Across Northern Territory remote communities, poor housing, overcrowding, inappropriate design and maintenance issues are easily found as are attempts of varying success to fix the problems.
There is less than two years left to run on the controversial national partnership arrangement on remote housing, which began under Clare Martin’s Labor government. More than 1,000 new homes were built under the program but Indigenous communities said it failed to address overcrowding and, in many cases, built inappropriate dwellings.
In Milikapiti, on the Tiwi Islands, residents on Wednesday were told the latest fix was on its way.
The $200m Room to Breathe initiative, building additional living spaces on already existing dwellings, forms part of the $1.1bn, 10-year election commitment to remote housing.
The short-term fixes, ranging in cost from $13,000 to $220,000, avoid the land tenure and civil works issues that come with building new houses, and it’s hoped they will improve conditions, reduce overcrowding and provide local real employment.
“RJCP is lousy money, we need the young ones to have a better life and work for it,” Mary Moreen, a traditional owner, told the NT chief minister, Michael Gunner.
Moreen is a member of the local housing reference group that is identifying houses in the community for the program and working with the housing department to get the work started.
“I go around and ask people, what do you think about swapping houses, and what do you think about new houses, do you need repairs and maintenance, do you need more air, do you need it more bigger?” she told Guardian Australia.
One Milikapiti house had been identified as needing a new wide verandah with footing to keep the brown snakes out, with lockable fencing so it could be secure and serve as an extra place to sleep.
The house also needed disabled access to the toilet for one of the four children who lived there.
“You’ve also got a lot of water flowing down straight through the house, so it’s putting a swale into to make sure that’s not happening,” Gunner said.
Others were expected to receive granny flats and outdoor kitchens.
Tina Patlas lives in a relatively new house, built under the national partnership program. It’s in good condition, clean and with a simple kitchen and two rooms. But it has no outdoor space or shelter and has seven people living in it.
“It gets a bit crowded,” she told Guardian Australia, hoping to also get a new verandah space.
The improvements will also address cultural challenges. Many houses in remote communities have been built without thought for the traditions of Tiwi or other Indigenous nations.
“For some, like brothers and sisters, living together is not meant to be in Tiwi culture, that’s one of the really good things about [a new granny flat],” Anita Moreen said. “If you’ve only got one shower or toilet you can’t use it with your brother or sister in the house.”
Gunner said this was a focus of the new work and noted non-government homes built on Groote Eylandt consisted of two separate two-bedroom buildings.
“It’s not just providing more space, tapping into the existing sewerage, power and water network,” he said. “It’s also about addressing some of the concerns in community about who’s in an overcrowded house, who’s sharing it and actually providing the opportunity to separate.”
While Wednesday’s news was welcomed, Milikapiti residents said they still needed new housing now.
Milikapiti is among 24 remote communities identified for the Room to Breathe program, because it has overcrowding but also locals who are ready to get to work on it.
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s more than 24 communities with overcrowding so we’ve got a lot to do,” Gunner said. “This is not anywhere near what we need to do, that’s what why we have a 10-year plan. And even our 10-year plan at $1.1bn is about half the work we need to do.”
Gunner also hoped the program would demonstrate efforts taken by the NT government already, ahead of renegotiating a funding agreement with the federal government.
“It’s about saying to the commonwealth that we’re doing our fair share.”
The NT government announced last year $10m of it had been fast-tracked into the current budget to begin some work before July. It has pledged construction will begin this month but has not yet signed agreements or finished consulting with communities to determine exactly how much and what work is needed.
