Warmun Community Social Rebuild
Western Influences’ work has required senior consultants to live and work in all manner of places. This includes living and working in Warmun, a small Aboriginal community located in Western Australia’s beautiful Kimberley region. This project, known as the Warmun New Start Project was the design and implementation of an ambitious set of social reform measures affecting the 350 residents of Warmun Aboriginal Community.
Warmun was devastated by flood the previous year and the entire Community was being rebuilt. In addition to the physical reconstruction of the Community, circumstances required the construction of new, healthy social norms to combat the impact of the trauma experienced during and after the flood.
New Start was a comprehensive set of strategies that lead to improved and sustainable outcomes in:
– strengthening and streamlining the community governance role of Council;
– reducing the systemic impact of alcohol and drugs;
– building resilience within families and communities to mitigate destructive behaviours;
– setting and achieving the expectation that all kids should attend school 100 per cent of the time; and,
– setting and achieving the expectation that parents ensure appropriate supervision of kids at all times.
Post-flood, the Community had entirely new infrastructure, three years of strong in-community economic activity, significant public and political attention and support, and a strong feeling in community that there was indeed a “New Start”.
