The proposed Kununurra Aboriginal Short Stay Accommodation (Kununurra Short Stay) is a non-crisis response to the needs of Aboriginal people across the Kimberley region and beyond who travel to Kununurra to access a range of essential services, training, education or employment, or are visiting for business, cultural or family reasons.
The Kununurra Short Stay seeks to provide safe, culturally appropriate, and affordable short-term accommodation, helping to reduce rough sleeping and overcrowding of housing in Kununurra when Aboriginal people visit the area from across Country.
Kununurra Short Stay was announced as part of the State Government’s WA Recovery Plan to drive economic and social recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. Timing for project delivery will be confirmed following an impact assessment of recent natural disaster events, and a review of the compounding constraints currently faced by the construction industry.
Throughout its delivery, the project is expected to create an estimated 100 construction jobs and generate about $41 million into the region’s economy.
Community and stakeholder consultation
The Department has engaged with the Aboriginal community, the community services sector, government agencies and a range of other stakeholders across the Kimberley region to ensure the Kununurra Short Stay is culturally appropriate and responsive to the place it is located, as well as the needs of the Aboriginal guests it will accommodate.
Findings from the stakeholder engagement have informed the initial build design and are contained in the Stakeholder Engagement Summary of Findings report.
Further stakeholder and community consultation will be undertaken to inform the final design of the facility and the place-based service model.
In April 2022, an architect team from Kununurra and Perth was appointed to design the Kununurra Short Stay, which will include design elements identified during stakeholder engagement in 2021. The architect team is Perth-based Franco Carozzi Architects Pty Ltd collaborating with Kununurra-based Mark Phillips Architect. In designing the accommodation, the architects consulted with the Kununurra community, Aboriginal communities throughout the Kimberley Region and other relevant stakeholders. Consultation with these groups will continue throughout the design phase to ensure the future accommodation meets the specific needs of prospective guests.
Place-based service design
Communities is implementing a regionally responsive ‘place-based’ service model to the Kununurra Short Stay that will define the outcomes expected of the future service provider (operator) in responding to the needs of guests. Place-based service design consultation and engagement was undertaken in early 2023 by the Ernst & Young Indigenous Sector Practice.
Further in-person consultation was paused due to a regional natural disaster in the region, with the intention to revisit at an appropriate time.
Project timeline
- August 2020 – Kununurra Short Stay announced.
- August 2021 – Think Culture engaged to undertake stakeholder engagement to define project size, scale and scope.
- Early 2022 – Architect procurement tender released to market.
- April 2022 – Franco Carozzi Architects and Mark Phillips architect appointed to design the Short Stay.
- End 2022 – Ernst & Young appointed to undertake place-based service design modelling.
Future timeframes are impacted by recent natural disaster events, and updates will be provided when known.
Resources
More information
Further information and updates will be provided on this page as the project progresses.
- Read the series of Frequently Asked Questions about our Aboriginal Short Stay Accommodation projects.
- If you have any other queries about the project, or would like to register for updates, please email aboriginalshortstay@communities.wa.gov.au.
- Find more information and news about our other Aboriginal Short Stay Accommodation in our program that are underway.
Announcements
Registration of Interest for organisations to manage and operate the Geraldton and Kununurra Aboriginal Short Stay Accommodation projects
