CHALLENGING FUTURE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The Central Australian Affordable Housing Company (CAAHC) is sad to announce the loss of our contract with the Department of Housing to provide Tenancy Management Services to the residents of Alice Springs Town Camps.

CAAHC CEO Sally Langton said the organisation had been successfully providing services to Town Camp residents for almost five years.

“We have built up a level of expertise in providing these services and developed good relationships with residents over this time,” Ms Langton said.

“We entered the tender process with the hope of implementing a new service model that would improve services to the community resulting in better tenancy outcomes for residents and the Department of Housing.

“Unfortunately CAAHC has been unsuccessful in this process.

“We were informed late on New Year’s Eve we had lost the contract, which has cut to the soul of our organisation and partners.

“We are now facing a very challenging future.

“As a not for profit community housing organisation, we have proudly employed many Aboriginal people over the last five years and sadly the majority of our staff will lose their employment in the next few weeks.

“We have written to Chief Minister Adam Giles and Housing Minister Bess Price explaining the impact of this procurement decision, which appears to be in contravention of the Chief Minister’s aims of supporting Indigenous business and jobs.

“Both Ministers have been very supportive of CAAHC’s work in the past, with Minister Price recognising CAAHC has runs on the board and is held in high esteem. (Minister Price Media Release 28 Aug, 2015)

“CAAHC will continue to provide community housing options to the Alice Springs community and we look forward to new opportunities to work with government and the NGO sector to grow the organisation and become a benchmark community housing provider for many Aboriginal people.”

For further information please contact Sally Langton on 0412 321 260

January 6, 2016

MORE HUMBUG FOR ABORIGINAL CLIENTS AFTER FEDERAL SCROOGE CUTS FINANCE SERVICE

November 25, 2015

An Indigenous financial counselling service that works with some of the poorest people in Australia is being forced to close its doors due to Federal Government funding cuts.

The Tangentyere Financial Counselling service has been operating in Alice Springs for more than 20 years, supporting people living on town camps and in remote communities.

Tangentyere Council CEO Walter Shaw said the loss of the specialised financial counselling services will directly impact on people who most need assistance dealing with money matters.

“Our financial counselling and capability services have helped 1083 separate clients on 2582 occasions over the past two years alone,” Mr Shaw said.

“These are people struggling with debt and credit issues, who need support to increase their financial literacy and awareness.

“Tangentyere has built up a reputation as a safe and culturally appropriate place to seek assistance on sensitive financial issues over more than 20 years. Losing this service will penalise people who most need it.”

Mr Shaw said under new tender arrangements the Federal Government had implemented a ‘one size fits all model’ with Northern Territory financial support services and slashed available funding by almost half while increasing the scope of the work.

“Tangentyere has great respect for the organisation that has won the regional tender but they will not be able to fill the gaps left by the funding cuts.

“For example, our financial counselling service regularly helps:

·         Clients with payouts such as insurance. We operate a trust account that allows clients to meet their family obligations in relation to the sharing of money in a financially responsible way. This is very important culturally and no other service offers this

·         Clients who have disability (TPD) claims under superannuation policies. Many are not aware these avenues of support exist. As an example, clients who stop work because of illness such as renal failure have been assisted to make TPD claims which have helped address short and longer term financial issues

·         Assisting families locate funds to pay for funerals and estate issues. Our service assists around 200 families a year after the death of relative.

“The reduction in funding and change in service delivery means that people already facing financial hardship will no longer be able to access trusted and culturally appropriate services to assist them.

 “Minister for Social Services Christian Porter will be seen as Malcolm Turnbull’s Ebenezer Scrooge with this decision.

“It strikes at some of the country’s most destitute, already struggling to cope with low incomes, high levels of debt and increasing costs of living.

“The cuts to our service will have flow on effects for emergency relief organisations, as people struggling to pay debts will need to seek food and other assistance to make ends meet.

“Financial stress is also associated with poor health, homelessness and increased levels of family violence.

“And of course there are the job losses, many of them Aboriginal workers, associated with this decision to slash funding. All this in the lead up to Christmas – a financially vulnerable period at the best of times.

“We are at a loss to understand the rationale behind this decision and call on Minister Porter to reinstate the $150,000 Tangentyere needs to continue our successful financial counselling service that empowers Aboriginal people to take control of their finances.”

ENDS

ABORIGINAL WOMEN PUTTING GENDER ON THE AGENDA

OCT 28, 2015

More than 140 women have spent the past two days in Alice Springs discussing family and domestic violence and gender issues and identifying ways forward at the Putting Gender on the Agenda Forum.

The Forum was hosted by Tangentyere Council in partnership with the Alice Springs Women’s Shelter to discuss the disproportionate impact violence has on Aboriginal women and the evidence that shows the primary driver of violence is gender inequality.

Tangentyere Council Women’s Committee co-ordinator Barbara Shaw congratulated the women for sharing their stories and experiences over the past two days.

“At times it was very emotional as women shared their personal stories but the learning and support for each other on an individual and a service delivery level is something we are taking out of the Forum and will build on,” Ms Shaw said.

“Having a range of service providers attend enabled valuable sharing of information and feedback about what is working, what still needs work and where the gaps are.

“Aboriginal women took the lead in the conversation, presenting information, talking about programs and discussing the issues that are impacting them in dealing with family violence in the community.”

Alice Springs Women’s Shelter Executive Officer Dale Wakefield said the Forum had built a broader shared understanding of family violence issues in Alice Springs.

“Women have been very generous in sharing their experience and insights with the aim of improving services and making our community a safer place for women and children,” Ms Wakefield said.

“A very clear message to come out of the Forum was the need to have safe spaces where women can continue to talk about the issues around gender and family violence and propose solutions and action.

“The need to improve women and girl’s safety around the use of new technology, in identifying and preventing bullying and increasing personal safety in the use of social media and the internet was earmarked as an area for future action.

“The importance of ensuring LGBTI issues are recognised and incorporated in service delivery was another important issue raised at the Forum, as was the need to make sure the voices and experiences of remote women are heard in planning for the future.

“I’d like to thank all the women who took part and I’m confident this Forum will be the first of many valuable partnerships and actions where we work together to make a safer community.”

SIGNS SAY NO TO VIOLENCE ON TOWN CAMPS

Messages promoting non-violence and community safety developed by Alice Springs Town Camp women will be proudly on display as new signage is rolled out across Town Camps.

The Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group today unveiled the first sign displaying their NO TO VIOLENCE statement at Hidden Valley Town Camp.

The Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group project was initiated in response to issues around family safety on town camps and grew out of work undertaken by the Tangentyere Women’s Committee.

Women’s Committee Coordinator Barbara Shaw said the Group had been working hard to promote non-violence and the new signage would make sure the message was seen and heard.

“Town Campers are proactive in working and advocating to make our communities safer places and we are addressing family safety through a range of strategies,” Ms Shaw said.

“So far 23 Town Camp women have been trained in identifying family violence and the impacts of violence on women, children, men and their wider community.

“We have created resources such as help cards, safety plan guides and posters that support anti violence messages and are developing an engagement strategy that has the long term aim of changing attitudes to violence.

“This includes working closely with the Men’s Behaviour Change Program and the 4 Corners Men’s Council in their work supporting men to say No to family violence.

“The new signs are part of our work in spreading the message that violence has no place in our lives or on Town Camps.

“The strong statement against violence developed by the Women’s Committee has now been made into signs that will be installed in all Alice Springs Town Camps, with the support of the Northern Territory Government.

“We want our stance on community safety seen and heard and designing our own signage is one highly visible way of making sure our important message about saying NO TO VIOLENCE is there for everyone to see and understand.”

Guardian Australia report on Government housing failures on town camps

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/22/alice-springs-town-camp-residents-left-without-homes-or-amenities-for-months

TOWN CAMP MEN TAKING ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE

Men who live in Alice Springs Town Camps are taking strong action to make their communities a safer place by working to reduce domestic and family violence.

Seven men from Tangentyere Council’s 4 Corners Men’s Council are the first to graduate after undergoing training in identifying family violence and its associated risks.

The men are leaders from Alice Springs Town Camps and will be using their new skills to support men to say No to domestic and family violence.

Graduate and 4 Corner’s Co-ordinator Chris Forbes said he was more confident in speaking up and taking a stance against violence after undertaking the training.

“We learnt to recognise the signs of domestic and family violence, the different forms it takes and what we can do to support people who are affected by violence,” Mr Forbes said.

“We need to get it out there that not all Aboriginal men or town campers are violent. Men feel we have all been put in the same basket and labelled aggressive when that is far from the truth.

“You don’t get rid of all the apples on the tree because one is rotten – it’s the same for Aboriginal men and we have to make sure government and the community sees and understands this.

“By doing this training we are showing we don’t think violence is the way to go and we will say no.

“We are showing we are loving, caring family members that want to make a difference and make our town camps safer.

“We’ll be getting out there telling other blokes to come and do this training, get on board because we need more blokes standing up against violence.”

Maree Corbo, Program Manager of Tangentyere’s Family Violence Prevention Program, said the seven men deserved to be applauded for their decision to proactively deal with issues around violence in the community.

“This isn’t aimed at men who use violence as is more usually the case with men’s domestic violence courses,” Ms Corbo said.

“This training was developed because the men wanted to have the skills to get out there in their communities and promote messages of non-violence and to lead by example.

“It’s a very brave move that’s been driven by the town campers themselves.”

Ms Corbo said the men had undertaking hands-on training sessions and had also completed a training block delivered by the Australian Childhood Foundation.

The men also designed resources to support them in getting the message out to others about not tolerating domestic and family violence.

The training was supported by funding from the NT Office of Men’s Policy.

Rodney Cook, Phillip Miller, Ashley (Shanley) Malbunka, Chris Forbes (back), Issaha Forbes, Joe Campbell, Steven Clyne. Charlie Brown also graduated from the training but was unable to make today's graduation