Wurrumiyanga community gathered to discuss alleged assault of nurse

A community meeting has discussed the need for more provisions following the assault of a nurse on the Tiwi Islands.

CALLS to improve the protection of remote nurses working and living in communities have been made by concerned residents following the recent alleged assault of a nurse on the Tiwi Islands.

A meeting involving the whole of the community was held in Wurrumiyanga on Wednesday to discuss the incident which occurred in NT Health housing more than a week ago.

Schools, shops, the clinic all momentarily closed down so the community with a population of about 1500 people, could gather to discuss the matter.

A generic image of a street in Wurrumiyanga. Picture: Floss Adams.

A Wurrumiyanga community member who wished to remain unidentified said the meeting touched on various topics including parenting and policing but did not result in any significant progression regarding the incident.

They said it was already difficult to attract and retain essential workers like police, teachers and nurses, “but if the community gets a (bad) reputation then it’s (going to be) even harder”.

Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson confirmed investigations into the alleged assault were still ongoing.

“The community are encouraged to provide any information they may have to police,” Sgt Gibson said.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Northern Territory assistant secretary Angela Phillips said she had followed up with the department to see if “things were in place”.

She said the health department had confirmed the woman was being assisted with support, even though she had not contacted the nurses union.

“I’ve been advised that they’ve been putting everything in place to assist that person,” Ms Phillips said.

A satellite image of the Tiwi Islands community Wurrumiyanga. Picture: Google Earth.

“They’re usually well on the ball with that sort of thing.”

Ms Phillips said she was not aware of what the status of the Wurrumiyanga’s health housing security infrastructure was in.

“I don’t know what that area is like for housing, it hasn’t been a highlighted area before,” she said.

“Bathurst (Island) is usually more of a genteel community so I’m a little bit surprised.

“We hardly ever get a complaint coming out of that area so it is a surprise, hopefully that this is just a once off occurrence.”

Ms Phillips reminded members of the NT nurses union to reach out if they require assistance.

The NT Government has been contacted for comment regarding the safety and security of the NT Health housing the Wurrumiyanga nurses are stationed in.