The 20-foot sea container, painted white with four washers and four dryers inside, is expected to make a big impact on health and economic development. 

In a community, about 80km from Katherine, where seven out of 10 young people contract scabies which can lead to rheumatic heart disease, the washing machines will be life saving. 

"When we first started this project we saw that one of the biggest impacts was blankets in communities were housing mites,"  Aboriginal Investment Group (AIG) CEO Steve Smith said. 

"Rheumatic heart disease can happen when people scratch bites- it causes a blood infection and that infection causes Rheumatic heart disease.

"Getting mites out of beds is one solution, but it is not the one stop solution."

A large portion of people in the community do not have a washing machine in their home. 

And more often than not, for those who do, the machine would be too small to fit a blanket, or the household would have difficulty accessing water or detergent. 

Community members will pay $4 for a wash and $4 for a dry,  and while AIG understands the cost can be significant for some people, the facility should be looked at as providing a washing service for bedding, not so much an everyday wash. 

Mr Smith said most people will likely take their washed load home to dry in the sun. 

"There is a cost to running the facility, which is about $80,000 per year and this includes paying for wages, power and water and machine maintenance," Mr Smith said. 

"We have reduced the cost to a level as best we can and we are absolutely determined to reduce that cost or make the service free.

“The project might seem simple, but it isn’t just about social outcomes and the impact it will have on health. It’s also about economic development that is feasible in remote communities.

"This laundry is staffed by people who live in community. Sustainable and meaningful employment is something that is really important and fundamental to AIG”.

More than 100 people attended the launch last Thursday. 

The laundry will provide employment for five members of the community. 

Veronica Moreen will be working one day a week through the CDP program and already loves the job. 

“I love this little job. I was working at the store but quit and went back to doing activities at the hall with CDP," she said.

"It was decided there would be a laundry in Barunga and we all agreed it would be a good idea. I wanted to work there. When people are used to the laundry being in Barunga, they will start using it especially if they want to wash their big blankets."

Mr Smith said the future vision for the laundry doesn’t stop at Barunga.

In fact, for the self-funded and 100 per cent Indigenous owned organisation, this is just the start.

“Barunga is a pilot site," Mr Smith said, "eventually we want to have Remote Laundries in the seven regions in the NT.

"For me, this is the most exciting project I have ever worked on and being here today to launch the laundry makes all our hard work worthwhile."

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