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The growth of rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community laundries: an integrative scoping
Rosemary Wyber1, Kate Summer1, Duy Nguyen2,3
1Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, The Kids Research Institute Australia, University of Western Australia, 15 Hospital Avenue, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
Objectives And Importance Of Study:
This article documents the establishment of community laundries in rural/remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities between 2000-2024, with the aim to support synergistic planning, implementation and evaluation.
Study Type:
An integrative scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.
Methods:
The methodology incorporated semi-structured online searches for publicly available grey literature, as well as scientific database searches to identify supporting peer-reviewed evidence. Extracted data included: laundry locations; details of establishment, operations and infrastructure; and evidence for health and wellbeing impact.
Results:
At least 55 laundry facilities were established in 38 rural/remote Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities between 2000 and 2024. Most were established within the past 10 years (n = 51, 93%) and operated by laundry service providers in partnership with local community organisations (n = 42, 76%). Laundry locations were publicly available, but we identified no substantiating evidence as to specific health and wellbeing impacts.
Conclusion:
There has been a rapid growth in the establishment of rural/remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community laundries, with plans for future expansion. While equitable access to laundry facilities is tied to human rights, the specific health benefits of community laundries (changes in rates of skin infections, acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease) remain conjectural. Rigorous evaluations are needed to inform public health policy and community decision-making.
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