LARRAKIA NATION RETURN TO COUNTRY CLOSING ON 14 NOVEMBER What is Return to Country? Return to Country is a long running service which Larrakia Nation operates from our Casuarina office. We book flights, buses and accommodation for Aboriginal people in Darwin from remote communities, and they pay us back over time. A lot of people use our service - we had 3461 travel clients and 285 accommodation clients in the last financial year. It operates on a user pays basis and is an essential part of the mechanism of Aboriginal travel in the Top End. Why is it so important? For most Aboriginal people, who do not have credit cards or the means to pay a lump sum, it is the only way for them to travel back to their home communities. Unlike other towns in the NT, most Top End communities are only accessible by air and there is no “Bush Bus” service. In addition, Aboriginal hostels are full and people needing to stay in private sector motels. When it closes, homeless Aboriginal people will just build up and up in Darwin, unable to return home or get a bed. Why is it closing now? The NT Government announced they would end the funding shortly after the election. We have attempted to run it without funding as a social enterprise, and it has also been reviewed by an external consultant. However, it requires a subsidy to be commercially viable. We have attempted to find funding but have been unable to as yet and have made a decision to close it. The major reason why it requires a subsidy is because people can cancel their Centrelink payments to us. These cancellations are made up for by a 15% fee and our profitable ID service, but we also have administration costs, such as wages, that are not covered by the fee. Dealing with this client group is different to running a commercial enterprise. What will happen when it closes? Aboriginal visitors to Darwin will be unable to get accommodation while they are here and will be unable to return home. Over time these people will build up in our public places – that is 3746 people over a year, placing a massive strain on police, the courts, night patrol and homeless services, with a consequent rise in unsafe behaviours such as public drunkenness. At $93 per client is it by far the most effective way to keep Aboriginal people from camping in public places and keep them safe. It also generates $1.25 million income for the NT travel industry each year, mainly remote flights. Without this income, many air routes may no longer be viable. Communities may lose their scheduled flights and remote aviation companies may experience financial stress. Will I still be back to get Larrakia IDs? Larrakia IDs will continue to be available from our other offices at 76 Dick Ward Dr, Coconut Grove and Bagot Community Centre.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 05:52:22 +0000
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