Insight (1995)

Fixing Indigenous Housing (2009x27)

: 27, 2009

Will the Government deliver? This week we travel to Alice Springs to explore the issues surrounding Indigenous housing. Fixing Indigenous Housing was at the heart of the Labor Government’s promise to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. In what is the biggest project on remote housing ever, the Federal and Northern Territory Government dedicated $672 million to building 750 news homes, refurbishing 2,500 existing houses and rebuilding 230. But the project has come under scrutiny - a recent Government report into the project found delays, a gross underestimate of costs and excessive red tape. The Government has since announced it will take greater oversight of the program and has stuck to its commitments to deliver 750 new houses. But there are concerns the houses built under the program will be smaller and refurbishments will not be as robust as first planned. Meanwhile, Indigenous communities are growing more skeptical - they’re worried the program won’t tackle core health issues such as overcrowding or improve sub-standard conditions. For the first time ever we bring together all the key players to find out if the Government can deliver on its promise to fix Indigenous housing and close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.