At Charles Darwin University last week, Dr Scrymgour delivered the 2014 Nugget Coombs Memorial Lecture, and reflected on the lessons learned.

“Seven years down the track, the foreigners have mostly gone away again, [or been replaced by others] and it’s the same old faces trying to address the same old harms, no matter which side of the intervention divide they stood on back in 2007,” she said.

Talking to the Katherine Times this week, Dr Scrymgour said that a “walk down to Woolies on any afternoon” is enough to show the issues of alcoholism and homelessness are as alive as ever in Katherine.

She called for an end to governments and community groups passing the buck, and more collaboration in order to address the ongoing issues. 

“This is my third stint in Katherine and I’ve had a long work history in this region,” she said.

“Coming back this third time, I suppose what’s really hit home is the level of homelessness which has just grown and the homelessness is not people passing through, like in the normal metropolitan areas down south.

“It’s people from remote Aboriginal communities who have come in, and are now living in the long grass, and those numbers are quite substantial. 

“Not everyone is here to drink, but they do get caught up in those lifestyles, and when they get caught in the cycle of dysfunction and in the long grass, they drink and then everything else happens.”

This month, the Aboriginal-controlled Wurli-Wurlinjang celebrates its 30th year in operation and is using the milestone to look within its own walls.

Having recently completed a restructure, the health service is committed to bolstering its outreach services. 

“Outreach is one area where we really singled out to be better – to actually take our service to people rather than waiting for them to come to us,” Dr Scrymgour said. 

“Everyone thinks ‘it’s not my business’ – I’m saying to people, we’re all funded to provide a service to these people, and rather than saying it’s not my business, at the end of the day, these kinds of anti-social behaviours impact on all of us.”

Similarly, Dr Scrymgour said it was time for the Aboriginal community to stop living in the shadows of the intervention, and that sniping from the sidelines is unproductive.

Instead, she called on all community groups to actively participate in the discussion of how to move forward.

“If we don’t, then some public servant in Canberra will come up with the process and policy and we’re going to complain even further,” she said.

 “I think you fail in your compassion if you’re not honest with people. 

“Our mob have got to stop making excuses, we’ve got to be courageous and make some tough decisions about alcohol, about drugs, in the interest of our kids, our families.

“Our kids are starving, why?

“Because parents are spending that money on alcohol and drugs.

“Don’t whinge about having mandatory income management imposed on you – you should be able to make sure that your children are fed.”

Dr Scrymgour said her organisation was currently looking at commissioning data to get a better handle on how many people are currently living in the long grass.

A spokesperson for the NT government Department of Housing said that long-grassing is a complex issue which involves a whole of government response. 

"The Department of Housing has provided $5.5 million in funding over the past three years for services and initiatives targeted towards the prevention and reduction of homelessness in the Katherine region, including $1.97 million for this financial year," the spokesperson said.