Residents at homeless shelter plead for help to save their homes

Residents at Darwin's largest homeless shelter YiSSA plead for help to save their homes Thu 30 Jul 2026 at 1:29pm In short: Hundreds of residents, including children, living at Darwin's largest homeless shelter, YiSSA, have been told they need to be out by October. The NT government has revealed it offered building owner Ausco $3 million for the infrastructure so they could keep the centre going. What's next? The NT government has ordered YiSSA to stop accepting new residents immediately, beginning the shut down. Hundreds of residents living at a Darwin's largest homeless shelter are pleading for help to save their homes as the process of closing the facility begins, with many fearing they will have have nowhere to go. More than 220 adults and 130 children currently living at short-stay accommodation centre YiSSA have been told they must vacate by October 11. Despite organisations on the frontline warning the Northern Territory is in a housing crisis, the NT government earlier this month announced the facility would be shut down after lease negotiations with the owner of the buildings — Ausco Modular — collapsed. The NT government said it offered Ausco $3 million for the infrastructure — a price it described as fair market value — and the option to waive contractual property restoration costs, but received counter offers between $8 million and $12 million. Ausco is owned by the Modulaire Group, which is owned by global asset manager Brookfield Corporation. The NT government this week ordered YiSSA to stop accepting new residents, meaning more than 300 people who were on the waitlist for homelessness support — including 89 children — will now have to go elsewhere. The NT government said it is assessing alternative accommodation options for current residents and insisted "nobody will be left on the streets", but many have told the ABC they are growing increasingly uncertain about their future. Silipa Fangaake, who moved to YiSSA almost three years ago after she became sick and was facing homelessness, said she is currently on dialysis and doesn't know where she will go. "I'll probably end up at the park on that side where people go and camp — that's where most will probably go," she said. Resident Leonardo DeSantis is also worried about the impending closure. "I've been here about 12 months now and I was on the street before that recovering from stomach cancer, which is in remission now," he said. "It's really nice here and it's really like a family and I'm just disappointed that we all have to move out all of a sudden and we don't even have anywhere to stay." Rose Laynba said she and other residents were desperately hoping someone would step in and save the facility from closure. "Many of us here are on waiting lists for [public] housing," she said. "Most of our people have been waiting for 10 years [but] they're dead and gone, we buried them. "So we are really worried what exactly is going to happen during the time when they close the YiSSA. "I'm asking out there if someone, any government, would be able to help us." Yvette Park, chief executive of Yilli Housing Aboriginal Corporation, which runs YiSSA, said she was working with the NT government to explore options. However, she warned the uncertainty hanging over residents' homes was taking a heavy toll and resolving the situation would require significant funding. "We welcome the commitment from the government that nobody will be left on the street … but in order for that to be met, we need to do a lot of work to either set up an alternative site, or multiple sites, that meet the 200 bed capacity at YiSSA," Ms Park said. "Or if negotiations with Ausco can be resolved, we look forward to staying on site." A spokesperson for Ausco said in a statement that recent public comments regarding negotiations were disappointing. "We are committed to meeting all of our contractual obligations and are working hard to reach a commercial outcome that is fair to all parties, and one which delivers the best value for the Territory," the spokesperson said.