The closure of Darwin's largest homeless shelter continues to cause anger, with a protest planned outside the Australian Homelessness Conference set to be held in the city this week.
The future of the YiSSA Short-Stay Accommodation facility on Batten Road has been uncertain since July, when the NT Government ordered Yilli Rreung Housing Aboriginal Corporation to leave the site within 90 days after the government and Ausco, which owns the demountable buildings on the site, failed to reach an agreement over their purchase.
The Aboriginal-run service has provided short-term accommodation to vulnerable Territorians, including people travelling to Darwin for dialysis, those escaping family violence and people experiencing homelessness.
The facility is due to close on October 11.
The decision came after the NT Government rejected a $3.5 million contribution from the Commonwealth that would have allowed the YiSSA facility to remain operating.
The NT Government last month confirmed residents would instead be accommodated at a new Northern Territory Respite and Recovery Facility in Batchelor, next to the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and about 100km south of Darwin.
The government said up to 150 people would be relocated to Batchelor, while other residents would be moved into alternative accommodation before the Batten Road facility closes.
However, on Monday, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said there were "over 120 people who are still in the facility who have not found anywhere to go".
She implored the NT Government to keep the site open for at least six more months to coincide with the wet season.
"Please keep YiSSA open, at least to get us through the wet season, so that we can then work on a longer-term plan," she told News24.
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In an ironic twist, the Australian Homelessness Conference, Australia's largest homelessness conference, is taking place at the Darwin Convention Centre on Wednesday and Thursday.
Community group Justice not Jails has announced a protest outside the venue, calling on conference participants to condemn the decision to close YiSSA, and follows a 4,000 strong petition calling for the decision to be reversed.
There are concerns the Batchelor facility's distance from Darwin makes it unsuitable for some of the people YiSSA serves.
YiSSA was also Indigenous-run, while the new facility is not.
"The situation is exacerbated by the selection of a non-Aboriginal organisation to manage the facility, without any discussion or tender, despite the availability of Aboriginal-controlled organisations with demonstrated competency and capacity in supporting our most vulnerable Territorians," Danila Dilba Health Service (DDHS) Chair Carol Stanislaus said.
"This raises serious questions about the Government's commitment to genuine partnership, the principles of self-determination and the Closing the Gap Agreement."
NT Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill told reporters last month the move was allowing people on the housing list to get into "appropriate housing accommodation".
"We've got around 30 people who we've relocated back to their [traditional] Country, which is fantastic," she said.
"We've got support from other community service providers who have a better arrangement for some of the people who need additional support in that facility and then we are left with around about 100 people that we're still working with to see what their long-term prospect will be."
