Derby’s ‘place for taking care’ heritage listed

Derby’s ‘place for taking care’ heritage listed
Wednesday 15 May 2019

A site that has been providing health services for the North-West's Aboriginal communities for 120 years was included in the State Register of Heritage Places on an interim basis.

Numbala Nunga, a Mowanjum phrase for 'a place for taking care', has been connected to Aboriginal health care since a hospital first operated on the site in the 1890s.

In 1884, the Government Residency, the first step of setting up a government presence in the Kimberley region, was established on the site. One of the early Government Residents, Dr Thomas Lovegrove, was also a medical practitioner and began treating European and Aboriginal patients at the site, before a hospital was established on the reserve.

Read the media statement

Page last reviewed 15 May 2019
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