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eNEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2024
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CEO Update
There are some big changes ahead for the Territory, with the CLP forming a majority government under new chief minister Lia Finocchiaro. Anglicare NT welcome all new and returning elected members and look forward to working with them. We also thank all departing MLAs and ministers for their significant contributions to our communities.
In the lead up to the election, Anglicare NT joined peak bodies including NTCOSS and NT Shelter in their election asks. We continue to stand by these important requests, which include:
- fully funding and continuing to implement the Aboriginal Justice Agreement
- more child, youth and family supports and early intervention activities
- funding programs not prisons
- increased funding for homelessness services
- affordable and appropriate housing for all Territorians
- cost of living assistance
- developing appropriate indexation measures to ensure sector funding reflects the real cost of delivering services.
It is distressing that despite the evidence and sustained lobbying, the CLP are implementing their plan to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 years. What the Territory needs is investment in alternatives to detention that would have a significant effect on prevention and intervention, and support young people in their own homes and communities.
I hope you enjoy reading Anglicare NT's latest updates in this Newsletter.
Craig Kelly,
CEO |
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Happy 5th birthday headspace Katherine
headspace Katherine celebrates five years of service to young people in the Katherine region this month.
The centre opened its doors on 25 September 2019, providing free and confidential mental health and wellbeing supports to young people. In addition to the youth-friendly hub in Katherine, an outreach team visits communities in the region to provide social and emotional wellbeing supports, community education and group sessions.
Since opening, headspace Katherine has delivered more than 3,352 services and helped over 558 young people, with 52% of those identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Through the headspace Katherine Consortium, headspace have partnered with over 25 organisations to achieve shared goals and advocate for mental health in the region. An energetic and committed Youth Advisory Group has given young people the opportunity to play an active role in shaping service delivery and support community awareness initiatives.
The headspace team are proud to work with local Aboriginal organisations, Elders and communities. Staff strive to provide culturally responsive and relevant services, taking into account the holistic nature of wellbeing to Aboriginal people and connections with culture, identity, place and spirituality.
Find out more about headspace's birthday celebrations. |
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Everyone wants a safe and comfortable place to sleep
Katherine has a homelessness rate of 33 times the national average, but what does that actually mean? How do people cope day to day when there isn’t enough housing, particularly when they live remote? Where do they sleep, and how do they take care of themselves and their loved ones?
“Many people are sleeping rough with little or no shelter options,” said Donna Warland the Regional Manager of Anglicare NT in Katherine.
“We focus on how we can make the day to day more comfortable, because being homeless in Katherine is really tough. In this climate being homeless for any length of time has a significant impact on people’s physical and mental health.”
With no immediate sustainable solutions to tackle the root problem, staff consulted with people experiencing homelessness in Katherine and went about creating a quick fix to directly and immediately support them to feel safe and protected.
“Anglicare NT is providing protected waterproof free-standing swag tents, along with swag kits that have a frying pan, water bottle, cup bowl plate combo and billy can for their camp sites. Many people camp down by the river, and these kits are designed to help them,” said Donna.
“We have also put together his and hers toiletry bags and have been distributing them amongst people we support through our housing and homelessness programs.”
“When people have spent a lot of time homeless, they need support to set up their new lives and stay on track. The right support at the right time is vital for people to break the cycle of homelessness.”
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Family day out
Love a good bush tucker cook up? Us too!
Our HIPPY early learning program teamed up with CatholicCare NT recently for a family and children's gathering in Darwin. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather, activities and feast of fish, kangaroo tails, mud crab and much more... caught and cooked by Dale and the team from Dingo Cockatoo Aboriginal Culture.
HIPPY families are empowered and engaged in their children's learning. Learn more here: anglicare-nt.org.au/service/hippy |
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Older people can access no interest loans too!
With a NILs No Interest Loan, there is no interest to pay! You just pay back the amount you borrowed, with no fees. Sound good? It is!
Vicki Borzi (pictured), manager of our financial counselling services, encourages all people on low incomes to check if they are eligible for a NILs loan.
Vicki is especially keen to hear from older people, who are often the most financially vulnerable in our community. Her biggest fear is that they are loaning money elsewhere and are wasting precious savings paying penalty fees.
“There is a great example I can think of where NILs helped an elderly man buy new teeth. His false teeth were falling apart and was quoted $2500 for new ones, which of course he didn’t have spare. He got in touch with the NILs team at one of our bush visits, and because he’s on the pension, he was eligible for a $2000 loan with no interest and two years to pay it back.”
We often hear stories about older people who find themselves in difficult financial situations because of unexpected expenses like new teeth or hearing aids. If you’re on the pension, you’re most likely eligible for NILs.
Call us today (08) 8985 0000 or visit our website https://www.anglicare-nt.org.au/service/no-interest-loans/ |
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Connecting, sharing and shaping the future
Anglicare NT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff work across the Territory supporting individuals and communities. They had the opportunity to meet together in Darwin recently to strengthen relationships, share insights and provide feedback on matters that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in community and our organisation.
Anglicare NT deeply values the unique wisdom, practices and experiences that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff bring to our workplaces across the NT. Their thoughts will help shape our future.
“I really enjoyed the two days getting to know other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff within Anglicare NT, listening to their experiences, where they are from and connecting about how we can help shape the future of the organisation. We all especially enjoyed the last activity - learning Yolngu traditional dancing with Jessie.” Davina, Partnership Support Service Administration |
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New community partner in the Central Desert
The Alice Springs Communities for Children initiative partners with local organisations to deliver free programs supporting children and their families. The programs aim to build local strengths to meet community need in urban Alice Springs and the Sandover-Plenty, Yuendumu-Anmatjerre, Tanami and Petermann-Simpson regions.
Anglicare NT is excited to announce the latest partnership with NPY Women’s Council, which will fund delivery of an all-encompassing health and wellbeing program in Docker River and Mutitjulu.
The program will focus on education, support and material assistance to empower and build capacity in families to raise happy, healthy children with improved food security. NPY Women’s Council is led by women’s law, authority and culture to deliver health, social and cultural services for all Anangu.
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NDIS individual support winds down in Darwin
Anglicare NT has made the difficult decision to discontinue delivering Individual Support Services in Darwin under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
In a public statement, CEO Craig Kelly said: “We worked hard to avoid this situation, knowing the impact this will have on participants who our staff and organisation have cared for and built strong relationships with over many years. However, an interval review confirmed a significant financial loss for the organisation making it untenable to continue to offer Darwin Individual Support Services.”
Anglicare NT believe the NDIS funding model works best for service providers with almost no overheads as only face to face contact is funded.
“We are unable to provide participants with the quality of services needed with the current funding allocation. This isn’t about making a profit, or breaking even - sustained losses eventually impact on the financial security of our other services,” said Craig.
“We strongly encourage a thorough review of the current funding model that takes into consideration the operational realities of metropolitan service delivery and the substantial quality and value add that medium to large organisations offer but cannot sustain in the current environment.”
Anglicare NT staff have worked closely with relevant support coordinators, individuals, families and guardians to transition existing participants to alternative service providers.
** Please note our NDIS Individual Support Services still operate as normal in Katherine and Nhulunbuy and NDIS Support Coordination operates NT-wide.
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Responding to homelessness in the NT
The first ever NT-edition of the national Council to Homeless Persons Parity Magazine was launched at Parliament House in July.
Titled ‘Responding to Homelessness in the Northern Territory’, the edition contains art, photography, articles, interviews and case studies highlighting the sector, people with lived experience and government. It offers powerful ideas to drive improvements for the large number of Territorians who are homelessness or living in unsafe or overcrowded housing.
Extract from Anglicare NT CEO Craig Kelly’s Parity opinion piece:
“I see the substantial investment of money into remote housing in the NT, if combined with a three tiers of government policy shift to strengthening homelands, outstations and remote communities, through major improvements to the delivery of essential services, as going a long way to stop the drift into service hubs which has a range of negative social impacts communities are grappling with.
Surely the national debate on gender-based violence has yet again reinforced the need for prevention. Initiatives like Youth Foyer, our very own SHAK (safe hangout for all kids) and intensive youth outreach programs are all great examples of what can be achieved when housing is linked with wrap around support services. Substantial gains can be made by simply funding and scaling up what we know already works.”
Anglicare NT also contributed an article on the annual Couch Surfing event held on Youth Homelessness Matters Day and on trauma-informed practices in our housing and homelessness services.
You can access an electronic version at ahnt.org.au/nt-homelessness-magazine or subscribe via the Council to Homeless Persons.
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Youth and family workers share learnings
Over 60 youth and family workers from across Anglicare NT met in Darwin for the annual Youth and Families Forum.
The forum provided an opportunity for the team to look at successes over the past 12 months - capturing data, articulating impact and outcomes, incorporating our Cultural Security Framework, planning for the future and importantly learning from each other.
“We spent the day strengthening connections between staff and programs that work with young people and families,” said Jemma Wood, Director Youth & Family Services.
“It is always a great chance to meet new people and catch up with our colleagues from other programs and regions, share stories and look at how we can advocate, influence and shape the youth and family sector in the NT through our practice,” said Jemma.
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Midawarr day out
Midawarr Day in Nhulunbuy is designed to bring services, participants, friends and family together to network, learn and have fun. Local aged and disability service providers set up stalls to talk about their services and provided activities, give aways and food.
Midawarr means ‘harvest’ in Yolŋu language. It is the season when rich plant life is ready to be collected and prepared. This is the perfect season to share delicious food, learn, network, listen to music and do a lot of dancing!
The event was organised by the Gove Peninsula Combined Aged and Disability Services network, with key organisers Carers NT and Anglicare NT.
Photos from the day are available on our website. |
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NAIDOC 2024: Anglicare NT keep the fire burning
The 2024 NAIDOC theme "Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud" invited everyone to stand in solidarity, amplify voices that have long been silenced and celebrate the unyielding spirit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Anglicare NT staff were proud to take part in NAIDOC celebrations and activities across the Territory, recognising the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Our staff attended community events and marches in all our operational sites and organised events for staff including flag raising ceremonies and cultural activities. |
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Playgroup staff present at FaFT conference
Staff from our Ngukurr Freshwater and Numbulwar Saltwater playgroups attended the FaFT (Families as First Teachers) Conference in Darwin from 4-5 September. The theme, Quality Now! It’s Our Children’s Right, emphasised the importance of evidence-based practices to ensure every child’s right to quality early education.
Keynote speakers included respected educator, linguist and 2024 Senior Australian of the Year Yalmay Yunupingu and Professor Jane Page OAM, an expert in pedagogy and leadership from the University of Melbourne. The conference featured workshops on culturally responsive practices, providing valuable insights for supporting children’s education, health and wellbeing.
Our staff presented on their unique collaboration with FaFT in both Ngukurr and Numbulwar. With over 100 educators from across the Territory attending, the event fostered deep reflection, curiosity and professional growth. |
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Tell us what you think!
Anglicare NT want you to help us understand what matters to you, so we can improve what we do and how we do it. We value your compliments, concerns and complaints.
There are various ways you can give us feedback.
You can:
Thank you for taking the time to let us know what we do well, what matters to you and how we can improve!
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Christmas cards
Anglicare NT have designed a collection of Christmas cards that are now available for purchase.
There are three designs to choose from:
- Territory Christmas (photo by staff member Tricia Maling)
- Cathedral at Night (photo by staff member Jo Vandersee)
- Traditional Christmas
Cards are sold in packs of 10 for $12.
All proceeds support our ongoing work in the community. To place an order or donate, visit our website anglicare-nt.org.au/cards |
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Copyright © 2024 Anglicare NT
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