Darwin's largest shelter YiSSA forced to close, vulnerable residents relocated to town 100 kilometres away

According to ABC News, after the Northern Territory government rejected a federal financial rescue package, YiSSA, Darwin's largest temporary accommodation facility, was forcibly shut down over the weekend. The 400-bed shelter has been operating at full capacity with a waiting list, and has long provided temporary housing for homeless people with nowhere else to go, domestic violence victims and Indigenous people who travel to the city for medical treatment.

The Northern Territory government has required YiSSA residents to relocate to the inland town of Batchelor, about 100 kilometres from Darwin. The town has only around 370 residents, one grocery store and no public transport system.

Yvonne Dunn, a social worker assisting women fleeing domestic violence, told ABC News that she feared women and children would face the most serious risks. "My concern is what happens to the kids, the mothers, the grandmothers and the aunties," she said, "because, as everyone knows, in Aboriginal society the raising of children is a collective responsibility."

Dunn warned that women relocated to Batchelor would have no access to domestic violence legal services and would be unable to attend court hearings. "They will never be able to get their children back, because they cannot meet the Department of Children and Families reunification plan requirements." She also drew a comparison between the Northern Territory government's handling of YiSSA and the 2007 federal "intervention," criticising that "at least that intervention came with attached resources." "The saddest thing is that we are piling more layers of burden on our most vulnerable people and will further intensify their stress."

ABC News revealed that Danila Dilba, a Darwin Aboriginal health service, has 250 clients registered with YiSSA, and that its family and domestic violence services supported 34 domestic violence survivors over the past 12 months. The organisation's chief executive, Rob McPhee, said they could not extend their services to Batchelor.

"Patients have already told me they 'won't go,'" McPhee told ABC News. "So people will keep streaming into Darwin, they will need somewhere to live. People will sleep rough, or they will put pressure on family households, and we are already seeing that pressure beginning to show in communities like Karama and Malak. I worry the closure of YiSSA will only worsen that overcrowding and lead to more antisocial behaviour and higher crime rates—and that was avoidable."

McPhee noted that Darwin's housing and homelessness crises required solutions inside the city, rather than relocation 100 kilometres away: "Homelessness is in Darwin, we need the temporary accommodation facilities here—the Northern Territory is in a housing crisis, Darwin is in a homelessness crisis."

On the medical front, former YiSSA resident Fiona Dhawunymymurruwuy, who came to Darwin from the Milingimbi community in Arnhem Land for dialysis and is currently recovering in hospital following a leg amputation, is due to be discharged this month. "I said, 'I have no house, no home, because YiSSA—where I was living—is closing down, and I have no choice,'" she told ABC News. "They were good to us, they took care of us, they did what was best for us—so now it's very hard for me, where can I go?"

The Northern Territory government claims that "medically fragile" residents will not be relocated to Batchelor, but according to ABC News, when asked directly where those residents would be placed, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro avoided specific details, saying only that "we have repeatedly had to provide emergency medical care in Darwin, those arrangements are in place, we have done this in flood and cyclone events, this is standard government practice." Regarding other residents, Finocchiaro said: "For homeless people, if they wish to continue receiving homelessness services, they will move to that facility—if they don't go, then that is indeed their own business."

On the real motivation behind the closure, ABC News noted that there are contradictory explanations within the Northern Territory government. Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill attributed the closure to "unworkable" proposals put forward by the federal government, while a Northern Territory government spokesperson said "long-standing complaints from nearby residents" were also among the considerations. The Northern Territory government did not respond to ABC News questions about what support Batchelor would offer to domestic violence families, including transport arrangements for residents without a car.

According to ABC News, the federal government's rescue package came with conditions, requiring that Aboriginal-owned enterprise Yilli Rreung Housing receive a long-term contract to continue operating YiSSA, but that organisation's contract was not renewed. The Northern Territory government says Mission Australia will provide "a full suite of services" at a smaller new 150-bed site in Batchelor, but the organisation told ABC News the relevant "potential service agreement" is still under negotiation.

McPhee warned ABC News that patients requiring dialysis three times a week who cannot access services would fall ill, and that would put more pressure on the hospital system. "Dialysis patients are a high-risk group—if we leave some people sleeping rough or living in overcrowded accommodation in Darwin, their chances of infection, hospitalisation and even death rise significantly."