Swan Valley Nyungah Community


The Swan Valley Nyungah Community was an Indigenous Australian community of Noongar people at Lord Street, in the outer Perth suburbs of Lockridge and Eden Hill.
The Government of Western Australia closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Parliament following allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape and substance abuse, after a 15-year-old girl, Susan Taylor, committed suicide in 1999.
The suicide was the subject of a coronial inquest, followed by the 2001 Gordon Inquiry into claims of family violence and child abuse in Western Australian Aboriginal communities. This led to the formation of a parliamentary select committee which reported on matters surrounding the Community and its closure.
On 6 June 2008, Bella Bropho, on behalf of the Community, lost an appeal to the Federal Court on the grounds that their eviction and loss of property was in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. In March 2014, the Lockridge campsite was demolished to make way for a conservation reserve and meeting place.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area has been inhabited for at least 38,000 years. From the 1830s until the 1940s the land was owned by the Hamersley family, which allowed Nyungah people to remain on their traditional campsite. In 1941 a group of Swan Valley Nyungah women from the Kickett, Nettles, Warrell and Parfitt families purchased of bushland bounded by Gallagher Street and Mary Crescent, Eden Hill. The local council refused their requests for water and applications to build housing so they camped in mia-mias, bush breaks and tin camps and relied on water dug from their own wells. In the 1950s the area was resumed by the State Housing Commission for the creation of the suburb of Eden Hill.
In 1977 several groups decided to make a stand at the Lockridge Campsite and in 1981 the people incorporated themselves as Fringedwellers of the Swan Valley Inc. The Fringedwellers began a series of protests asking the government to assist them with housing. During the 1980s the improvised huts and tents were replaced with government-supplied mining cabins.
On 19 July 1994 the Lockridge Campsite became the Swan Valley Nyungah Community when governor- general Michael Jeffery, "by virtue of the provisions of Section 33 of the Land Act 1933", vested Reserve 43131 With federal-government funding, community members designed their own culturally appropriate and environmentally sensitive housing. The community started its own school which taught Indigenous content and had a good attendance record. The camp also had a good relationship with local police.

Gordon Inquiry

On 12 February 1999 Susan Taylor was found hanged in the toilet block at the Swan Valley Nyungah Community. The State Coroner Alastair Hope conducted an inquest which heard evidence from one girl who said that Robert Bropho had offered her money for sex. Another witness said girls, including Susan, had told her that Bropho gave them paint to sniff and money in exchange for sex. Coroner Hope returned an open finding into her death but said that "it was likely she took her own life after years of sexual abuse, and said it was apparent there was widespread sexual abuse against young Aborigines ."
On 29 November 2001 the State Government called for Magistrate Sue Gordon to lead an inquiry into child abuse and domestic violence in Aboriginal Communities in Western Australia. Published on 31 July 2002 the report by the inquiry ran to over 640 pages and made 197 findings and recommendations. Finding #141 specifically named the Swan Valley Nyungah Community, recommending they "...develop Memoranda of Understanding between the Swan Valley Nyoongar Community and those government agencies, which may reasonably seek access to that community".

Timelime of closure

In 2003 and 2004, the closure was reviewed by a legislative council appointed inquiry known as the "Select Committee on Reserves Bill 2003". The inquiry report found that Premier Geoff Gallop's decision "to act rapidly, by-passing all normal processes, was justified on false information". It also found that the Government "was not in a position to accommodate former residents of the SVNC quickly" and had "significantly underestimated the number of families and individuals requiring assistance".
Sue Gordon, who was interviewed by the Select Committee and said: "I would not single out the Swan Valley Nyungah Community. That was just in the media the most because of Mr Bropho and the allegations against him. There are allegations against a lot of other so-called leaders but they do not get as much publicity". Sue Gordon, who said the Swan Valley Nyungah Community was "an adequate and reasonably well maintained facility" also said "I do not think there are any similarities whatsoever between a management order and a memorandum of understanding".
Other evidence submitted at the inquiry included that of Mr David Pedler, Acting Assistant Director, Regional Management, Department of Indigenous Affairs. Pedler submitted briefing notes regarding the proposed closure which said:
"The Bropho family are the only individuals that could be defined as 'permanent residents' of SVNC..."; "The community is simply a facility that is dominated by the Bropho family, provides housing to selected transient people and provides office and other facilities, that cater solely for the activities of Mr Robert Bropho"; and "SVNC is essentially a closed community. The closed nature of the community is primarily achieved by dominance and intimidation of residents by the Bropho family."