Swan Valley Nyungah Community

rdf:langString Swan Valley Nyungah Community

rdf:langString The Swan Valley Nyungah (Noongar) Community was an Aboriginal community of Noongar people at Lord Street, in the outer Perth suburbs of Lockridge and Eden Hill. 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. In March 2014, the Lockridge campsite was demolished to make way for a conservation reserve and meeting place.