A community artwork signed by dozens of Katherine and Big Rivers region locals was presented to the Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Julie Collins, in Canberra this week.
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The artwork "Waiting too long. We need housing. We need a plan." was created by people experiencing homelessness.
Each of them also listed how long they have waited for housing in Katherine.
One man, Brian Woodroffe, who hasn't had secure housing since he was a child wrote '50 years'.
Some signatories also included requests, suggesting to the Minister to 'ask the people what works for them' and to come to the Northern Territory for a 'visit'.
The artwork was created during National Homelessness Week with the knowledge that a delegation from Katherine's social service and legal community was heading to Canberra to attend the National Homelessness Conference in August.
Siobhan Mackay, CEO of Katherine Women's Information and Legal Service, Kelly Rosas from Mission Australia, and Nixon Too, Housing Manager with Anglicare NT, presented the artwork to the Federal Minister following her Ministerial Address to the Conference.
"Each one of these names is a person," Siobhan Mackay said.
"Each number of years recorded represents years of extreme hardship.
"The sad fact is that this is just a tiny snap-shot of homelessness in Katherine."
Ms Mackay said she felt 'proud and privileged' to have carried 'these names and stories to Canberra'.
"Housing and homelessness is a problem across Australia, but in Katherine our rates of homelessness are 32 times the national average," she said.
"We need a plan at Federal, Territory and Local levels to tackle the issue."
The delegation are all members of the Katherine Accommodation Action Group, an informal network of service providers, chaired by peak organisation NT Shelter, calling for and committed to working to end homelessness in Katherine and the Big Rivers Region.
