TRANSCRIPT
In the remote Northern Territory, 80 kilometres north of Darwin, ongoing cycles of poverty, violence and addiction have been impacting the safety and health of nearly 3-thousand people.
Local elders on the Tiwi islands are now hoping to eradicate some of the highest crime rates that their community have been facing with their Child and Family Centre, or C-F-C.
Jennifer Ullungura Clancy is the Chairperson of Mantiyupwi Trust, a local landowning group.
She says its important that leaders work with communities to break the cycle of crime.
"We get all the leaders and come together. You know, how we can break this together. How to break a cycle. How we can do it, is to come together, help each other. Tiwi's and non-Tiwis coming together. We can do this - if one community can do it, the others can as well."
Ms Clancy says this at a smoking ceremony in Wurrumiyanga, as the community mark a new way forward for the Tiwi islands.
Elders in the community want the situation to change, with early interventions to help families before they end up in trouble with the law.
Ms Clancy says their plans are now feasible with funding provided for the new child and family centre that works as a hub for families.
"The child and family centre is all about helping the children – the kids that are you know breaking in or walking around at night – traumatised kids, that ((the centre)) helps them."
The family centre took years to achieve, after Tiwi elders identified a problem with safety and health in their community.
They then received assistance from the government, to collaborate on a community led centre to deliver assessments, life skills and counselling.
The elders trialled this concept of their family centre in similar Aboriginal run centres in Darwin and the remote community of Kalkarindji to see it could work.
Jacinta Alimankinni is the director of the Mantiyupwi Trust.
She says its crucial to address an issue immediately when families in the community come forward for assistance.
"If we like see the sign early then we can… most important that we tackle them straight away when we see the kind of problem from family – so yeah those are the kind of things that we want to work early to help family."
Ms Alimankinni believes its best for the community to have a family centre where they can go to and feel a sense of belonging.
It follows Mantiypuwi elders saying the community is in the grips of ongoing cycles of poverty, violence and addiction, impacting the safety of its people.
Staggering unemployment is a key issue faced by the community, with only 26 per cent of working-age residents having full time jobs, according to data from the latest census.
Brian Clancy from the Tiwi Land Council says the crime rate impacts can be measured in high rates of chronic illness and death.
"We’ve got 10’s of kids who are dying – we’ve got 30-year-old, 20-year-old kids who are on dialysis ((machines)) three days a week – we have to do things differently. We have done it the "white fella" way for so long, it doesn't work. But the positive side now is that we are actually hearing this from government."
The Aboriginal run child and family centre will be built on property from the Tiwi Land Council.
This will be back backed by three-point-four (($3.4)) million dollars in Northern Territory government funding, and more than ten (($10)) million dollars from the Federal Government’s Aboriginal Benefits Fund.
A derelict health clinic will be transformed into a hub where struggling families can be linked with critical programs.
Issues such as domestic violence, addiction and unemployment will be addressed in local languages, and in a culturally appropriate way, at the clinic.
Phyllis Daniels is the Co-Founder of Pumalayu Child and Family Centre.
She is looking forward to witnessing the clinic operate.
"How the people will be running it. It's only by Tiwi, it will run by. I'm really proud of it - I can hardly wait for it to be built."
Donna Clemmens is from the National Indigenous Australians Agency ((NIAA)).
She says the local community is going about trying to help people the correct way.
"The programs have already begun so while this beautiful facility is being built, these important services are already happening. And there's a no wrong door approach. The approach that the Mantiypuwi people are taking is really admirable. That no matter which door families come through, they'll be directed and supported to the appropriate services."
The Tiwi facility will become the seventh Aboriginal run child and family centre in the Northern Territory, where programs will also be implemented in the remote communities of Gapuwiyak and Papunya.
