It was incredible to see the entire community of Gunbalanya come out to celebrate this wonderful occasion.

The easy-to-operate laundry, set inside a six-metre shipping container, has four industrial-sized washers and dryers.

It will provide a free laundry services to the Gunbalanya community while creating employment opportunities for locals.

AIG and Adjumarllarl spent two years planning and preparing for the launch, ensuring detailed community consultation was undertaken.

Consultation informed the look and feel of the laundry as well as its operation, ensuring it meets the needs and wants of the Gunbalanya community.

AIG chief executive Liz Morgan-Brett says the project’s success has been phenomenal.

“The beauty of AIG’s remote laundries project is in its simplicity,” she says.

“The laundry provides free washing and drying for the community to reduce the prevalence of scabies and other skin infections and improve health and wellbeing.

“Each laundry is a wonderful opportunity for AIG to partner with another Aboriginal corporation to deliver a critical service for communities to assist in reducing the burden of disease, while also creating jobs.

“The AIG board recognises the critical importance of developing strong and mutually beneficial relationships with not only other Aboriginal corporations, but leading national organisations, such that AIG can deliver more for the seven northern regions of the NT with the remote laundries project.

“This latest remote laundry is a perfect example of what we can achieve when we work together.”

Since the first remote laundry was installed, AIG’s remote laundries have spun more than 50,000 cycles, created 44 jobs and injected over $650,000 of wages into remote communities.

Lachlan McKenzie, Adjumarllarl Aboriginal Corporation Stronger Communities for Children Coordinator, says the community is excited about the laundry’s arrival and its impact on health and economic outcomes.

“Developed by the board of AIG six years ago, the remote laundries project is a known and trusted solution to combat disease in remote communities while driving flexible and sustainable employment opportunities,” he says.

AIG now operates five laundries in the NT: Darwin, Milyakburra, Angurugu, Barunga and Gunbalanya, with Borroloola, Nauiyu and Umbakumba next in line.

AIG thanks Adjumarllarl Aboriginal Corporation and the entire Gunbalanya community for their support in delivering the latest remote laundry. AIG is also grateful for our key partners and supporters, NT PHN, the Heart Foundation of Australia, Flinders University and, most recently, the CSIRO.

AIG is a financially autonomous, 100 percent Aboriginal-owned organisation. The purpose of AIG is to build stronger Aboriginal communities by engaging in sustainable development to enable prosperity for Aboriginal people in the seven northern regions of the Northern Territory.

For more information, visit remotelaundries.org.au