September 2018

NDIS Regional Community Planning Report:

Katherine Region © 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers. All rights reserved.

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Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation Contents

Page

1 Introduction

Regional Community Planning 5

Contributing PIC Projects 6

2 The Katherine Region

Katherine Region Communities 8

Roper Gulf Regional Council Area 9

Victoria Daly Regional Council Area 12

3 Stakeholder Engagement in the Katherine Region

Community Engagement in Katherine Region 15

Stakeholdersconsulted 16

4 Katherine Region Service Profile

Services available for people with disability 19

Expressed need for services 20

Adjacent services in the Katherine Region 21

Katherine SWOT analysis 22

Stories from the Katherine Region 23

5 Concluding Comments

Concluding Comments from the Katherine Region 26

6 Acknowledgements 27

Please note: this document contains images of people. All necessary permissions have been obtained, and our best efforts have been made to ensure it does not contain images of people recently passed, however please be warned that this may be a possibility.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 3 1 Introduction

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Regional Community Planning

The Department of Health, Office of Disability engaged PIC initially to undertake the Community Planning Project for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the East Arnhem region. Due to the success of the engagement with East Arnhem stakeholders the project methodology was replicated in the remaining four project regions (Top End, Katherine, Barkly and Central Australia).

Community engagement was the focus of the work that was undertaken by PIC during the project and the reports reflect the thoughts of those people ‘on the ground’ in each region, including people with disability and their circle of support, current and potential service providers and support workers. At all points of engagement PIC focused on what the NDIS could bring to communities and promoted collaboration, as opposed to a strictly market based competitive environment, putting people with disability at the centre of all conversations. The knowledge and wisdom of the people engaged, which included high representation from Aboriginal people either living or working in remote communities, has been captured in an effort to provide solutions for a way forward in the implementation of the NDIS in remote regions.

Reporting for the completed project comprises six separate reports. The Community Planning for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the Northern Territory is the main report for the project. This report contains the overall findings, including information gathered on workforce considerations, opportunities and potential market development that highlights opportunities for new jobs under the NDIS for Aboriginal people living in remote communities. While many of the overall findings across the remote communities that PIC visited were similar, the regional reports provide more detailed information on the makeup of individual regions and communities and should be read in conjunction with the main report. It is important to note that communities in each region are in themselves unique with their own challenges which demonstrates a need to take a place based approach as opposed to ‘a one size fits all’ that will compromise the successful roll out of the NDIS in remote regions of the Northern Territory.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 5 Contributing PIC Projects

PIC completed an additional three projects focusing on the NDIS, the findings of which have contributed to the Community Planning Project.

NDIS Community of Practice Project

The nine organisations who formed the Community of Practice had applied under the NT NDIS Innovation Grants Program to undertake projects related to place based community engagement and examine ways to leverage existing activities, and those activities undertaken by others in their respective communities, to provide new services for people with disability. The organisations were a mix of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (6) and mainstream organisations (3) that have strong links to the communities where their services are provided. Participant organisations in the Katherine Region were: Alawa Aboriginal Corporation and Mabunji Aboriginal Resource Indigenous Corporation.

Photo credit: PIC Djilpin Aboriginal Arts in Wugularr is an ACCO that may provide opportunities for NDIS funded activities in the future.

Meeting and Exceeding Cultural Safety in the Workplace Project

Workshops were delivered in all regional centres for mainstream providers to build their cultural safety capacity as required under Domain 5 (Cultural Safety, Security and Competency) of the Northern Quality and Safeguarding Framework 2016. Five organisations generously shared their time and experience to assist in the development of content and format for the workshops.

The Meeting and Exceeding Cultural Safety in the Workplace Project also delivered a suite of resources for organisations to use in the delivery of culturally appropriate services.

Engaging Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in disability service provision

PIC was engaged to promote involvement of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) with the NDIS. This work is embedded in the Community Planning Project with PIC building on existing relationships and utilising multiple approaches for community engagement in communication with ACCOs. None of the ACCOs that PIC consulted with provided disability services as a major part of their overall suite of services. Where it was provided, support services to people with disability was integrated into other services such as aged care. Those ACCOs providing mental health services all expressed concern regarding the transfer of Commonwealth funding under the Personal Helpers and Mentors Scheme (PHaMs) into the NDIS which may render many people ineligible for continuation of services. However, overall there was a keen interest expressed by ACCOs consulted in exploring possibilities for expansion of services under the NDIS.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 6 2 The Katherine Region

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Katherine Region Communities

As a major regional service centre, Katherine lies at the centre of the Victoria Daly and Roper Gulf Regional Council areas. Katherine is the fourth largest town in the Northern Territory and is located 312 km south-east of Darwin on the Katherine River.

Katherine offers a wide range of services to communities from the Western Australian border to the Gulf of Carpentaria on the Queensland border. Katherine houses the regional offices of a number of commercial and not-for-profit service providers as well as Commonwealth, Territory and Local Government services.

It was agreed with the Office of Disability that the PIC team would visit 8 communities in this region representing a variety of geographic, population, cultural and linguistic characteristics. Minyerri was also visited as part of the NDIS Community of Practice Project

The infographic below indicates the relative population size of each community, its distance from Katherine and its linguistic complexity.

Shire Languages spoken Community Pop. Distance to Nauyiu at home Katherine (km) Nambiu Barunga Beswick Victoria English only 34.4% Nauyiu 380 250 Daly Gurindji 12.1% Nambiu Kriol 11.2% Katherine Ngarinyman 6.9% Kalkarinji 7510 353 Gudanji 1.6% Bilinarra 1.3%

Katherine English only 65.1% Kalkarinji Kriol 4.5%, Katherine 9,781 - Tagalog 1.2%, Filipino 0.7% Malayalam 0.6% Warlpiri 0.5% Roper Gulf English only 27.8% Numbulwar 723 470 Kriol 48.6% Nunggubuyu 3.7% Garrwa 1.7% Ngukurr 1,149 320 Anindilyakwa 1.1% Yanyuwa 0.3% Borroloola 871 660

Beswick 531 111 Katherine Region Barunga 363 80

Source: Google Maps, 2017, https://www.google.com.au/maps, Bushtel http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/ ABS Census 2016 8 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Roper Gulf Regional Council Area

From the Gulf of Carpentaria to west of the Stuart Highway, from just north of Elliot to the southern edge of Kakadu, from the Queensland border to 100 km from the East Arnhem Coast the stretches over 186,000 km2

The 2016 census records a population of 6,505 persons, of whom 5,186 (or 79.7%) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The population had a median age of 26 years.

The Council provides core local government services, CDP programs and aged and disability support services in Source: Google Maps, 2017, https://www.google.com.au/maps, Barunga, Beswick and Bulman, Roper Gulf Regional Council http://www.ropergulf.nt.gov.au/. Bushtel http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/ Ngukurr, Numbulwar and Borroloola. The Council has recently recruited an NDIS co-ordinator with extensive disability sector experience to enact its decision to provide a range of direct services to people with a disability who are NDIS participants.

Barunga

Community Indigenous people who serviced the Maranboy gold and tin mine moved to the area in the early 1900s initially settling at a site which is now the Beswick community. By 1965, Beswick had grown to such a size that an additional Camp was formed, this Camp was named Bamyili by the Elders and in 1984, the name was subsequently changed to Barunga. Remoteness & Access Barunga is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located 80 km east of Katherine on the Central Arnhem Road. Only during severe flooding (which occurs sporadically) does the road become inaccessible. Barunga may also be accessed via chartered small aircraft. Population The population of Barunga is approximately 363 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 82.6% (318 people) are Indigenous. Of this group:

. Median age: 26 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 23 people (9.1%). Amenities Roper Gulf Regional Council provides a range of Local Government community and infrastructure services in Barunga including aged and children's services and CDP. Barunga also has a health clinic managed by Sunrise Health Service, school, store, airstrip and Police Station located at Maranboy, approximately eight km from Barunga.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 9 Beswick Community Commencing production in 1913, the Maranboy Tin Mine (located 8 km from Barunga) ceased its operation in 1945. It was at this time that the Indigenous people who serviced the mine relocated back to Beswick Creek, or Beswick. (current site of Barunga). In 1951, due to the large influx in the population in Beswick, the Northern Territory Government began developing Beswick through building basic housing infrastructure and creating employment opportunities. Remoteness & Access Beswick is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located 111 km east of Katherine on the Central Arnhem Road. By road, the trip to Beswick takes approximately one and a half hours from Katherine on an all weather road. Only during severe flooding (which occurs sporadically) does the road become inaccessible. Population The population of Beswick is approximately 531 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 95% (508 people) identified as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 24 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 18 people (5 %). Amenities Roper Gulf Regional Council provides a range of Local Government community and infrastructure services in Beswick including aged and children's services and CDP. Also located in Beswick are a health clinic managed by Sunrise Health Service, school, store, arts centre, small motel and Police Station located at Maranboy. Borroloola

Community Borroloola was declared a town in 1885. Originally Borrolooloo, the name translates to “borrow women”, the name of a small lagoon and associated with the Hill Kangaroo. In 1977, the Yanyuwa people were the first to successfully lodge a claim under the new Federal Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 over Borroloola and the Pellew Islands. The claim was finally resolved in 2015. A second land claim in 2002 saw the remaining islands in the area also handed back. Remoteness & Access Borroloola is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located 660 km south east of Katherine on the Carpentaria Highway. Borroloola may also be accessed via chartered small aircraft. The Borroloola Airstrip is approximately 2 km from the Town Centre. Population The population of Borroloola is approximately 871 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 54.5% (532 people) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 26 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 6 people (9.8 %). Amenities Roper Gulf Regional Council provides a range of services in Borroloola including the swimming pool. Mabunji Aboriginal Resource Association operates child and aged care centres, Art and Craft Centre, Sea Ranger Unit, CDP activities, nursery, mechanical workshop, radio station and Safe House. Other services include a police station, school, a Department of Health clinic, motels, caravan parks, cafes and shops.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 10 Ngukurr

Community Ngukurr is a remote Indigenous community on the banks of the Roper River in southern . A number of different clans and language groups are represented in the town. Collectively, Aboriginal people in the Roper River area refer to themselves as Yugul Mangi. The town was originally settled by the Church Mission Society in 1908, known then as the Roper River Mission. The mission moved to the present site of Ngukurr in 1940, following a major flood, and government took over management of the town in 1968. Remoteness & Access Ngukurr, classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS, is located 320 km east of Katherine via the . The gravel section of the Roper Highway is passable only by 4WD during the wet season when sporadic severe flooding at the Roper and Wilton Rivers makes the road inaccessible. Air charter from Darwin or Katherine provides wet season access to the sealed air strip. New bridges at the Wilton and Roper Rivers are due for completion in 2018. Ngukurr is serviced by the Bhodi Bus Service. Population The population of Ngukurr is approximately 1,149 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 82.9% (972 people) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

• Median age: 23 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 56 people (7.2%). Amenities Roper Gulf Regional Council provides local government infrastructure and utility services, night patrol, sport and recreation, as well as providing access to Centrelink, community care programs for the aged and children. Council also operates the CDP employment program in Ngukurr. Also located in Ngukurr are a health clinic managed by Sunrise Health, a school, store with fuel supply, arts centre, motel, airstrip, boat jetty, government office and police station.

Numbulwar Community Numbulwar is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Permanent settlement began in 1952 with the founding of the Rose River Mission by the Church Missionary Society. The Mission operated until the 1970s when community control passed to the Numbulwar Numburindi Community Council. Remoteness & Access Numbulwar, classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS, is located 470 km north east of Katherine along the Roper Highway via Ngukurr. Access along this road requires a 4wd and is subject to closure following seasonal rains. Numbulwar is accessible by air and has an all weather, sealed airstrip. The community is serviced by the Bhodi Bus Service. Population The population of Numbulwar is approximately 723 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 84.8% (635 people) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 27 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 70 people (12.9%). Amenities Roper Gulf Regional Council provides a range of Local Government infrastructure and maintenance services. It also provides night patrol and sport and recreation, as well as providing access to Centrelink, and community care programs for the aged and children. Council also operates the Community Development Program (CDP). Also located in Numbulwar are a clinic operated by Department of Health, school, store, fuel , airstrip, boat jetty, accommodation, and police station. PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 11 Victoria Daly Regional Council Area

The Victoria Daly Regional Council covers an area of 168,277 km2 and has an estimated population of 6,000 people. The Victoria Daly Regional Council (VDRC)

Daly River became an entity on the 1 July 2008 through the amalgamation of 8 Northern Territory Community Councils covering an area of 168,000 km2, approximately twice the size of Tasmania. Council is arranged in five wards covering the major communities of:

Daly River - Nauiyu Pine Creek Timber Creek Yarralin Walangeri and Kalkarindji Dagaragu

The 2016 census records a population of 2,810 persons, of whom 1,820 or 64.8% identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The median age was 27 years.

Source: Victoria Daly Regional Council http://www.victoriadaly.nt.gov.au/ Bushtel http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/ ABS Census 2016

Kalkarinji

Community Kalkarinji is Gurindji country. The Gurindji people’s traditional lands comprise about 3,250 km² of the Northern Territory. A large Pastoral Operation was established in the 1880s. Kalkarindji and Daguragu are the population centres of the land formerly held under the Wave Hill Cattle Station. Remoteness & Access Kalkarinji is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS and is situated approximately 460 km south-west of Katherine on the Buntine Highway. The road can become impassable after heavy rain. In August 1966 Vincent Lingiari led workers and families off Wave Hill and began a seven-year strike. Lingiari led workers to an important sacred site nearby at Wattie Creek (now Daguragu). In 1975, the Whitlam Government negotiated with the station owners to give the Gurindji people back part of their land; a landmark event in the Indigenous land rights movement. Population The population of Kalkarinji is approximately 510 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 72.9%per cent (258people) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 22 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 37 people (15.9%). Amenities Victoria Daly Regional Council provides a range of services in Kalkarinji. In addition to infrastructure and utilities, Council provides the school attendance and community safety programs, aged care, child care, school nutrition, sports and recreation, Remote Indigenous Broadcasting, aerodrome maintenance and Centrelink services. There is also a Katherine West Health Board clinic, school, store, police station, employment service, accommodation and fuel outlet.

12 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Nauiyu Nambiyu

Community

Nauiyu Nambiyu is also known as Daly River. In 1885 the Jesuits applied for a ‘mission site’ on the west bank of the Daly River, with three Jesuit missionaries setting up the first mission in 1886. The mission had four priests and seven brothers on staff by 1891. In 1955 Father John Leary arrived to take charge of the construction of the new mission which was being built on Cecil Goodman’s farm having been purchased by the Catholic Church. The mission Church opened its doors in 1961. The Malak Malak land claim was formally lodged in 1981. Remoteness & Access Nauiyu Nambiyu is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. The community is situated on the banks of the Daly River approximately 230 km south of Darwin and 250 km north-west of Katherine, and is accessible by sealed road, making the Daly River accessible in most weather conditions. The road continues on to Peppimenarti, Nganmarriyanga and Wadeye and is unsealed and generally closed in the wet season. Population The population of Nauiyu Nambiyu is approximately 378 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 81.6% (305 people) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 25 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 25 people (9.9%). Amenities Victoria Daly Regional Council provides the core functions of parks and gardens, waste management, road maintenance, traffic control and administration and deliver the services of community night patrol, aged care, child care, sports and recreation, airstrip maintenance, Centrelink services, Australia Post and Remote Indigenous Broadcasting. There is also a Department of Health clinic, a Catholic school, store, police station, Ironbark Employment Service, accommodation and fuel outlet.

Photo credit: PIC Welcome to Ngukurr

13 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stakeholder Engagement in 3 the Katherine region

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Community Engagement Visits in the Katherine Region

Key dates and schedule of the Katherine Region community visits

The following table represents the dates that the PIC consultants visited the remote communities in the Katherine Region. The visits generally involved 2 – 3 consultants with a mix of genders to address any cultural gender issues and facilitate communication.

Location Date

Barunga 5-6/12/2017

Beswick 5-6/12/2017

Borroloola 30/5/2018

Ngukurr 27/3/2018

Numbulwar 4/5/2018

Kalkarinji 4/6/2018

Nauiyu Nambiyu 22/3/2018

Minyerri 28/3/2018

Katherine Workshops and Forums

Innovation Grants Workshop 05/9/2017 13 attendees

Katherine Critical Incidents Response 07/12/2017 14 attendees and Service Provider Forum

NDIS Community of Practice Inception 21/2/2018 4 Katherine Region Workshop (held in Darwin) attendees

Katherine Meeting and Exceeding 1/6/2018 17 attendees Cultural Safety in the Workplace Workshop

NDIS Community of Practice Recall 7/6/2018 4 Katherine Region Workshop held in Darwin attendees

15 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stakeholders Consulted

16 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stakeholders Consulted

Photo credit: PIC Arts and Culture Centres play an important role for small communities

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 17 Katherine Region 4 Service Profile

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Services available for people with disability

Existing services were mapped by community during the consultation. It must be noted that this table reflects a snapshot in time that is subject to change and there are many variables affecting the functionality of a service on the day.

One area of observation by the PIC team regarding service availability was the role played by allied health professionals in the provision of support that also included the transportation of equipment to communities and follow ups with regard to repairs to essential assistive technology. In many cases allied health professionals are the ‘glue’ that maintains supports for people with disability in remote communities.

Equipment Community Personal Home Day Community Employment Allied Meals maintenance Based care Help Activities Access support Health & repair respite

Barunga

Beswick

Borroloola

Ngukurr

Numbulwar

Kalkarinji Nauiyu Nambiyu

= Not available = limited availability = Available

Definitions Personal Care: Personal activities of daily living such as showering, toileting, dressing, eating. Meals: Assistance with meal preparation or the delivery of one cooked meal to the house each day. Home help: Laundry, house work (including cleaning, washing dishes) and yard tidy up. Day activities: Structured planned day activities usually undertaken in a group environment and working towards goals (eg to be able to undertake shopping on own, to build exercise tolerance so that participants can walk independently to watch the football games). Community Access: participating in activities outside the home environment such as going to watch school concerts, participating in hunting or fishing trips. Equipment Maintenance and repair: timely repairs and maintenance undertaken on community such as fixing punctures on wheelchair tyres and screwing loose pieces of walking frame together. Employment support: Assistance given to help people apply for and maintain employment or the provision of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) services on community. Community based respite: Services on communities that provide a break for carers of the person with a disability and a break for the person with the disability from the family home. Visiting Allied Health services: A regular home visiting service to the person with the disability from allied health staff. This is usually on a consultative basis.

19 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Expressed Need for Services

The following table represents the expressed need for services by community as translated to the consultants by people with disability and their carers and existing service providers. It was evident that it is difficult for people to imagine what they have not seen or previously experienced. In general people expressed the need for meals, personal care and access to cultural and recreational activities.

A consistent theme of the consultations was the expressed need for transport both within community and surrounding areas, between communities and to regional service centres. The importance of both locally based and regionally based respite was also raised as an important issue that is dependent on the needs of the person with a disability and their support network. For example, some service providers spoke of a fear people have that if they leave their community they might never come back, while others spoke of cases where regular culturally appropriate respite off community to attend to medical needs and access social and recreational services in regional centres is an enjoyable experience that is assisting people to remain on community long term. Both transport and respite remain unresolved issues within the context of eligibility under the NDIS.

Equipment Community Personal Home Day Community Employment Allied Meals maintenance Based care Help Activities Access support Health & repair respite

Barunga

Beswick

Borroloola

Ngukurr

Numbulwar

Kalkarinji Nauiyu Nambiyu

= Expressed need = Service available = Adequately for this service on but not enough serviced community as it not available or is insufficient to meet the needs of people with disabilities on the community

20 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Adjacent Services in the Katherine Region

The Community Planning Project recognised the importance of those organisations providing aged care, health clinics, Community Development Programs (CDP) and sport and recreation programs on community and their potential role in considering the provision of direct or indirect supports to people with disability under the NDIS. It was also evident that opportunities could arise through collaboration between these organisations and other organisations providing services on community.

The Katherine region has a strong presence of Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) managing health clinics in remote communities. These clinics are a critical element in access for people with disability to the NDIS through the support provided in terms of information on medical conditions and assessment, as well as in the identification of people with disability as potential NDIS participants. One AMS is a registered NDIS provider.

Aged Care Clinic / Health CDP Sport and Centre Recreation

Barunga

Beswick

Borroloola

Ngukurr

Numbulwar

Kalkarinji

Nauiyu Nambiyu

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 21 SWOT Analysis This table comprises the compilation of feedback from forums and consultation and is a point in time snapshot. The information collected has been distilled into high level insights and themes and as such does not represent verbatim feedback from any single person.

Strengths Weaknesses • Local Government is involved in a range of service • Very small numbers of potential NDIS participants delivery with local Aboriginal. staff employed on in many communities where as few as 2 to 6 people community. are likely to meet eligibility requirements of the NDIS. • Roper Gulf Regional Council has a strong footprint in the provision of disability services and is • Small communities spread across a wide potentially a significant asset longer term in further geographical area. increasing the level of Aboriginal employment. • Delivery of personal care type support by Aboriginal • The presence of Defence in Katherine provides a people in very small communities is an issue due to potential pool of skilled and professional workers cultural reasons. through the partners of Defence personnel. • There is a limited private market for allied health • One Aboriginal Medical Service is registered as a professionals based in Katherine. Service providers NDIS provider and is providing mental health are frequently having to access allied health services through the PHaMs program. professionals from Darwin.

• There is a high level of interest from existing and • Limited transport options within and between potential service providers in the provision of NDIS communities, particularly for those with reduced services to people with disability. mobility. The ‘Bodhi Bus’ is a government subsidized service but is not fully accessible for • There is a ‘can do’ attitude to work in innovative people with high level mobility issues. ways and to work collaboratively with others. • Complex local government boundaries to the west (Kalakarinji the only large community and Lajamanu close but receives services from Central Desert Regional Council) along with differing language and cultures (Gurindji & Warlpiri).

• Housing supply and maintenance is an ongoing challenge. Opportunities Threats • Good opportunities for development of day • Single AMS has been involved in the NDIS activities and short-term respite within Katherine preparations and has expressed great concern in for communities in the region should transport regard to the loss of the Personal Helpers and issues be overcome. Mentors (PHaMS) program with roll up into NDIS and the impact on people who may be ineligible. • Some strong local ACCOs emerging, noting that the NDIS would be an adjunct service. • Lack of cultural understanding by the NDIA and the need to develop and maintain relationships with • New disability services could bolt onto existing people and communities over an extended period of services that are working well and are best located time. and managed from within communities. • Some communities have ‘consultation fatigue’ and • Potential to increase Aboriginal employment, my not be open to new ideas regarding new services. particularly in remote communities, with a focus on place based community development models that • Communication breakdown during NDIS transition engender whole of community collaboration. with the NDIA, Coordination of Support (located in Katherine) and services being provided in Borroloola.

22 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stories from Katherine…

During the course of the Community Planning Project PIC engaged with people with disability, their support networks including carers, service providers and members of the community. By asking people to share their stories we captured a wide range of experiences and views in both remote communities and regional centres. To protect individual and community confidentiality we have changed people’s names and amalgamated elements of different stories.

Rosa, a young women with behavioral issues in her mid 20s, resides in a remote community in the Katherine region. The local Aboriginal Corporation has provided her with day activities, some personal care and help coordinating her money and food on occasion. The local service provider facilitated Rosa attending respite care in Katherine every few months. This respite care allowed Rosa to attend medical appointments but also to undertake activities such as shopping and attending movies which she enjoyed and looked forward to. The service provider reported that these visits to Katherine were important in reducing Rosa’s behavioral issues and were ‘great for everyone’. They described how these respite visits out of the community assisted Rosa to remain and be supported in her own community Photo credit: PIC The PIC team valued travelling with Office of as everyone ‘got a break’ as at times her behavior Disability staff who provided introductions to clients and carers. could be quite challenging.

In the transition to the NDIS, coordination of supports has been transitioned to a provider Susan, an Aged and Disability manager in based in Katherine. Rosa did not fully understand a remote community, commented that ‘even what was happening and continued to go to the if we could recruit staff, and we can’t, local service provider. The changed coordination there’s nowhere for them to live. That's a arrangements created some confusion for Rosa as problem for the local staff too as they live in well as some gaps in the delivery of services. massively overcrowded, noisy households. Delays also occurred in the payment for services Our service is supposed to be only a five to the local Aboriginal Corporation who was day a week service from 8.30 to 4.30 but I continuing to provide care. The organisation had know some of the local staff are helping to eventually advocate their case directly to the people at night and on weekends because NDIA to receive back payments. there is just no other support available.’

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 23 Stories from Katherine…

Maureen runs an aged care service in a very isolated community and getting people to provide personal care on an ongoing basis extremely difficult. While acknowledging this type of care is hard in any small community, where everyone knows everyone, she says it is compounded with complex family, gender and power relationships which can make things very problematic. For examples ‘poison cousin’ relationships make it impossible for some people to be in the same room. Maureen says that many matters may not be obvious to non- Aboriginal staff and that she relied on an old lady who was a traditional owner for guidance as to what was appropriate or not appropriate. Local workers don’t say an outright no to the job but prefer to do other work or just ‘go missing in action’ where they are put in situations of cultural conflict.

‘I finally got this old man’s son in law to agree to help with showering him and that worked for a few weeks before he needed to go off on some cultural business. I have resorted to getting some visiting staff from the regional town every few weeks and bringing him into the centre. It’s not ideal but otherwise he doesn’t get a wash’.

Photo credit: PIC. Mabunji Aboriginal Corporation aged care, Borroloola.

Susan, a service provider, explained the numerous roadblocks to getting simple repairs on assistive technology such as wheel chairs. ‘Much of the equipment really isn’t robust enough for the harsh conditions… when something goes wrong you rely on the goodwill of staff to get the item into Katherine and then off to Darwin. Recently a lady spent 6 weeks sitting on her verandah without her chair and the repair to her electric wheel chair took the technician 5 minutes when it finally got to him. It’s like a chain and there are just so many places the link can break getting things from the bush to Darwin. The costs are astronomical especially in the wet season when we need to fly things in… we have done lots of minor repairs ourselves. A lot of things could be done locally but the systems are not just set up to deal with it.’

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 24 5 Concluding Comments

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Concluding comments from the Katherine Region

The NDIS also rolled out in Katherine from 1 July 2017 and interest in the NDIS increased dramatically as the rollout progressed and service delivery and funding arrangements changed for service providers. The presence of longterm OoD staff members and the movement of one of those staff members to the NDIA assisted in the transfer of invaluable knowledge of the region and people with disability living on remote communities.

Katherine has had the benefit of being located close to the RAAF Base Tindal which has provided a pool of potential workers for the town in the form of partners of Defence personnel. Service providers report that over time they have been able to secure allied health professionals and people with specialist skills in providing support to people with disability from this labour source.

Katherine, as the regional service centre, has a range of disability and respite care services that are accessible to the communities within the region. The region is made up of a mix of large and small remote communities from different cultural and language groups. As with other regions, services for people with disability are patchy with many services having limited availability and in general do not provide the level of core support essential to ensure that the basic functional needs of people are even partially met. Allied health services have been provided mainly through the Department of Health.

An Aboriginal Medical Service operating in the region is actively involved in the provision of mental health programs that will fall under the NDIS and has expressed concern around the strict eligibility criteria that may prevent some people continuing to access those programs. Several ACCOs in remote communities already provide limited services to people with disability and are building their capacity to engage with NDIS. A local government authority has a strong presence in the provision of services to people with disability including providing coordination of supports across the region.

In summary, existing service providers in the Katherine Region are keen to engage in the provision of NDIS services and it will clearly take time and alternative approaches to ensure that eligible people with disability in remote communities are able to fully access what the NDIS can provide in terms of core functional supports, as well as support to engage in cultural and recreational activities.

Photo credit: PIC The wet season can limit road access to many communities in the Katherine region.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 26 Acknowledgements

PIC would like to acknowledge all who contributed to the Community Planning for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the Northern Territory Project. Over the period of the project, PIC met with hundreds of people across the Territory from regional centres to very remote communities.

We particularly thank the Aboriginal people that we engaged with (people with disability, carers, family members, service providers, board members and elders) who shared their knowledge and wisdom which is reflected in this report.

Commonwealth Government