Community Announcement: HYDC Contract Update

Message from DDHS Board Chairperson – Carol Stanislaus – HYDC web

A Message from DDHS Board Chairperson

Dear Danila Dilba clients and community,

I am writing to advise you that Danila Dilba Health Service (Danila Dilba) won’t seek to renew its contract to provide primary health care services at Holtze Youth Detention Centre (Holtze) following its 30 June 2025 contract completion date.

The decision by the Danila Dilba Board not to continue to provide services at Holtze is a decision that has not been made lightly.

When Danila Dilba first entered Don Dale Youth Detention Centre (Don Dale) in 2020, we were the first Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Service to provide primary health services in a youth detention facility, and we are proud of the work the organisation has been able to do to support the health of children in detention, and to advocate for their wellbeing.

However, the operation of the clinic at Don Dale and now at Holtze by Danila Dilba has been consistently challenging including in the context of the national shortage in health care workers which has further impacted our ability to recruit and retain staff at Holtze. Danila Dilba has a duty of care to our staff and continuing to operate the service is not safe or sustainable for them, the organisation or the young people at Holtze.

Danila Dilba acknowledges the need to facilitate a transfer of service provision at Holtze from Danila Dilba to NT Health and is committed to a smooth transition. Danila Dilba will endeavour to keep our community informed about the transition arrangements as they progress.

With the help of our Danila Dilba Holtze Clinic staff, we will work closely with our clients at Holtze to reassure them that we aren’t packing up and leaving tomorrow. Our contract doesn’t end until 30 June and we are open to continuing in an interim arrangement to ensure the transition period is seamless.

Across the past five years of this contract, Danila Dilba has been able to develop and refine a model of care and complimenting Standard Operating Procedures which Danila Dilba will provide to NT Health as part of the transition.

DDHS believes Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services should play a role in prison and youth detention health, but there is a lot of work that still need to be done by Governments and their Departments to ensure sustainable services can be provided into the future.

Danila Dilba provides a range of services to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. Moving forward, we believe that our culturally safe services are best placed working with families and young people through our existing programs which screen and support children with neurodevelopmental issues and provide interventions as early as possible to prevent these children entering the youth justice system in years to come. These services include:

Australian Family Partnership Program (AFPP)
Danggal Dalby children’s service
Our seven existing primary health clinics
Social and emotional wellbeing programs – including the STRONG youth program
Youth diversion services.

The Danila Dilba Board of Directors will host community meetings in the coming weeks to give our clients and community an opportunity to come and talk to us about this announcement. More details on these meetings will be provided on our website, social media sites and posters in our clinics. You can also call us on (08) 8942 5400 or email communications@ddhs.org.au.

Kind regards,

Carol Stanislaus

Board Chairperson – Danila Dilba Health Service