More progress in delivering houses for Northern Territory Indigenous communities

One of two construction groups delivering remote Indigenous housing and infrastructure in the Northern Territory, as part of the $1.7 billion National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, is close to finishing its six packages of works.

Once these packages are completed, Territory Alliance will have built more than 500 new houses and delivered more than 700 rebuilds and refurbishments on the Tiwi Islands, Maningrida, Galiwin’ku, Alice Springs town camps, Groote Eylandt, and Gunbalanya.

They have also created new subdivisions and delivered essential infrastructure in these communities.

While the Territory Alliance partners are now looking at refocusing their efforts after successfully winning major projects in the Darwin area, they will continue to deliver some remaining work over the next 12 months under this program.

The Australian and Northern Territory Governments congratulate and thank Territory Alliance for their commitment and success in delivering remote Indigenous housing and infrastructure over the past three years.

The National Partnership, delivered by the Australian and Northern Territory Governments, has built 486 new houses and delivered 1950 rebuilds and refurbishments at the end of January, improving the lives of more than 2400 remote Indigenous Northern Territorian families.

The program is also helping to drive increased Indigenous employment, exceeding its 20 per cent Indigenous employment target, with an average of around 30 per cent.

Housing packages for Milingimbi, Gapuwiyak, Numbulwar and Ntaria have been allocated to New Future Alliance for development and delivery.

The program is on track to deliver on its commitment of 934 new houses and to rebuild or refurbish more than 2,900 houses across 73 remote Indigenous communities by 2013.

A further 522 houses will be built once these are completed, with the program due to be completed in 2017-18. The Australian and Northern Territory Governments are working to identify priority locations for these houses.

The Governments will work together to ensure the National Partnership continues to deliver improved living conditions for Northern Territory Indigenous families and ongoing Indigenous employment and training opportunities.

A decent house is essential for protecting children, improving health, education and employment and re-building positive community norms.