Integrated services
Throughout the remote north of Australia there are over a thousand communities with primarily Indigenous residents and more than two thirds of these have less than 50 people as their usual population. All of these communities rely on water supplies, power, shelter, transport and communications to support their daily living needs. If there is a power outage or the water supply fails it is rarely possible to get a mechanic or tradesperson to fix it quickly or affordably. Residents of these small communities or outstations have to have a high level of resourcefulness to keep the infrastructure functioning, calling on their neighbours and other agencies to help and utilising their own skills and knowledge. But the complexity and cost of accessing technical services and the decisions made by service agencies and suppliers has led to a reduction in local capacities for infrastructure and asset maintenance and management.
 |
 |
 |
The Integrated Technical Services (ITS) program at CAT was developed to trial and evaluate an integrated approach to delivering technical services in different regions. It is focusing on demand responsive service delivery in the areas of water, housing, waste management, power, transport and communications. The integration of the delivery of technical services offers efficiencies where a tradesperson or contractor can complete multiple jobs in one trip and the costs can be dispersed between a number of outstations rather than costing each job separately. Or where road maintenance works are being undertaken, the cost of taking on additional work like fire breaks or cleaning up waste at an outstation can be a fraction of the cost of doing each job independently. Integration can also be achieved by coordinating between programs and by establishing scheduled maintenance thus reducing emergency call outs. Building the knowledge and skills of residents themselves to manage aspects of the maintenance and repairs is also important. Approaching technical services on a regional level can also assist in identifying gaps and opportunities for improving service delivery and sharing resources.
ITS is currently working in the
