Supporting local health services
Laverton, a remote community in the northern Goldfields region of Western Australia, is approximately 60 kilometres from our operations and close to other regional mining operations. While the area has a small hospital to deal with emergency medical situations, the residents did not have consistent access to preventative medicine and diagnostic health services.
To promote the health of our employees and contractors, and our Laverton neighbours, Minara and other members of the industry collaborated with the Shire of Laverton to contribute to a retention initiative to attract and retain general practitioner medical services that were otherwise unavailable to the remote community. We have contributed to this initiative for over 10 years and continue to provide in-kind support.
Our Minara Community Foundation also continues to recognise the importance of health in the remote communities of the northern Goldfields, having contributed regularly to various health related projects in the region, emergency services in particular. We are proud supporters of St John Ambulance Volunteer Sub-Centres in both Leonora and Laverton, having assisted with grants for new ambulances, equipment and upgrades to facilities. We have also acknowledged the importance of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in our region by contributing over $100,000 towards medical equipment and more than $150,000 raised for the RFDS through the annual Minara Masters Golf Day, a fundraising event conducted in conjunction with our contractors and suppliers.
Earbus Foundation is a Western Australian based children’s charity that works to reduce the incidence of middle ear disease in at-risk children. The Earbus outreach program’s dedicated clinical team visit up to 65 locations in regional WA as part of their mobile program, treating thousands of at-risk children with a goal to eradicate the impacts of hearing loss and otitis media to improve listening and learning. In 2014, Minara Community Foundation commenced assisting Earbus Foundation Goldfields operations with grants for audiology equipment. Later in 2017, in collaboration with AngloGold Ashanti Australia, we helped them commission the Goldfields Earbus, a specialist clinical vehicle that now regularly visits children in Laverton, Leonora, Menzies and other Goldfields communities. Earbus screened 947 children in the Goldfields in 2018 and engaged in over 3,532 consults as part of this process.