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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 370 asked in the Legislative Council on 24 June 2021 by Hon James Hayward

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

WATER QUALITY — REMOTE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

370. Hon JAMES HAYWARD to the minister representing the Minister for Water:

I refer to the recent Auditor General's report Delivering essential services to remote Aboriginal communities—Follow-up.

(1) Has the minister acted to improve water access and purity in the 38 communities mentioned in the report; and, if yes, can the minister please detail what action to date for each community?

(2) Will the minister commit to investigating alternative methods and new technologies for delivering safe drinking water to remote Aboriginal communities?

(3) How regularly are water tests undertaken at all regional and remote communities?

(4) Has the Water Corporation developed any plans for improving access to clean and pure water in remote communities?

(5) Has the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation developed any plans for improving access to clean and pure water in remote communities?

Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:

I thank the member for the question. The following information has been provided by the Minister for Water.

(1) The water services to these communities are currently delivered by the Department of Communities. This question should be referred to the responsible minister.

(2) All drinking water supplied to communities by the Water Corporation meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines for adults and children over three months. The Water Corporation continuously investigates and evaluates new methods and technology to improve water supplies for all Western Australians, including remote Aboriginal communities.

(3) For regional and remote communities serviced by the Water Corporation, water sampling programs are established for localities with a standard drinking water service as per the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and the Department of Health and the Water Corporation memorandum of understanding. Sampling program frequencies are developed based on the number of services and the water quality risk. Microbiological monitoring services occur on a weekly to monthly basis, depending on the number of services. Chemical sampling frequency ranges from monthly to five-yearly, radiological sampling occurs two to five-yearly and fluoride sampling occurs between weekly and six-monthly, all of which is dependent on whether the parameter is a key characteristic for the locality.

(4) Works are underway to normalise seven remote Aboriginal communities to improve water quality. The project is valued at $62.5 million and includes $38.9 million delivered through the McGowan government's $5.5 billion WA Recovery Plan. This funding is assisting to fast-track the McGowan government's commitment to provide remote Aboriginal communities with access to the same standard of essential services enjoyed by other Western Australians.

(5) In addition to the work being done by the Water Corporation as per the answer to (4), the McGowan government is currently participating in national discussions around a new Closing the Gap target to improve drinking water infrastructure in Aboriginal communities.