Overwhelmed by the problem twelve years ago, community elders decided to send young sniffers to the Mt Theo outstation, located deep in the Tanami desert.
The Senate inquiry into petrol sniffing has already heard from NT doctors, who have said that solutions to the problem must be developed locally and not in Canberra.
Papunya community doctor Stephen Foster told the Senate committee in Alice Springs that initiatives to prevent petrol sniffing must come from individual communities or risk adding to the problem.
Dr Foster said petrol sniffing is a chronic problem at Papunya, near Alice Springs, with approximately 60 of the 400 residents in the community involved in sniffing.
Queensland Senator Clare Moore has told the ABC that it’s clear there is no one cure-all to the crisis.
Ms Moore said the roll-out of non-sniffable fuel as just one part of the solution and that government and community groups must work together to help ease the crisis.