From Abc · · 2m
Darwin shelter closes, medically vulnerable residents moved 100km away
Residents with serious health conditions are relocated to an isolated outback town despite government promises they would stay near critical services.
In brief
Residents with serious health conditions are relocated to an isolated outback town despite government promises they would stay near critical services. The Northern Territory government closed the four hundred bed YiSSA shelter in Darwin today, moving medically vulnerable residents to Batchelor, one hundred kilometres…
Darwin shelter closes today
The four hundred bed YiSSA short stay accommodation facility in Darwin closed today, forcing residents to find other accommodation or move to Batchelor.
Batchelor is 100km away
The new YiSSA site is in Batchelor, an isolated town about one hundred kilometres out of Darwin, where the nearest major hospital is located.
Government promised to protect vulnerable residents
The NT government previously said medically vulnerable people would not be shifted to Batchelor and that no resident who needs medical care will be left without a way to reach it.
But residents with serious conditions were moved
YiSSA residents spokeswoman Tilathia Gore, who has rheumatic heart disease, told the ABC some residents with serious medical conditions including herself were relocated to Batchelor today.
Gore fears medical emergencies
Ms Gore said she needed to be near medical services for her rheumatic heart disease but was shifted to Batchelor. She worried about emergencies one hundred kilometres from Darwin's hospital.
“If I'm gonna be stuck out there, no way of me getting into town, and me being crook, the ambulance is not gonna to come in time.”
Other residents have serious conditions
Ms Gore said she knew residents on dialysis and with cancer at the facility. She worried about their safety at the remote Batchelor site far from medical care.
“I know a couple on with cancer, another one they're on dialysis. Where they gonna go?”
Gore considers sleeping rough instead
Ms Gore said if there was no other possibility she had no choice but to stay in long grass, a colloquial term for sleeping rough or sleeping on the streets.
“If there's not other possibility, I got no choice but to stay in long grass.”
New site readiness questioned
As residents arrived at Batchelor this afternoon, furniture was still being assembled and the site was still being prepared. The ABC understands construction approvals for the site had not been confirmed.
Opposition slams botched transition
Opposition leader Selena Uibo said the NT government had botched the operation. She noted the Batchelor facility is not ready and fit for purpose, with gravel under demountables creating access problems for people in wheelchairs.
“The CLP have done an absolutely horrific job in transitioning YiSSA.”
The main idea
The Northern Territory government closed the four hundred bed YiSSA shelter in Darwin today, moving medically vulnerable residents to Batchelor, one hundred kilometres away, breaking its promise to keep them near essential health services.
