Northern Territory Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill announced that up to 150 people in transitional accommodation in Darwin will be relocated 100 kilometres south to the regional town of Batchelor when the Batten Road homeless shelter in Marrara closes next month. She said a new facility would be stood up alongside emergency evacuation accommodation by October 11.
Cahill says up to 150 Darwin shelter residents to relocate to Batchelor
Northern Territory Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill announced that up to 150 people in transitional accommodation in Darwin will be relocated 100 kilometres south to the regional town of Batchelor when the Batten Road homeless shelter in Marrara closes next month. She said a new facility would be stood up alongside emergency evacuation accommodation by October 11.
Cahill said the decision to relocate the residents came after negotiations with Ausco, the owner of the YiSSA site in Darwin, stalled amid a failed $3.5 million Commonwealth intervention. Speaking to media in Batchelor, she said a number of options had been explored, but the site was "the best option" available before Ausco's lease ended.
Cahill said the government had been working to transition roughly 380 people who had been staying at YiSSA into alternative accommodation ahead of the move. She said many of the 230 adults and 150 children who had been living at YiSSA had already been transitioned out.
She said around 30 people had been relocated back to their traditional country, and other community service providers had better arrangements for some people needing additional support. About 100 people remained, she said, and they would be able to come to the new facility while the government continued to work with them to find long-term permanent accommodation.
The new facility will sit alongside an evacuation centre that was stood up for residents affected by flooding in the region earlier this year, according to the report.
- The source does not state the exact date the Batten Road homeless shelter in Marrara will close, saying only that it closes next month.
- The source does not reconcile the figure of up to 150 people to be relocated with Cahill's statement that around about 100 people remain at YiSSA for whom the government is working on long-term prospects.
- The source does not state the terms of Ausco's lease, why negotiations stalled, or details of the failed $3.5 million Commonwealth intervention.
- The source does not state how many residents require dialysis or other medical services, or how their accommodation close to services will be arranged.
- The source spells the YiSSA site owner's name both Ausco and AusCo.
- The source does not include a response from Ausco or the Northern Territory Department of Health to the relocation decision, the stalled negotiations, or the statement that the Health Department was not made aware that people needed assistance.
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