Funding bid for $30m South West Aboriginal health hub

South West Aboriginal Medical Service has upped the ante in its bid to secure government funding for the proposed $30 million Aboriginal health hub. SWAMS CEO Lesley Nelson last week travelled to Perth to deliver Bunbury MLA Don Punch a petition which has been signed by more than 1400 residents. The petition will be presented to Parliament as part of a continued push for a funding commitment from State or Federal government. Ms Nelson said SWAMS had outgrown its facility in Bunbury and needed a permanent home. “Even after over 20 years of providing important culturally appropriate health care to the Aboriginal community in the South West and providing huge cost savings to the local public health system, we still do not have a place to call home,” she said. “Instead we spend copious amounts on rental premises.” More than 200 jobs are anticipated to be created by the project, which has received development approval and is considered to be shovel ready. Planned for Jaycee Park, the hub has been designed to be a “one stop shop” for Noongar people and will include mental health, dental and medical services, education programs, a cafe, playground and youth facilities. “We must continue to push forward and make Closing the Gap a bigger priority in the South West ... we have a large Aboriginal and Indigenous population here in our South West and we cannot continue to be forgotten,” Ms Nelson said. “It is time to put money into providing infrastructure for these services.” The hub will focus on technology and research which will capture data considered to be lacking for Aboriginal people across the country. Ms Nelson said local governments had been supportive of the project, as they witness the need for the services firsthand. “The time is now, or we risk the gap widening catastrophically here in the South West,” she said.