Yuendumu riots have been linked to a health staffing crisis in Central Australia, inquest told

NT Health is finding it ‘almost impossible’ to recruit health staff to Yuendumu in the wake of a fatal police shooting, the Kumanjayi Walker inquest has heard.

Riots in Yuendumu involving “serious weapons” have been spilling over into the health clinic grounds in the lead up to a three-month inquest into the police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.

But the Coronial inquiry heard staff insist they do not feel unsafe in the community as two current health workers took the stand on Thursday in the Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday.

In March, Constable Zach Rolfe was acquitted on all charges over Mr Walker’s death after shooting the 19-year-old Warlpiri man three times during a botched arrest in which Mr Walker stabbed him in the shoulder with a small pair of scissors.

Clinic GP Amy Rosser told Coroner Elisabeth Armitage there was “fighting going on” but it involved disputes between different family groups and the health staff had not felt threatened.

“I think it’s important to note that it’s targeted at two factions against each other,” she said.

“So it’s not targeted against us or other people who aren’t a part of either of the factions.”

But nurse Sally Halton said staff were at times forced to close the clinic and only allow in patients on a case-by-case basis to treat injuries including “broken limbs, some serious head wounds from axes and boomerangs, bruising, stab wounds”.

“It often starts at the shops which backs onto the clinic, and it spills into the grounds, people with weapons, serious weapons, so I have to close the doors and shut the clinic,” she said.

“I don’t want them fighting in the clinic, but also, we’ve already got people in the clinic, clients in the clinic and to check them.

“Also when they start coming in with their head injuries and their lacerations, we just let them in.”

Under questioning from Constable Rolfe’s barrister, Luke Officer, Dr Rosser said stab wounds “happen but they’re rare” and it was “very unusual” for weapons to be deployed against nurses or police.

But Ms Halton said when stabbings did happen, weapons used included screwdrivers and tomahawks.

“What about scissors?” Mr Officer asked.

“Yes, and I understand we had an incident recently where someone was leaving the clinic and had stolen scissors from the clinic,” Ms Halton replied.

She said it had become “almost impossible” to recruit staff to Yuendumu due to “unflattering media attention” but that those reports were not fair portrayals of the community.

“People listen to rumours and think that Yuendumu is not a safe place to be and don’t want to come here,” she said.

But Dr Rosser said she had “never felt unsafe” and Ms Halton said “neither have I”.

NT Health’s Naomi Heinrich told the court the service was struggling to recruit workers to Central Australia. Picture: Jason Walls

NT Health regional executive director for the Central Australia region, Naomi Heinrich, also gave evidence on Thursday, saying there were currently “very significant challenges around recruitment in Central Australia”

“There is anecdotal feedback around those challenges that these are not comfortable communities, necessarily, to work within, and we’ve worked very carefully to ensure a good representation of what life is like working in those communities, to try and attract people,” she said.

“But there is national media around occurrences in community, safety issues in community, and they are things that we need to work through carefully.”

The inquest continues on Friday.

Originally published as Yuendumu riots have been linked to a health staffing crisis in Central Australia, inquest told