Why This Project Exists
Derby faces a housing crisis that is structural, documented and preventable. Thirty per cent of Aboriginal households in the Kimberley are overcrowded. One in six children carry the infection that causes Rheumatic Heart Disease. Indigenous workforce participation stands at 37 per cent. These numbers are not inevitable.
The Evidence
ABS 2021 Census data shows 30 per cent of Aboriginal households in the Kimberley were overcrowded — three times the national average. Insecure housing characterised by overcrowding, unaffordable dwellings and chronic maintenance backlogs undermines health, education, employment and social cohesion.
In August 2024, Slater & Gordon launched a Federal Court class action on behalf of thousands of remote WA Aboriginal tenants alleging unsafe water, poor insulation, structural damage and chronic repair failures.
The National Climate Risk Assessment (September 2025) stated that public housing in the Kimberley is not fit for the region's escalating heat, flood and cyclone risks now or toward 2050. Homes become sweat boxes in the build-up and wet seasons, with overcrowding and energy poverty worsening health risks for children and older people.
Climate-adapted housing — ventilation, insulation, shade, affordable cooling — is not an aspiration. It is a necessity confirmed by law and evidence.
"One in six Derby children carry the Strep A infection that causes Rheumatic Heart Disease. RHD is almost entirely absent from non-Indigenous Australia. It is a disease of overcrowding and inadequate housing."
The Health Case
Group A Streptococcal (Strep A) infection thrives in overcrowded, poorly ventilated households. Repeated Strep A infection causes Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF); recurrent ARF leads to Rheumatic Heart Disease, causing permanent cardiac damage.
Affected children require penicillin injections every three to four weeks — often for years or life. RHD is a disease of poverty, overcrowding and inadequate housing. When children leave the clinic, they return to the households where they acquired the infection.
KINRA changes the environment, not just the individual. Homes designed with adequate space per person, functional ventilation, clean water and working sanitation directly reduce Strep A transmission. This is prevention at scale, sustained across the life of the precinct.
The Mindaroo Connection
Mindaroo Foundation is investing in early childhood health in Derby, on a site adjacent to the KINRA precinct. Their work addresses children who have RHD. Our work prevents the conditions that cause it. Two investments. One system.
The Economic Case
Indigenous workforce participation in the Kimberley stands at 37.3 per cent, against a non-Indigenous rate of 82.5 per cent. This is the central economic challenge KINRA directly addresses through Local Resource-Based construction and enterprise development.
More than one in three Indigenous renting households nationwide spend over 30 per cent of gross income on rent. Housing stress and economic exclusion are mutually reinforcing. KINRA breaks that cycle through ownership, employment and enterprise — not welfare.
A scoping review of 100 studies across eight countries found consistent multi-domain benefits when people moved from housing insecurity into stable housing — health, wellbeing, mortality, criminal justice contact and service use all improved. The investment case is robust.
Government Alignment
KINRA aligns directly with both Federal and WA Government housing priorities, accessing a substantial pipeline of available capital funding.
$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (30,000 homes) · National Housing Accord (1.2 million homes over five years) · Indigenous Advancement Strategy housing programs · ARENA and CEFC for renewable energy integration · Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) for infrastructure loans
$350 million Remote Communities Fund for Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields · $200 million North-West Aboriginal Housing Fund · 10-year homelessness strategy prioritising community-designed solutions · Development WA investment facilitation · Keystart and Indigenous Business Australia home ownership pathways