An announcement by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) to "keep the fitness and aquatic services operating" at Redfern's National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) has been "cautiously welcomed" by 10 Aboriginal community organisations who have been jointly advocating for its future, while the NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) said it is "disappointed" with the ILSC's "misleading statement."
On Sunday night, the ILSC released a statement saying it had been in "constant dialogue with key stakeholders" across the weekend and it will now keep the two services running.
It comes after the ILSC made an announcement last Monday that it would close these operations, meaning around 50 staff would lose their jobs and community service providers unsure about the future of their programs at the site.
The community turned up every day at the Centre at 1pm to protest against the decision and was ultimately granted an audience with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, who told the ILSC and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, who are the new owners of the property, that they had a week to sort out a solution with community involvement.
'Failed the community'
While NSWALC owns the property after divestment from the ILSC, it said it was only approached by the ILSC to take over the business operations at the end of April, and has been adamant it is unable to cover the costs of keeping the fitness and aquatic centres running as it had been "debt funded" by the ILSC for a number of years.
Sunday's statement by the ILSC also said the announcement to continue the services was made "in anticipation" of an agreement with the NSWALC that would see them as "the new owner and operator."
In response, the NSWALC said an arrangement "had not been reached" and their statement was "misleading."
"The ILSC issued a Statement stating that an arrangement had been reached. NSWALC would like to clearly state that is not the case," it said.
"ILSC has made this announcement unilaterally without NSWALC’s agreement. These types of decisions by the ILSC are continuing to cause confusion and hurt."
The NSWALC said while it remains open to hearing how the Commonwealth suggests "to secure the viability of the NCIE", they can only respond to what has been offered.
“We are a self-funded, community-controlled organisation, who is being railroaded by the Commonwealth to take on an entity they should have managed better. The NCIE should not be in this current position," said Chairperson Danny Chapman.
"There was no need for the ILSC to make their drastic decision to give one weeks’ notice to both staff and community. We all have a bigger job now, to not just maintain services but also to rebuild trust and relationship with Community."
Redfern community leaders said they "cautiously welcomed" the ILSC's "announcement of the continuation of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence."
"Notwithstanding the announcement, the ILSC and New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC), have failed the Redfern community. The Redfern community are still preparing for a sit-in of the NCIE site due to the failure to engage and lack of accountability of the ILSC and NSWALC."
A poster outside the NCIE's fitness centre. Source: NITV: Jonah Johnson
'Still waiting for answers'
Spokespersons for the 10 Redfern organisations said the community was still "angry and distressed" over its treatment "with no guaranteed seat at the table."
"The two organisations can't pass the buck on this," said Tribal Warrior CEO Shane Phillips.
"NCIE hosts valuable community programs which must be continued indefinitely. They can't wash their hands of the community that NCIE serves with interim measures."
Mr Phillips said that Elders are worried about children "having no place to go and no cultural and physical safety."
"There are young Aboriginal people in Redfern today who would be in jail or worse if it wasn't for the programs built up through the NCIE facility," he said.
Redfern Youth Connect's Margaret Haumono, whose service has over 200 registered children relying on the programs, said it was "devastating" to hear of the threatened closure.
"Linda Burney is a solid community woman, but despite her support for the NCIE, we are still waiting for answers and sustainable outcomes for the community," she said.
12 recommendations
Among the recommendations put forward by the Redfern organisations include a call for the Commonwealth to undertake a full investigation into the NCIE's "acquisition, original remit, delivery of the concept, management of the business and the divestment process."
They have also called for all staff to continue their employment, an interim solution for all NCIE facilities to remain open for all current programs, and a minimum 3 years funding while the ILSC, NSWALC and the community plan a future "sustainable model while still delivering to the community."
There's also calls for certainty that the NCIE site will not be sold, and full disclosures from the NSWALC and ILSC of the "unsolicited proposal, any competitive tender process, the history of the negotiations, reasons for the decision and the final terms of the agreement for the divestment."
The recommendations from a group of 10 Aboriginal-led community organisations from Redfern. Source: Supplied
