3% cut to agencies leaves a deep wound for those in need

The March 2019 report issued by the NT Government outlined its "Budget Repair Plan". Agencies considered by the Government to be "frontline" were cut by 1% - while non-frontline agencies cut by a massive 3%. Homelessness is not considered frontline; as such Alice Springs Youth Accommodation Services (ASYASS) have unfortunately been affected.

Services like ASYASS that operate at the frontline, or in the immediate periphery, who are there to assist those who find themselves jobless, homeless, and unwell - are caught in the fallout of poor economic management.

Cutting services does not mean homeless people go away. It means there are less people employed. There are fewer resources like emergency clothing, food, and beds. It means homeless people suffer more, and there are more of them. It means more desperate, displaced youth, ill-equipped to work and prosper. This strains frontline workers, periphery workers, and anyone who must live in the community. It causes more hardship when another window is smashed or car stolen, and perhaps another person to fall through the cracks into ill-health. The trickle-down prosperity of our golden days of Gross State Product never seem to reach those on the ground, but the trickle-up effect of unwell and desperate people reaches all of us.