Life became a whole lot easier for more than 20 people today with Larrakia Nation in town providing fast tracked IDs.
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For Sally-Anne Hamill, a new ID has opened up a range of possibilities.
The Katherine Doorways Hub volunteer, said going without ID is especially hard.
“If you don’t have ID it makes it hard to get a job,” she said.
“You need ID to access services, drive a car, apply for a house and get mail.
“A lot of my friends in Katherine don’t have ID.”
Accessing money from the bank is one of those key things an identification card is needed for, and you can not pay for a new ID without access to money.
Over two days, Tracey Wills and Evarna Petterson from Larrakia Nation set up shop at the Katherine Doorways Hub.
The visit is a first for Katherine, but Larrakia Nation has issued many thousands of people accross the Territory with new IDs.
“All they have to do is fill out an application form and have a reference from someone who has known them for 12 months,” Ms Wills said.
“The ID provides two name sections for a birth name and the name they are known by.
“It helps out a lot of people who haven’t had anything before,” she said.
Identification is a crucial part of accessing services, Katherine Doorways Hub coordinator Harley Dannatt said.
“It is something a lot of people experiencing homelessness struggle with.
“This service is a fantastic way of breaking through those barriers.
“Any service provider would tell you how much of a complicated bureaucratic process it is, but this just passes through all that,” he said.
The IDs cost just $60 and are processed within minutes.
Larrakia Nation said Centre Pay Deductions through Centrelink enable people to be issued an ID if they don’t have money up front.
Ms Wills said the organisation, which travels to communities accross the NT, is looking to return to Katherine to assist additional people who may be in need of an ID.
