enabled teams to arrive equipped with toolkits for on-the-spot repairs while training and employing local people to do the same.
The collaborative approach prioritised houses according to HealthHabitat’s Healthy Living Principles: Tier 1 (Safety), Tier 2 (Health), and Tier 3 (Security), ensuring systematic and equitable treatment across all three communities.
A key focus was health hardware – the internal infrastructure that enables people to bathe and clean their homes properly. Extensive longitudinal research has consistently shown that restoring these basic health functions in homes leads to measurable improvements in residents’ health outcomes
Through this collaborative process, the Martu communities now have:
- Repaired housing across Punmu, Kunawarritji and Parnngurr, addressing years of neglect and improving habitability
- Enhanced health outcomes through a focus on health hardware function
- Enhanced community participation and engagement in housing maintenance, creating sustainable approaches for ongoing repairs.
The success of projects like these hinges on genuine community ownership and engagement. With JYAC taking the lead, the Martu communities weren’t just beneficiaries but active drivers of the entire process. Decisions flowed through the Martu Board of Directors and community leaders, ensuring the work reflected local priorities and knowledge from the ground up.
| Location | Martu Country |
| Partners | Jamukurnu Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation, Healthabitat, CAdd Building and Maintenance Group |
| Project Type | Architecture |
| Completion | 2024 |
| Project Team | Andrew Broffman, Akira Monaghan |
