Purple House (Alice Springs)

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

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

History

Purple House was formally established in 2002. It followed the auction of a series of collaborative paintings by Pintupi people from the Western Desert of Central Australia. Artists, many of whom were represented by Papunya Tula, were responding to an impending health crisis. Remote Indigenous people are up to twenty times more likely to experience end-stage kidney failure than non-Indigenous people.[1] 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. 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]

It 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 13 other clinics[3] and a mobile dialysis unit called the Purple Truck, based mainly on philanthropic funding. Three new clinics are expected to open in 2019, including Purple House's first South Australia clinic.[4][5]

After years of lobbying, in 2018 it was announced that dialysis in very remote areas would be funded by Medicare.[6][7]

Awards and recognitions

Purple House received an Indigenous Governance Award in 2016.[8] It was named Telstra NT Business of the Year in 2018.[9]

References
  1. "Statistics". Kidney Health Australia. Kidney Health Australia. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  2. "Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation Celebrate 10 Years". Papunya Tula. Papunya Tula. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  3. "Our Story". Purple House. Purple House. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. Puddy, Rebecca (9 May 2018). "New remote dialysis clinics funded in Federal budget". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. 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.
  6. Breen, Jacqueline (20 April 2018). "Aboriginal communities receive Medicare funding for dialysis in remote communities". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  7. Davidson, Helen (30 April 2018). "Medicare change to give greater dialysis access to remote Indigenous Australians". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  8. Maddocks, Tom (25 November 2016). "Western Desert Dialysis helping Indigenous people in 'kidney disease capital of the world'". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  9. 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.
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