YiSSA is the new accommodation campus located at 55 Batten Road, Marrara.
YiSSA initially responded to the influx of remote community visitors who come to Darwin after the biosecurity zones were lifted as part of the government’s ongoing COVID-19 response.
During the first stage 50 rooms were released on 5 June 2020. These rooms are used as a short-stay accommodation facility for independent visitors from remote communities who have not been able to get a place to stay with their family, or cannot afford to stay in commercial accommodation.
The site has a reception building, a kitchenette, a dining hall, laundry rooms and outdoor area. As the main service provider for this program, Yilli has employed more than ten local Indigenous people to service our guests.
The 50 double-bed rooms can accommodate up to 100 guests at a time. The response has been very positive. Guests really enjoyed their stay at YiSSA, they feel culturally safe and physically safe as we have 24/7 security.
Furthermore, since the price is very affordable ($30-$40/ night including breakfast, lunch and dinner), guests can afford to stay at YiSSA during the entire period while they are visiting Darwin. The current arrangement allows guests to stay for up to 28-days at a time, allowing remote community visitors to have sufficient time to do their business while visiting Darwin as well as keeping YiSSA’s main purpose as a short-term accommodation.
YIlli hopes that by the end of next year, the program will be fully developed as a one-stopservice- centre to provide dignity services for homeless people in the Darwin region as well as creating pathways and opportunities to end homelessness. Yilli continues to collaborate with the NT Government, local government and other service providers to have the whole complex used for different facilities including day respite, wet weather respite centre, medium term accommodation and the current short-stay accommodation.