The Gindaja Residential Recovery Centre. Image: Gindaja
Gindaja Treatment and Healing Indigenous Corporation in Yarrabah is celebrating after breaking ground on the final stages of its capital works Master Plan to upgrade its 15-bed alcohol and drug treatment Residential Recovery Centre.
It’s the culmination of a decades-long journey to grow the organisation and increase its capacity to support more First Nations people who are impacted by alcohol and drug dependency.
Gindaja, which celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, is a community-controlled organisation that provides AOD education, treatment, recovery and healing services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 18 years of age.
The recent funding boost of $7.5 million from the Queensland Government, to complete construction of the final stages of the master plan, will provide culturally safe and ‘fit-for-purpose’ client accommodation as well as renewed staff office space.
Gindaja’s Chief Executive Officer Ailsa Lively, a proud descendant of the Gunggandji people, said the grant was amazing news for the organisation and the community of Yarrabah.
“We’re very happy and grateful. It’s been a long time in the making,” she said.
Overall, Gindaja has received $12m funding to redevelop their ageing infrastructure on the one-acre site. Already completed is the construction of a purpose-built training center that houses an industrial-sized kitchen, expansive client dining area, laundry and a large training room where staff deliver Gindaja’s client group programs.
The new client accommodation will improve cultural safety with a total of six, four-bedroom units, increasing Gindaja’s client bed capacity from 15 to 24. The new units will have designated women’s and men’s accommodation along with an ‘all-access’ unit for gender-diverse clients or those with a disability.
In addition, the new funding will also renovate Gindaja’s ageing administration building, providing new office and staff meeting spaces along with private areas for one-on-one work with clients.
Ms Lively said securing this funding was the result of nearly two decades of hard work and vision by the organisation’s Board and staff.
“From the time I started here at Gindaja 18 years ago, it was always the vision of the Board of that day, and every other Board since I’ve been here, to grow the service,” she said.
The existing client accommodation, located in the main staff administration building, is outdated, its institutional-dormitory-
style rooms offer no gender separation or privacy for clients, there are critical overcrowding issues with 14 staff crammed into six offices and 12 clients in shared room arrangements. The building itself is also inadequately designed for today’s standards with almost no disability access and poorly placed kitchen and bathrooms. The 30-year-old structure has aged and degraded over the years, increasing the building maintenance budget significantly.
A 20-year journey
When Ms Lively became CEO in 2008, she set about improving Gindaja’s governance, financial systems, and client programs. By 2017, with support from North Queensland PHN, Gindaja began developing its own Model of Care — a culturally grounded framework guiding service delivery across the continuum of care. Within five months, the Model was drafted, adopted by the Board, and later validated through an independent evaluation and a cost-benefit analysis.
Gindaja’s Model of Care has since been recognised across Australia as a best practice model within the Indigenous AOD sector and was proudly presented by the CEO, Board members and staff at the 2023 International First Nations conference ‘Healing our Spirit Worldwide’ in Vancouver Canada.
Ms Lively said the strengthened governance and Model of Care were key in attracting infrastructure funding. In 2020, Gindaja secured $4.5 million from the Queensland Government to redevelop the residential rehabilitation site. However, the global COVID pandemic delayed progress and construction costs soared, causing a significant funding shortfall.
Following further lobbying, Gindaja secured an additional $7.5 million with support and advocacy from former QAIHC CEO Cleveland Fagan.
“This will bring much-needed infrastructure to the Yarrabah community. For Gindaja clients, it provides a culturally appropriate healing space to come for treatment and recovery. For our members, we now also have a place where we can hold our AGMs and have proper community meetings and consultations.”
