00:02Former residents describe Darwin's largest short-stay accommodation centre Yissa as a welcoming and secure place.
00:10Yissa was like home to me, where there was a lot of Aboriginal people.
00:17As the 400-bed facility is forced to close, its much smaller replacement, 100 kilometres away in a remote town,
00:25Yvonne Dunn fears its women and children in the firing line.
00:29What will happen to the children and the mothers and the grandmothers and the aunties?
00:39Because as we all know in Indigenous society, child rearing is a shared responsibility.
00:47She's among those pleading with the Territory Government to accept a financial rescue offer from the Federal Government
00:53or at least push out the closure date until after the Top End's approaching wet season.
00:58The homeless issue is in Darwin. We need short-stay accommodation here.
01:02The Northern Territory is in a housing crisis and Darwin has a homelessness crisis.
01:08The replacement site on the outskirts of Batchelor has one store and no public transport
01:13and also cuts residents off from Darwin's Aboriginal Health Service.
01:17We're concerned about the 250 clients that we have who have their address registered at Yissa.
01:25They will no longer be able to access our services from Batchelor.
01:29We do not provide transport down there.
01:31That includes women and children who are escaping violence or domestic violence situations.
01:37I can see more trouble coming.
01:40There's confusion about what has motivated the closure,
01:43with the Territory Government citing both long-standing concerns about Yissa
01:47from residents in nearby suburbs and an unworkable proposal from the Federal Government.
01:52Those working on the ground say it's the loss of Yissa that Darwin residents should be worried about.
01:58Our clients are telling us that they will not go to Batchelor and I'm worried that the closure of Yissa
02:03is just going to see those overcrowding conditions get worse and that's going to roll into more anti-social behaviour
02:12and potentially higher rates of crime and this is all avoidable.
02:16The saddest thing is we are putting more layers on our most vulnerable people.
02:23Fiona Dawoonamurawoi came to Darwin from Arnhem Land for dialysis and is in hospital rehab after a leg amputation.
02:32I don't have a home because Yissa where I stay is closing and there's no choice for me.
02:41Fiona's too unwell to move to Batchelor and moving into an overcrowded family home in Darwin isn't a safe option.
02:48At this moment it's too hard for me. Where can I go?
02:54The Territory Government says all medically vulnerable residents will be accommodated close to services in Darwin
03:01but has not responded to questions about supports for women fleeing violence.
03:05the Territory Government says alleral soldiers were identifying options in other streets.
03:05But of course I understand if you know about Da'odont IPS isπendor ernest.
