Darwin’s Largest Short-Stay Accommodation Facility Closes

Dragon Media News Desk

Darwin’s largest short-stay accommodation facility closed on Sunday. Some residents have been asked to move to Batchelor, about 100 kilometres south of the Northern Territory capital.

The 400-bed YiSSA facility had been operating at capacity and had a waiting list, according to local media reports. It provided temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness, residents of remote Aboriginal communities visiting Darwin for medical treatment, and families escaping domestic violence.

The Northern Territory government has established a smaller replacement facility in Batchelor, with capacity for about 150 people. The move has raised concerns that residents may struggle to access health, legal and other support services concentrated in Darwin.

Danila Dilba Health Service said about 250 of its clients had listed YiSSA as their address and warned that some could have difficulty continuing to access services after the facility closed. The Northern Territory government said medically vulnerable residents would not be moved to Batchelor unless arrangements were made to ensure they could continue receiving necessary care.

The government had previously rejected a joint federal funding proposal to keep the Darwin facility operating. It said the Batchelor site would provide transitional accommodation and emergency shelter for people evacuated during extreme weather events.