Western Australia's Aboriginal Legal Service will look at whether there is a case to sue the government over "disgraceful" living conditions at a remote community.

Parnpajinya, a settlement of around 60 residents and 13 houses near the mining town of Newman on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert, is one of six Pilbara town-based reserves facing an uncertain future.

The WA Government has been considering the settlement's future for the past two years under a $20 million project.

The houses are dilapidated and services such as sewage, water, electricity and rubbish collection are intermittent or non-existent.

But because of a technicality, they are classified as town-based reserves and not eligible for remote communities funding.

The Parnpajinya Community has a population of around 60 people. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

Last week residents from a Central Australian Aboriginal community successfully sued the Northern Territory Government for failing to maintain their public housing.

The WA Aboriginal Legal Service said there might be grounds for a similar legal challenge against the WA Government.

Chief executive officer, Dennis Eggington, said he would look into the issue.

"A number of people have rung and asked whether or not it can be looked at," Mr Eggington said.

"State housing that Aboriginal people are expected to live in … is a disgrace."

Homeless residents of Parnpajinya Community gather next to the reserve. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

Residents at Parnpajinya have complained about the lack of consultation over the future of the reserve.

Martu elder Peter Tinker said his house had been boarded up, but he had not received an eviction notice.

"We sleep out in the bush. That's my bedroom," he said.

"When it gets hot, we sleep under the tree. And we follow the shade."

Temperatures in the community have soared above 40 degrees Celsius over the summer.

The housing area in Parnpajinya has been bulldozed, with two of the six boarded-up houses so far demolished. ( Supplied: Angela Wilmot )

Community closures

Residents have also expressed concern that two unoccupied houses were bulldozed in Parnpajinya without notice, and further demolition works have since been suspended.

At another reserve, Tjalka Boorda in Port Hedland, the demolition of 17 buildings is underway.

The Pilbara Development Commission (PDC) is managing the project and has not indicated what will follow the demolition works.

It said various government departments were working with residents and native title holders to develop a plan for each reserve.

The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH), on behalf of the Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT), carries out housing, infrastructure, and municipal maintenance.

A spokesman for the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs said no residents had been evicted by the DPLH.

One of the many boarded up houses in Parnpajinya Community. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Ben Wyatt, told WA Parliament late last year that Parnpajinya would either become a suburb of Newman or the residents would be relocated into social housing within the town.

He said at the time that Parnpajinya fell under the statewide policy for the transition of Aboriginal town-based reserves.

The policy sets forth two options for the future of town-based reserves: the relocation of residents into mainstream housing, or the amalgamation of reserves into surrounding towns.

The PDC and DPLH said that, during consultations, Parnpajinya residents had expressed a desire to move from the reserve into the Newman townsite.

However Newman-based community support worker Angela Wilmot said the issue was putting a lot of pressure on families in Newman.

She added that, because of language difficulties, residents may have been under the impression that the Parnpajinya houses would be rebuilt.

Community support worker Angela Wilmot and her husband John from Martu Farm in Newman. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

"There are so many people who don't have houses to live in," she said.

"Because they can't live in Parnpajinya, they are homeless, so they come and live with their families in Newman.

"That reserve [Parnpajinya] should not be closing. There is not a surplus of houses. It's putting a lot of pressure on families in Newman.

"Now that's potentially 60 people having to come and find somewhere to live in Newman."

Martu man Des Taylor with his wife Colleen in front of their overcrowded house in Newman. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

Overcrowding concerns

Martu man Desmond Taylor said he lived in an overcrowded house in Newman with 10 people in the four-bedroom building.

"They are going to create more problems by forcing people to move away [from Parnpajinya] and not by helping them as well," he said.

"We are all family. We try very hard to manage. We don't drink, we try to get the kids to school.

"Feeding everybody can be a struggle sometimes. It can cause a lot of stress.

"We're just learning to survive."

Martumilli artist Jason Tinker has been homeless for the past few weeks after his house was boarded up in Parnpajinya. ( ABC North West WA: Sonia Feng )

In Parnpajinya, artist Jason Tinker said people wanted to stay in the settlement.

"We want a home in Parnpajinya community. We want people to stay here. All the community [has] nowhere to stay. They want to stay here," he said.