The 2026 Close the Gap Day theme; “Community Voices: The Pathway to Justice, Equality and Healing” highlights the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and structural reform.
The power of community voices is something we see every day at Purple House and we know that community-led healthcare works.
For more than 20 years, Purple House has supported people with kidney failure to return home to Country for dialysis, staying connected to family, culture and community while receiving life-saving treatment.
What began as a bold idea from Western Desert artists who raised more than $1 million after seeing the impact of people being forced to leave home, has grown into services across 20 remote communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
Today, we deliver more than 11,000 dialysis treatments each year on Country.
Kidney disease remains one of the biggest health inequalities in Australia, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people far more likely to develop end-stage kidney disease. For many, treatment means hours in a chair, three times a week, often far from home.
Purple House was created to change that.
“Dialysis on Country is about much more than treatment,” says CEO Sarah Brown.
“It helps people stay connected to family, culture and Country and when people feel supported, they’re more likely to stay well.”
We’re seeing the results. Attendance rates at Purple House services exceed 90 per cent, and according to ANZDATA registry data, we know patients in very remote Central Australia have significantly higher survival rates than those treated elsewhere.
But Purple House is about more than numbers. Our clinics are places of connection, laughter and community, places where people feel safe and at home.
With 11 new clinics planned over the next two years, even more people will be able to get home to Country for care.
Because we know this model works; clinically, culturally and economically.
On Close the Gap Day, we’re proud to be part of a solution that is helping people live longer, stronger lives, on Country.
