Water dangers in remote WA communities

The quality of drinking water in remote Aboriginal communities often fails to meet Australian standards, with dangerous levels of E. coli and uranium in some places, the WA Auditor General says.

A report into the delivery of power, water and wastewater services to 84 remote Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields regions was tabled on Wednesday.

Auditor General Colin Murphy visited 27 communities as part of the audit of the Remote Area Essential Services Program and said while power and water supplies were generally reliable, the overall program could be improved.

In the two years to June 2014, tests detected either E. coli or Naegleria microbes in at least one community every month, he said.

In the same period, four communities exceeded safe levels of uranium, while 14 recorded unsafe levels of nitrates for bottle-fed newborn babies in 2014.

Another issue identified was that the criteria to determine eligibility for the program had not been applied since 2008 and 24 communities no longer met the population criteria of 50 people.

WA Premier Colin Barnett dropped a bombshell in November, saying the state had no option but to consider cutting essential services to up to 150 of the communities after the Commonwealth removed its 50 per cent funding, leaving a "parting gift" of $90 million.

Opposition Aboriginal affairs spokesman Ben Wyatt said the report was a scathing assessment and the department needed to be accountable.

"Aboriginal people living in remote communities are being held to account for the failure of government to adequately do its job," he said.

AUDITOR GENERAL RECOMMENDS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING SHOULD:

- By December, determine how to improve water quality in remote communities to meet Australian standards

- By December, take steps to ensure service providers' testing of wastewater systems complies with contractual requirements

- Review contracting of the program manager and service providers before issuing new contracts to ensure clear roles and performance measures, and efficient service delivery

- Clarify roles for essential services previously provided by the Commonwealth

- Ensure eligibility for program services are subject to regular review

- Improve co-ordination of services internally and with other agencies.