Mr BARRETT - 2014-08-27
Can you please inform the Assembly about the progress made to transition the alcohol mandatory treatment facility to its new facility in Berrimah?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. Yes, we are transitioning out of the medi-hotel into a new facility in Berrimah which is currently used as a prison. Alcohol mandatory treatment has been a cornerstone of this government’s initiatives to try to tackle chronic alcohol abuse throughout the Northern Territory. We started this on 1 July last year and it has been operating for just over 12 months. During the last 12 months we have seen 400 people referred for alcohol mandatory treatment. These people have been given the opportunity to change their lives through a 12-week alcohol rehabilitation program. It is fantastic news and the stories we are hearing from facilities across the Northern Territory are extremely positive and encouraging. People are turning their lives around.
The question before parliament today is about how we are moving out of the medi-hotel and into the new Berrimah facility. The first phase of this alcohol mandatory treatment roll-out in Darwin commenced in the medi-hotel, where we struggled to increase the numbers beyond 40 beds. It was not purpose built and was not entirely suitable to be used as an alcohol mandatory treatment facility. I have always been up-front about that. The Berrimah facility is extremely suitable. We are making a few modifications to it as we speak to enhance it as an appropriate facility for alcohol mandatory treatment.
At Berrimah we will initially have an eight-bed assessment facility and a 40-bed treatment facility. Over the coming months it will be expanded to a 70-bed treatment facility once the refurbishment work is completed, and there is potential to increase beyond that, perhaps to more than 100 beds. We cannot do it all at once, it has to be in a staged manner. We are very pleased to announce that this move will occur in September. In a few weeks’ time, we will be moving out of the medi-hotel and into the Berrimah facility.
Madam Speaker, the roll-out of alcohol mandatory treatment across the Northern Territory has been entirely successful. The Labor opposition does not want to hear that, but it has taken our worst affected drunks off the street and given them a chance to change their lives.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. Yes, we are transitioning out of the medi-hotel into a new facility in Berrimah which is currently used as a prison. Alcohol mandatory treatment has been a cornerstone of this government’s initiatives to try to tackle chronic alcohol abuse throughout the Northern Territory. We started this on 1 July last year and it has been operating for just over 12 months. During the last 12 months we have seen 400 people referred for alcohol mandatory treatment. These people have been given the opportunity to change their lives through a 12-week alcohol rehabilitation program. It is fantastic news and the stories we are hearing from facilities across the Northern Territory are extremely positive and encouraging. People are turning their lives around.
The question before parliament today is about how we are moving out of the medi-hotel and into the new Berrimah facility. The first phase of this alcohol mandatory treatment roll-out in Darwin commenced in the medi-hotel, where we struggled to increase the numbers beyond 40 beds. It was not purpose built and was not entirely suitable to be used as an alcohol mandatory treatment facility. I have always been up-front about that. The Berrimah facility is extremely suitable. We are making a few modifications to it as we speak to enhance it as an appropriate facility for alcohol mandatory treatment.
At Berrimah we will initially have an eight-bed assessment facility and a 40-bed treatment facility. Over the coming months it will be expanded to a 70-bed treatment facility once the refurbishment work is completed, and there is potential to increase beyond that, perhaps to more than 100 beds. We cannot do it all at once, it has to be in a staged manner. We are very pleased to announce that this move will occur in September. In a few weeks’ time, we will be moving out of the medi-hotel and into the Berrimah facility.
Madam Speaker, the roll-out of alcohol mandatory treatment across the Northern Territory has been entirely successful. The Labor opposition does not want to hear that, but it has taken our worst affected drunks off the street and given them a chance to change their lives.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016