Deadly Hair Dude takes barbering to Central Australian Indigenous community, Papunya

Source: “Deadly Hair Dude takes barbering to Central Australian Indigenous community, Papunya,” ABC News, 15 March 2025.

For a remote community like Papunya in Central Australia, the nearest professional haircut is around three hours away.

But this week locals were lining up at a shipping container for free haircuts to mark the opening of the town's first hair salon — delivered by students in training from the community.

The hairdressing initiative for remote Indigenous communities was launched by the local Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation in partnership with Darwin-based hairdresser Gary Strachan and his 'Deadly Hair Dude NT' not-for-profit project.  

The Papunya Hair Salon is giving eight local students the opportunity to be trained at the studio to style their community's hair.