After nearly a decade, the WA government says plans to open a long-awaited aged care facility in the remote Kimberley have been abandoned.
Opening to great fanfare in 2014, the multi-million dollar facility in Warmun was meant to provide on-country aged care for traditional owners in the East Kimberley.
The building won multiple awards for its architecture, but has never hosted patients.
Feral horses have so far been its only residents.
Regional Development Minister Don Punch said plans for the aged care service had now changed, with the building to be put to a different use.
Mr Punch said it would be hard to come back from the building's decline over the past decade.
"I understand that significant design flaws and deterioration in the building’s condition will make it expensive to remediate it to a standard required for a modern aged care facility," he said.
"The McGowan government is working with the Commonwealth government to identify the best use [for it].
"I believe the Warmun community has written to the Commonwealth to request funding for a new, small 'cottage style' aged care facility to be built where the pre-flood aged care units were located, with an alternative community use to be identified for the current vacant building."
The project employed Australian architects to work with traditional owners and elders to incorporate cultural needs into the building.
Its design took out first place in the Health Buildings category of the World Architecture Festival in 2015.
It was nominated alongside designs from Japan, Ireland and New Zealand.
An expensive rebuild
The $12 million project was a part of a WA disaster relief package from the state and federal government after the 2011 flood tore through key infrastructure in the town.
During a 2019 visit to the community, former Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan said she was "stunned to learn it remained unused because plumbing issues had not been resolved".
Following this, the McGowan government allocated a further $500,000 for remediation work.
In 2020, a Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development spokesperson confirmed the state government's commitment but said the process had been delayed due to COVID-19 and border restrictions.
Mr Punch said the facility would need even more funding to repair the damage.
"The McGowan government has committed up to $500,000 for remediation works at the Warmun facility," he said.
"But the building will require significantly more investment before it’s repaired to a standard which is fit-for-purpose."
'We thought we were going to live there'
Warmun artist and author Shirley Purdie is a full-time carer for her elderly husband.
Ms Purdie said she hoped the facility would provide them with residential care.
"We thought we were going to live there," she said.
"It's really a waste now. We were really looking forward to it."
Ms Purdie said her husband wanted to stay on-country as his health declined.
"He tells me he wants to pass away here," she said.
"He doesn't want to go to the pensioner units in town."
Ms Purdie and her husband live in a two-bedroom house with their two grandsons and granddaughter-in-law.
She said the facility could have taken the pressure off her overcrowded living situation.
"If we would've had that building running, me and my husband would've moved there," she said.
Shortages in aged care services
Kimberley Community Legal Services provides support to elderly clients through its Elder Abuse program.
Chief executive Christine Robinson said she was disheartened by the shortage of residential support for aged care patients throughout the region.
"We are concerned that there is a lack of culturally appropriate and safe accommodation for a population that's rapidly ageing," she said.
"Across the Kimberley, there's a lack of bed space in general.
"We work with an elderly cohort and finding them somewhere safe to live is an ongoing battle for us."
Ms Robinson said the housing crisis across the country had exacerbated the need for adequate residential care.
"Everyone knows in the Kimberley, most of the houses are overcrowded," she said.
"Elderly people are living in houses with family, when they probably need specialist care."
The Warmun aged care facility gave hope to patients who wished to receive care while remaining on-country.
Ms Robinson said it was important to consider the needs of Aboriginal clients.
"Culturally appropriate aged care is always highly desirable," she said.
"Otherwise, you end up with a population that's very alienated and lost."
Mr Punch said the government was working to support elderly community members.
"Given the extensive costs to remediate and operate the current aged care facility, I understand the community’s frustration and aspirations to explore other avenues to support people staying in Warmun as they grow older."
