One of the country's largest Indigenous legal services has called on the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments to "urgently fix glaring inequities and failures" in the emergency response to flooding across the Big Rivers region.
Centred on Katherine, the region — home to 23 Aboriginal communities — has, along with other parts of the NT, experienced significant flooding.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), more than 100 millimetres of rain fell overnight in Mataranka and Katherine, with Katherine experiencing its worst flooding since 1998.
Flooding is continuing south of Adelaide River, including in the towns of Daly River and Palumpa — both of which have been evacuated — while the ABC reports floodwaters are continuing to threaten the community of Beswick.
Crocodiles below the surface remain an ongoing concern, along with shortages of supplies and fresh water.
Beswick Elder Peter Lindsay told ABC Radio Darwin that whilst the community hoped to be in the clear soon, the latest river rise "doesn't look really good for us".
"We're running out of water supply, but ... I think the products are coming in tomorrow or something like that," he said.
In a letter to Commonwealth and NT politicians — including Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy — North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) chief executive Ben Grimes said the organisation was concerned that a "different approach has been taken in Katherine as compared to other Aboriginal communities which have been seriously affected by the floods".
Residents within the Katherine Town Council area can access support through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement (DRFA).
Mr Grimes welcomed this but said families from communities, including Wugularr, Jilkminggan, Daly River, Palumpa, are "displaced and struggling, but it's unclear when or how they will receive the same emergency payments and assistance that Katherine residents have been offered".
"While arrangements have been made to ensure food supply lines in Katherine have reopened, NAAJA is concerned regarding a lack of supplies and supports available for clients in low lying homelands near Daly River," Mr Grimes said in the letter.
"We note recent reports that Emu Point, Woodycupidiya and Uminyuluk homelands are experiencing food shortages."
He argued a "patchwork response" was leaving "some of the most vulnerable people in our region without the same access to help as others", noting "social security recipients have been disproportionately affected by the flood as many social housing dwellings are ground-level dwellings".
"Many of our clients are living in social housing and low-lying areas hardest hit by floodwaters," Mr Grimes said. "Some households have lost everything. The system isn't built to quickly support them in a crisis—it's making recovery slower and more painful than it needs to be."
The BOM told the ABC the Daly River would "continue rising throughout this week," with rains predicted to continue feeding into upstream locations. The town has now been evacuated twice this year.
NAAJA has called on Services Australia to pause mutual obligations and debt repayments during the crisis and to provide sufficient resources, including in-person assistance, to help people access DRFA. The organisation has also called for a freeze on rent for social housing tenants in flood-affected areas.
Mr Grimes said a lack of planning and communication had worsened the hardship for communities already reeling from the floods.
"This disaster shows yet again how unequal access to essential services deepens the impact of natural events on Aboriginal communities. Governments need to act now, not just to fix what's broken, but to stop this happening again," he said.
