Stop the closure of Aboriginal community-controlled YiSSA housing

Residents and the wider community are organising to stop the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party (CLP) government’s decision to close the Yilli Short Stay Accommodation (YiSSA) in Garramilla/Darwin. YiSSA is an Aboriginal community-controlled facility that provides low-cost short-stay accommodation, used by people undergoing renal dialysis, families escaping domestic violence, homeless residents and people and families visiting Garramilla to access essential services. 

At the time of the CLP government’s announcement in July of YiSSA’s closure, there were reportedly 230 residents living there, including 85 children, with a further 300 people on the waiting list.

YiSSA is owned by a private company, Ausco, while the land is owned by the NT government. The CLP government offered $3 million to buy YiSSA, but Ausco rejected the offer as too low. The federal government then announced it would contribute $3.5 million to assist the NT government in keeping YiSSA open.

The CLP government refused to purchase YiSSA. Instead, it has decided to evict residents and relocate them to Batchelor, more than 100 kilometres from Garramilla.

The proposed relocation to Batchelor will disconnect residents from public transport, services, employment opportunities and support networks, as well as schools for children who have been living at YiSSA. It will also impact people’s ability to access essential healthcare, as it places them outside the Danila Dilba catchment area, with no public transport between Batchelor and Garramilla.

The NT already has the highest rate of homelessness, sitting at nearly 12 times the national average. The CLP government’s decision to evict YiSSA residents will worsen this homelessness crisis and put hundreds of vulnerable people in a highly precarious position, putting their renal treatment, schooling, safety and more at risk.

YiSSA residents are urging the CLP government to stop their eviction. The government’s decision has also sparked deep concerns from Aboriginal service providers and NT legal organisations.

Amid the controversy over the CLP government’s eviction of YiSSA residents, and in the final days leading up to the eviction, the NT government is hosting the Australian Homelessness Conference in Garramilla.

Justice Not Jails has organised a community demonstration for October 7 outside the conference, calling on all conference attendees to draw attention to the eviction of YiSSA residents and to pass a motion urging the CLP government and the federal government to reverse this devastating decision.

[Sign the petition to stop the closure of YiSSA housing here. Attend the community demonstration at 8am, October 7, outside the Darwin Convention Centre.]