Federally funded remote youth programs in Central Australia have been thrown a lifeline and had their funding extended, but operators say the fix is a bandaid that fails to address ongoing funding woes in the sector. 

In November it was announced that at least one youth program was going to have to close permanently, and others would reduce hours as a result of a 2014 funding freeze, which meant organisations faced no increase in annual funding to cope with CPI rises. 

Last week the federal government’s National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) contacted MacDonnell Regional Council (MRC) to promise them a one-off $400,000 payment.

Along with money from the Central Australian Youth Link Up Service, a division of the Aboriginal community-controlled organisation Tangentyere Council, this will see three imperilled programs  in remote communities surrounding Alice Springs funded to the end of the year.

NPY Women’s Council was also given a last-minute lifeline by the NIAA to keep its four NT programs running, but CEO Liza Balmer said it was running at a $140,000 deficit. 

Two of its Western Australian programs in Blackstone and Jameson have no secure funding past June 2023 and three of the NT programs are set to close in the next three years if additional funding is not secured. 

A spokesperson for Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the NIAA was in active negotiations with NPY. 

‘They do everything’

Youth programs perform an essential service in remote communities and often offer the only extra-curricular opportunities for young people to learn, upskill and access sport. 

A mix of recreation, social work, public health, education and culture, NPY chair and Yankunytjatjara leader Margaret Smith says that “they do everything.”

In remote communities — where every resource from cars and fuel to food and electricity are scarce — the programs and their facilities support a number of activities that would otherwise struggle to get off the ground. 

Youth workers organise bush trips that allow young people to learn about Anangu culture from elders, they facilitate travel to other communities, and support young people to access boarding school. 

NPY director Rene Kulitja, a Pitjantjatjara leader in Mutitjulu, said the programs were not “just basketball and football,” and helped children from remote communities, who were among the most economically disadvantaged in Australia, aim high. 

The programs also employ a number of local First Nations staff, many of whom have participated in the programs themselves before going on to work for them. 

NPY and MRC said remote program cuts disproportionately affected jobs held by First Nations staff. 

Ms Smith said the government was trying to increase Indigenous employment, and these programs “do that”.

Stops crime before it happens

Because of its size, Ms Smith’s community of Imanpa would be the first to lose its NPY-run youth program if funding were not increased. 

Located 270 kilometres south of Alice Springs, the community of 150 people has few other services. 

Ms Smith said this would “break the community’s heart”.

She said when programs closed, young people and their families would be forced into town to access services.

“They’ll be lost, break and entries will be coming back … it’s going to bring more crime into Alice Springs,” Ms Smith said.

“We want our kids to stay.”

By keeping young people engaged, on country and connected to their community, advocates argue the programs reduce contact with the justice system by offering formal and informal diversion. 

A spokesperson for Ms Burney has said the government acknowledges the role youth programs play in preventing youth offending.  

Cutting jobs and reducing budgets

The sector has not had a CPI increase since 2014, which means programs have had to tighten their belts year after year to keep up with rising costs and wages. 

Since 2018 NPY Women’s Council chief executive Liza Balmer said it had cut two positions and reduced programs’ weekly budgets for food, resources and vehicles. 

“Ideally, we’d have seven-seater troopies or buses so that we could transport a lot of young people, but we can’t afford them anymore, so now we’re down to just normal Hiluxes and one per community,” Ms Balmer said. 

She said the organisation was seeking a 10.5 per cent funding increase to cover CPI, wage increases and inflation. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ms Burney said she met with NPY during her recent visit to Alice Springs. 

“The October budget included $190 million over four years to help community organisations with the increased costs of service delivery,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The funding she referred to will be shared by agencies across the country and has not yet been allocated.