Breaking Down Silos: A Shared Housing, Health and Environmental Health Coordination Model for the Pilbara
Safe and functional housing is fundamental to health. However, despite strong evidence linking housing conditions and environmental health to preventable disease, housing, health and environmental health systems often operate independently, resulting in fragmented service delivery and missed opportunities for coordinated action.
Across the Pilbara, Aboriginal communities, clinicians and Aboriginal Environmental Health Practitioners regularly identify housing and environmental conditions that contribute to poor health outcomes, including skin infections, respiratory illness, gastrointestinal disease and conditions associated with acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Addressing these issues requires collaboration across multiple agencies, yet existing systems are frequently constrained by separate funding arrangements, organisational priorities and reporting structures.
In response, the Pilbara Aboriginal Health Alliance (PAHA), representing the region's Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, partnered with the Western Australian Department of Housing to pilot a shared Housing Project Development Officer model. Established as a joint initiative, the role provides dedicated regional coordination capacity to strengthen collaboration between housing, health and environmental health stakeholders and improve collective responses to environmental determinants of health.
Rather than delivering direct housing services, the model focuses on strengthening the systems that support healthy homes. Positioned at the interface of community, housing, environmental health and clinical services, the Project Officer supports communication, service coordination, referral pathways and community engagement across the Pilbara. The role assists in connecting Healthy Home Assessments, Clinical Environmental Health Referrals, maternal and family environmental health initiatives and community-led priorities with the agencies responsible for action.
Early implementation has demonstrated the value of investing in coordination as a mechanism for system improvement. The partnership has strengthened relationships between housing providers, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and Environmental Health Practitioners, while improving visibility of environmental health issues requiring coordinated responses. Referral pathways have become more connected, communication between stakeholders has improved and opportunities for preventative action are being identified earlier.
Importantly, the model reinforces the role of Aboriginal Environmental Health Practitioners as key contributors to preventative healthcare and highlights housing as a critical health intervention. By creating stronger links between sectors, the pilot is helping shift responses from reactive service delivery towards coordinated prevention and early intervention.
This presentation will share the development of the partnership, governance arrangements, implementation lessons and early outcomes from one of the first shared housing, health and environmental health coordination models in regional Western Australia. It will also explore the policy implications of investing in cross-sector coordination and discuss how similar approaches could support Closing the Gap priorities and healthy homes initiatives across other regions.
The Pilbara experience demonstrates that improving housing-related health outcomes is not solely dependent on additional services or programs. It also requires investment in the partnerships, coordination mechanisms and shared accountability structures that enable agencies to work together more effectively. As jurisdictions continue to pursue healthier homes and healthier communities, this model offers a practical and scalable approach for breaking down silos and strengthening collaboration across housing, health and environmental health systems.