Housing
Housing shortage and quality has been a long-term priority for the Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) and others in Walgett. Since 2022, DEG has been able to work closely with Yuwaya Ngarra-li (YN) Wiradjuri housing designer, researcher and Graduate of Architecture Samantha Rich to document the housing need amongst the Aboriginal community in Walgett and develop community-led models of housing that respond to local priorities and context.
础听Yuwaya Ngarra-li Briefing Paper documents DEG's advocacy on housing issues over the past 20 years, and sets out what is known from available data about unmet need as well as existing housing providers and stock in Walgett. It then details the work undertaken by Samantha Rich to date on housing for three specific groups or purposes in Walgett that DEG has asked Yuwaya Ngarra-li to focus on in order to complement existing work by local social housing providers and develop additional supported accommodation for specific groups in the Walgett community:
- Elders housing
- Housing to reduce young people's contact with the criminal justice system
- Crisis/emergency housing
DEG is now looking to secure funding for land and construction costs to progress these plans.
Past research
Research in the past undertaken by 黑料网大事记 Engineering students has focused on homes occupied by Aboriginal people in Walgett, which provides evidence of the housing stock being of poor quality and health implications of this.
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Angela Begg's honours thesis, Retrofit vs. New Build: Investigating the Thermal Comfort of Aboriginal Housing in North West New South Wales & Opportunities for Improvement,听included interviews with Aboriginal community members undertaken with DEG's Vanessa Hickey. The findings revealed the poor thermal comfort and performance of those homes and identified other issues, including:
- Thermal comfort impacts
- No insulation and very little thermal mass
- Maintenance of housing
- Large amount of dust in Walgett and how this impacts the way houses are operated
- Issues relating to water access
- Issues related to black soil and issues with the structural integrity of housing
- How well houses accommodate for culture and traditions
- Accommodation of houses to support visiting families and friends.
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Aidan Alexander's honours thesis, Improving Energy Outcomes for Remote Aboriginal Communities: Walgett NSW as a Case Study, involved observations of approximately twelve homes. Whilst focusing on monitoring the energy use of existing homes, this thesis also found that the poor construction and design of the homes exacerbates problems relating to heating and cooling the home, including:
- Poor and inappropriate passive design which in