September 2018

NDIS Regional Community Planning Report:

Barkly 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 Project 5

Contributing PIC Projects 6

2 The Barkly Region

Barkly Region Communities 8

3 Stakeholder Engagement in the Barkly Region

Community Engagement in the Barkly Region 12

Stakeholdersconsulted 13

4 Barkly Region Service Profile

Services available for people with disability 15

Expressed need for services 16

Adjacent services in the Barkly Region 17

Barkly SWOT analysis 18

Stories from the Barkly 19

5 Concluding Comments

Concluding comments for the Barkly Region 22

6 Acknowledgements 23

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PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 3 1 Introduction

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Regional Community Planning

The Department of Health, Office of Disability (OoD) engaged PIC initially to undertake the Community Planning Project for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the . 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 ). 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. The participant organisation in the Barkly region was Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation (Utopia Homelands).

Photo Credit: PIC. is the service center for the Barkly region.

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 the 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 Barkly Region

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Barkly Region Communities

The Barkly Regional Council covers around 323,514 km² and includes the towns of Tennant Creek and Elliot, 6 major communities, 8 minor communities, 70 family outstations, 49 pastoral stations, mining operations and commercial properties.

The 2016 census records a population of 6,655 persons of whom 4,528 (or 68%) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The median age of the population was 28 years. Source: Google Maps, 2017, https://www.google.com.au/maps Barkly Regional Council http://barkly.nt.gov.au Bushtel http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/ ABS Census 2016 Tennant Creek is the regional service centre, housing many commercial and not-for-profit service providers which provide disability and other community services across the region.

It was agreed with the Office of Disability that the PIC team would visit 3 communities in this region representing a variety of geographic, population, cultural and linguistic characteristics. PIC was unable to organise a visit to Elliot due to competing priorities for the community at the time of the Central Australian/Barkly visit. However, Elliot has been included in the community profiles to provide a comparison to Tennant Creek which is also located on the . Arlparra is included on the infographic as it was visited as part of the NDIS Community of Practice project. The infographic below indicates the relative population size of each community, its distance from Tennant Creek and its linguistic complexity.

Arlparra

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 8

Community The term Ali Curung is a Kaiditch (Kaytetye) word meaning country of the dogs, dog area, or dog dreaming. Ali Curug was established in the late 1950s by the relocation of Kaytetye people from Barrow Creek, Warlpiri people from Bullocky Creek areas and Alyawarra people from Murray Downs and Hatches Creek. Languages spoken include Warlpiri, Alyawarr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu. Remoteness & Access

Ali Curung is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located 22 km east of the Stuart Highway, 1,164 km south of Darwin and 380 km north of Alice Springs.

Population The population of Ali Curung is approximately 494 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 85.6% (423 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: 52 people (15.4 %). Amenities Ali Curung is served by a range of local amenities including the Barkly Regional Council service centre, Warrabri Bakery, Minnirri Store, police station, school, safe house, homemakers, aged care service, Arlpwe Art Centre and Gallery, Baptist Church, health center (managed by the Department of Health) and a mechanical workshop. Elliott Community

Elliott is the Barkly region’s second largest town. Named after Army Captain Reginald Douglas Elliott (MBE), it began life at the site of Number 8 bore as an Australian Army Camp during World War II (1942). The traditional name for the township of Elliott is Kulumindini. It is the country of the Jingili desert people. Remoteness & Access Elliott is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located on the Stuart Highway 736 km south of Darwin and 250 km north of Tennant Creek. Its largely Aboriginal population lives in two outstations at either end of the town – Gurungu (North Camp) and Wilyuku (South Camp). Gurungu was formed in 1968 when workers left Newcastle Station following a dispute and Wilyuku started in the 1970s when people left the Barkly Tablelands after award wages were introduced. Population The population of Elliott is approximately 339 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 69% (256 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: 70 people (32.7%). Amenities A Barkly Regional Council service centre and workshop yards service the town and communities of Wilyuku, Gurungu and Marlinja outstation providing a sport and recreation centre, aged care services and safe house. There is also a police station, Department of Health clinic, service station, arts centre, play group, library, post office, Elliott School, caravan park and community store.

9 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Tennant Creek

Community

Tennant Creek is a remote Northern Territory town shaped by Indigenous culture, gold mining and pastoralism. The traditional owners of the area surrounding Tennant Creek are the Waramungu people living on Patta land. The Patta Waramungu people were the first in Australia to negotiate a Consent Determination and Indigenous Land Use Agreement, recognising their Native Title rights and interests within a Township. The Federal Court of Australia handed down the judgement on 3 September 2007. In 1860 explorer John McDougall Stuart passed this way on his unsuccessful first attempt to cross the continent from south to north and named a creek to the north of town after John Tennant, a financier of the expedition from Port Lincoln.

Remoteness & Access Tennant Creek is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS. It is located on the Stuart Highway 990 km south of Darwin and 508 km north of Alice Springs. The town is accessed by regular passenger air transport services and long distance bus services. The community can be accessed all year round via the Stuart Highway, the main highway traversing the Northern Territory.

Population The population of Tennant Creek is approximately 2,991 people (based on the 2016 Census) of whom 24.2% (881 people) identified as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

. Median age: 33 years old . Number of people who provided unpaid assistance to persons with a disability: 239 people (10.2%). Amenities Tennant Creek has all the facilities and services one would expect in a small regional town. The Barkly Regional Council and Territory government services are present in the town. Commercial and non- government sectors provide a wide variety of business, health and community services. The health clinic is managed by Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation. Arlparra

Community Arlparra is the main community providing a range of services to the other 15 homelands in the region. Collectively the 16 homelands are better known as ‘Utopia’. Remoteness & Access Arlparra is classified as 'very remote' by ABS. Arlparra is located some 260 km North-East of Alice Springs on the Sandover Highway. Photo credit: PIC. Tennant Creek is located on the Population Stuart Highway.

The population of Arlparra is approximately 600 people (based on 2016 Census) of whom 95% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander decent. (Further detailed information is not currently publicly available) Amenities As the resource centre for this region, 240 volt power is generated from Arlparra to supply all homelands, including Irrultja (near Ampilatwatja). Arlparra has the Barkly Shire Council office, community store, a Police Station, High School and is the central point for aged care services and sports and recreation activities. Barkly Shire staff carry out repairs and maintenance to the 91 Aboriginal houses on contract to the NT Government. All non-Aboriginal Council staff, teachers, community store staff and police officers live at Arlparra. PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 10 Stakeholder Engagement in 3 the Barkly

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Community Engagement in the Barkly

Key dates and schedule of Barkly region community visits

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

Location Date

Ali Curung 21/5/2018

Tennant Creek 22/5/2018

Arlparra 11/7/2018

Tennant Creek Workshops and Forums

Innovation Grants Workshop 14/9/2017 10 attendees

Tenant Creek Critical Incidents Response and 22/11/2017 17 attendees

Service Provider Forum

NDIS Community of Practice Inception 21/2/2018 3 Barkly Region attendees

Workshop held in Darwin

Tennant Creek Meeting and Exceeding 18/5/2018 2 attendees

Cultural Safety in the Workplace Workshop

NDIS Community of Practice Recall 07/6/2018 no attendees but report

Workshop held in Darwin provided

12 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stakeholders Consulted

13 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 4 Barkly 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

Ali Curung

Elliott

Tennant Creek

Arlparra

= 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 and 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.

15 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. 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 circle of support. 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

Ali Curung

Elliott Tennant Creek

Arlparra

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

Photo credit: PIC. Barkly forums were well attended by existing and potential future Service Providers

16 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Adjacent Services in the Barkly Region

It can be seen that there are many and varied community service providers the Barkly particular to each community. This again reinforces the concept that every community is unique. 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.

Health clinics and health centres 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. Northern Territory Government managed health clinics do not provide NDIS supports. The health clinic in Tennant Creek is managed by Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation and PIC were advised that this organisation is not currently providing NDIS support but could do so in the future if the organisation wish to increase its service offer in the disability support area.

Aged Care Clinic / Health CDP Sport and Centre Recreation

Ali Curung

Elliott

Tennant Creek

Arlparra

17 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting SWOT Analysis This table comprises a compilation of feedback from forums and consultations which has been distilled into high level insights and themes and as such does not represent verbatim feedback from any single person.

Strengths Weaknesses • The NDIS trial site in the Barkly commenced in 2013 • The Barkly Region has some of the very smallest and so there has been an extended process of engagement most isolated remote communities and homelands in by the NDIA within the region. the Northern Territory.

• The NDIA provided large-scale. early investment and • Very small numbers of potential NDIS participants in piloted a range of different projects and initiatives many communities where as few as 2 to 6 people are during the trial. likely to meet eligibility requirements of the NDIS.

• Anecdotally people with disability are now more • High staff turnover in Tennant Creek along with a visible in Tennant Creek. high proportion of staff from different cultural backgrounds. • Tennant Creek has recently received significant media attention that has contributed to an increased • ACCOs are building capacity but are often understanding of the challenges faced by many overwhelmed with multiple demands and quality and remote regions in the Northern Territory. reporting systems.

• Barkly Shire Council has a high rate of Aboriginal • Despite the NDIS trial the ‘market’ of service employment. providers has not increased.

• Limited transport options within and between communities and Tennant Creek, particularly for those with reduced mobility.

• Delivery of personal care type support in very small communities is an issue due to cultural reasons.

• Housing supply and maintenance is an ongoing challenge. Opportunities Threats • Real synergies between existing service delivery • Limited organisational capacity for existing service models, for example Aged Care and CDP. providers to take on additional disability services.

• Potential for AMS involvement in this region. • Multiple reporting and quality systems are However at this point in time their priority is delivery overwhelming for very small organisations and the of their medical and primary health services. NDIS is viewed by many as an onerous administrative burden. • Some interest in provision of repairs and maintenance of wheelchairs and similar aids through • Publicly reported reductions in NDIS plans for a local agency based in Tennant Creek. existing participants may threaten service provider confidence. • New disability services could bolt onto existing services that are working well and are best located • Difficult social cohesion issues e.g. (alcohol and child and managed from within communities. protection) can result in disability being seen as a lower order priority. • Potential to increase Aboriginal employment, particularly in remote communities with a focus on • Many communities have ‘consultation fatigue’ and place based community development models that may not be open to new ideas regarding additional engender whole of community collaboration. services.

18 PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Stories from the Barkly…

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.

Peggy is an older woman who is on the board of the local Aboriginal Corporation. She has a hearing disability and lives on a homeland in a very isolated community. Housing is very limited and overcrowded and Peggy lives in a lean-to construct of corrugated iron without bathroom facilities. Peggy just wants to live in a house …. she described how hard it was to look after her hearing aids as she had nowhere to keep them safe and the climate is very harsh. The local Aboriginal Corporation has recently acquired a training centre which is being transformed into an Adult Education space. One of the intentions is to include lockers for people with disability to safely store their important personal possessions such as identification papers and hearing aids etc. as well as providing a space for activities and visiting service providers. Photo credit: PIC there are significant distances between communities in the Barkly. Peggy also talked about her son who has mental health issues and is living in supported accommodation in Alice Springs. She wants to be able to bring him home to visit and be on his country and engage in cultural events but she has nowhere for him stay and would need help with managing his behaviours.

Photo credit: PIC. The PIC team travelled thousands of kilometres in the life of this project. PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 19 Stories from the Barkly…

Jess, a Health Worker, explained ‘we only get a truck delivery once a fortnight. If we send a wheelchair away to get repaired and it doesn't make the truck in time that’s another two weeks someone is unable to leave their house’ .

Photo credit: PIC. Office of Disability and Health Complaints Commission join PIC for forums in Tennant Creek

A CEO from a community based Aboriginal Corporation put it like this …. ‘for people living in many remote communities the main focus is on adequate housing, food and safety. The issue of disability is a much lower order need and is not a priority in these places or not even on the agenda.

People can’t imagine what they have never had…. they just get on with it’.

Photo credit: PIC. Telecommunications presents some real challenges in remote communities such as Arlparra.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 20 5 Concluding Comments

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Concluding comments from the Barkly Region

The inclusion of the Barkly as an NDIS trial site in 2013 created an expectation by PIC that the NDIS would be fully functional in that region and provide a blueprint for other regions. However, despite the significant large scale investment associated with the trial this was not the case. There was a higher level of understanding of the NDIS within the township of Tennant Creek. There was also an increased visibility of people with disability participating in community events in the town.

However, there were low levels of understanding of what the NDIS might provide for people with disability in the communities that PIC visited. As in other regions, services for people with disability across the Barkly are limited in terms of core functional support services and allied health services have historically been provided by the Department of Health.

There was no evidence to support the case that an increased market had emerged in the Barkly region to support people with disability, despite the NDIS being built on the presumption that markets will emerge. The current market remains thin and is very much dependent on the recruitment and retention of suitably skilled staff. Despite the length of time that has elapsed since the commencement of the trial ACCO involvement in service delivery is very limited with the majority of services being provided by mainstream organisations.

The experience of the Barkly Region as a trial site provides evidence that an alternative way of providing the NDIS into remote communities is required to ensure that all people living in remote communities who are eligible, and already significantly disadvantaged, can access the supports available under the NDIS.

Photo credit PIC: Despite significant investment in the Barkly the disability service market has not developed as expected.

PwC’s Indigenous Consulting 22 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