Swan Valley Nyungah Community
The Swan Valley Nyungah (Noongar) Community was an Indigenous Australian community of Noongar people at Lockridge, Western Australia. In controversial circumstances, the Government of Western Australia closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Parliament following allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape and substance abuse, after a 15-year-old girl, Susan Taylor, committed suicide in 1999.
The suicide was the subject of a coronial inquest, followed by the 2001 Gordon Inquiry into claims of family violence and child abuse in Western Australian Aboriginal communities. This led to the formation of a parliamentary select committee which reported on matters surrounding the Community and its closure.
On 6 June 2008, Bella Bropho, on behalf of the Community, lost an appeal to the Federal Court on the grounds that their eviction and loss of property was in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Bella Bropho is currently challenging the decision in the High Court of Australia.
Read more about Swan Valley Nyungah Community: History, Gordon Inquiry, Timelime of Closure
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