News

Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation is celebrating 30 years of operations in 2025.  Maari Ma’s beginnings come out of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council (MPRC, which later became the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly, MPRA).  The MPRC, in the era of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, ATSIC, was, and still is, the peak Aboriginal governance body for the Murdi Paaki Region representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across western NSW. The region covers an area that extends from Collarenebri in the north east of the region to Dareton/Wentworth in the south.

The beginnings

Maari Ma was established as a strategic initiative of MPRC in order to provide health services to Aboriginal people in far west NSW where there were almost non-existent Aboriginal health services and Aboriginal health was very poor.

Established in 1995 in close cooperation with Far West Area Health Service (FWAHS, at the time, the most remote Area Health Service in NSW with the smallest population and the highest percentage of Aboriginal people), Maari Ma’s first regional director (CEO) was William ‘Smiley’ Johnstone, leading a team of just 3 people, providing services across an area the size of the United Kingdom!

Under a unique cooperative partnership agreement with FWAHS called the Lower Western Sector Agreement, Maari Ma took over the management of the FWAHS facilities in the Lower Western Sector outside of Broken Hill (Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee, Ivanhoe Wentworth, Dareton and Balranald). Over the 18 years of the agreement, Maari Ma grew in staff numbers and influence.

How things have changed

Now Maari Ma has more than 120 staff in 4 communities, providing health services from the Maari Ma Primary Health Care Service in Broken Hill, the newly built Wilcannia Health and Wellbeing Centre, and the Bes Murray Community Centre in Balranald. Staff are also located at FWLHD’s Menindee Health Service and outreach services are provided to Ivanhoe Health Service.  We also run the Wings Youth Drop In Centre in Wilcannia, and we provide a number of programs aimed at early childhood development and supporting parents to be their child’s first teacher.

Proudly Aboriginal community controlled, Maari Ma’s Board of Directors are drawn from each of the communities across the Maari Ma region. This year will be a special one for Maari Ma’s communities with a number of events and activities planned.

Keep an eye on Maari Ma's website for celebration events this year