Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 The Uniting Church in Australia Northern Synod Crisis Accommodation Needs in Tennant Creek Authored by Damien Conley Consultancy for The Congregation of the Uniting Church Tennant Creek and Frontier Services March 2011 - 1 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 Contents Acronyms ................................................................................................... 4 1.0 Executive Summary ............................................................................. 6 2.0 Key Features ..................................................................................... 9 2.1 Frontier Services ............................................................................... 9 2.2 Tennant Creek Uniting Church ............................................................. 11 3.0 Recommendations ............................................................................. 12 4.0 Background ..................................................................................... 15 4.1 Demographics ................................................................................ 15 4.2 Frontier Services ............................................................................. 18 4.3 Tennant Creek Uniting Church ............................................................. 18 5.0 Methodology .................................................................................... 20 5.1 Consultations ................................................................................. 20 5.2 Desktop Review of Contemporary Accommodation Models ............................ 21 5.3 Opportunity and Risk Analysis - Frontier Services ...................................... 21 5.4 Opportunity and Risk Analysis - Tennant Creek Uniting Church ...................... 21 6.0 Accommodation ................................................................................ 23 6.1 Homelessness ................................................................................. 23 6.2 Homelessness Overseas ..................................................................... 25 6.3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Homelessness .................................... 26 6.4 Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Project (SIHIP). ......................... 27 6.5 Public Housing ................................................................................ 28 7.0 Demand Findings ............................................................................... 29 7.1 Medical Patients ............................................................................. 29 7.2 Aged Care ..................................................................................... 38 7.3 Indigenous Mothers‟ Facilities ............................................................. 39 7.4 Transition from Emergency Accommodation ............................................ 42 7.5 Youth Accommodation ...................................................................... 43 8.0 Service Model Findings ....................................................................... 44 8.1 Service Type .................................................................................. 44 8.2 Opportunity and Risk Analysis - Frontier Services ...................................... 46 8.3 Opportunity and Risk Analysis - Tennant Creek Uniting Church ...................... 47 8.4 Analysis of Community Capacity ........................................................... 49 9.0 Flexible Service Models ...................................................................... 51 9.1 Tennant Creek Flexible Service Model (TCFSM) ......................................... 51 9.2 The Multi Purpose Service (MPS) .......................................................... 51 - 2 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 9.3 Flexible funding pool for Remote Service Delivery ..................................... 52 9.4 Flexible Learning and Development ...................................................... 53 10.0 Government Priorities ........................................................................ 55 10.1 Health Care ................................................................................... 55 10.2 Aged Care ..................................................................................... 59 10.3 Indigenous Mothers‟ Facilities ............................................................. 60 10.4 Transition from Emergency Accommodation ............................................ 60 10.5 Youth Accommodation ...................................................................... 61 11.0 One stop community and health reference centre ..................................... 62 12.0 Budget ........................................................................................... 63 12.1 Frontier Services ............................................................................. 64 12.2 Tennant Creek Uniting Church ............................................................. 68 Attachment A: Consultation List ..................................................................... 70 Attachment B: Community Services Accommodation – Tennant Creek ...................... 71 Attachment C: Temporary Accommodation – key findings from overseas ................... 72 Attachment D: Summary of Consultations/Findings ............................................. 75 - 3 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 Acronyms ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACAT Aged Care Assessment Team ASH Alice Springs Hospital BRAG Barkly Regional Advisory Group BRADAG Barkly Region Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group Inc CACP Community Aged Care Package COAG Council of Australian Governments DEEWR Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations DoHA Department of Health and Ageing DRG Diagnostic Related Groups EACH Extended Aged Care at Home ENT Ear Nose Throat ESRD End-Stage Renal Disease FaHCSIA Department of Family Housing Community Services and Indigenous Affairs HACC Home & Community Care ICC Intensive Coronary care ICU Intensive Care Unit IMAF Indigenous Mothers Accommodation Fund MPS Multi Purpose Service NT Northern Territory NTCOSS Northern Territory Council of Social Services PATS Patient Assistance Travel Scheme RASS Remote Air Services Subsidy Scheme RDH Royal Darwin Hospital - 4 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 SACS Social and Community Services SIHIP Strategic Indigenous Housing Project SCN Special Care Nursery TCUC Tennant Creek Uniting Church TCWR Tennant Creek Womens Refuge YDUCA Youth Development Unit Crisis Accommodation - 5 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 1.0 Executive Summary Damien Conley Consultancy was appointed to undertake detailed research and consultations with key stakeholders to identify innovative approaches to resolve the crisis accommodation situation in Tennant Creek. The project was funded by the Northern Territory Government and coordinated jointly by the Uniting Church Tennant Creek Congregation and Frontier Services. A draft report proposing two projects in Tennant Creek on vacant land owned by Frontier Services and the Uniting Church Tennant Creek Congregation was presented to the Barkly Regional Advisory Group (BRAG), the Uniting Church in Australia Northern Synod and Frontier Services on 21 February 2011. The draft report was endorsed by these groups. The two main proposals of this report are: Frontier Services (Peko Road site) The consultant found that the availability of accommodation in Tennant Creek is being impacted through the huge regional growth in the mining, construction and transport sectors. This growth coupled with pre-existing unmet need for public and private housing has led to an accommodation crisis in the town. While the unmet demand for long-term public and private housing in Tennant Creek is undeniable the Tennant Creek community is adamant that there is another priority group at greater risk. This group includes, but may not be restricted to, the following: Barkly region patients transitioning to and from Alice Springs Hospital Barkly region patients eligible for transition care Young homeless people in Tennant Creek Young mothers from the Barkly region Older people People seeking emergency accommodation; and Barkly region renal clients receiving treatment in Tennant Creek There are limited accommodation and support options available for these priority groups in Tennant Creek however each priority aligns with existing programs funded by the Northern Territory and Federal Governments in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. Whilst Tennant Creek and the Barkly are funded for a range of health, community and housing programs this consultancy found that the region is under-represented with regard to funding allocations to the identified priority groups. - 6 - Damien Conley Consultancy March 2011 The expressed needs of the Tennant Creek community were to develop a flexible accommodation model that meets the unique needs of their community. Stakeholders identified that in small communities like Tennant Creek government funding models that allocate funding on a programmatic basis and for a specific purpose do not work well. Stakeholders often referred to these funding models as silo funding. Barkly region stakeholders recognised that within Tennant Creek the number of people in each of the identified priority groups was individually too small to justify a stand-alone facility for each group; however, combined there were sufficient numbers to justify a shared facility. Stakeholders expressed a genuine