Crime in Alice Springs – part 4

There really shouldn’t be this many posts on crime in this blog should there? Hopefully this will be the last of them for a long while.

In the interests of fairness, some links to the latest media articles:

– Alison Anderson, Member for Macdonnell, writes a response to Jennifer Mills’ article (Shock Tactics in Alice Springs) over at New Matilda.  I found it to be a good read.

– Alice Springs News reports in today’s paper upon the community meeting held Tuesday night. I have found it to be one of the more positive reports on the event.

– Alice Springs News also runs a report on how businesses are faring here in Alice Springs, both good and bad, ups and down. It’s very obvious to me, as a local, that many of those businesses enjoying very good times right now are due to the NT Intervention.

– Shaun Nancarrow’s column (sorry, you’ll have to scroll right down to the bottom of the page, the Alice Springs News site is pretty basic)(locals can just read their free copy, Shaun’s column is on page 2) looks at the vacant Melanka’s (a former nightclub & backpackers hostel) building site by night. I’d like to quote the last line:

I never thought I would see the day where I would rather have Melanka’s back but it’s true. How long will the government let the land lie undeveloped before they start to penalise the company holding?

– Local councillor, Jane Clark continues to write some good, thoughtful posts on the current situation, the Intervention & other issues affecting Alice Springs.

– Finally, have a read of Outback Deb’s say on the matter today. I think she encapsulates some of the complexities of the issues facing Alice Springs. As she says, it’s not black & white.

Will the recent spate of crime reporting on Alice Springs decrease after Saturday’s by-election?

Or has the town simply had enough?

For local residents, do keep in mind the NT Government Cabinet will be sitting in Alice Springs on 29, 30 & 31 March.  Might be worth attending, especially as it looks likely there will be (another) protest by locals on law & order.

Crime in Alice Springs. Again.

First up I am going to shout out to all prospective tourists & visitors to Alice Springs that, despite the number of bad news stories in the media of late, especially over the past few days, ALICE SPRINGS IS A SAFE TOWN TO VISIT! 🙂

Honestly? The current crime levels are really only impacting upon the locals, black & white alike.

Occasionally an unlucky tourist will be the target of some unpleasant assault, such as the German woman walking with a group of friends, was stabbed one night earlier this month.

It should be noted however that all the victims of this crime were released quickly from hospital so we can assume wounds were not serious. I do accept this group of tourists will have been traumatized by this unpleasant encounter.

But overall, crime in this town affects primarily the local businesses and residents.

Tourists should exercise the same safety precautions they would observe whilst in a large city.

Check out Travel Outback Australia, a local website, for some really good advice about visiting & living here in Alice Springs.  And remember,  ALICE SPRINGS IS A SAFE TOWN TO VISIT!

Right now crime is at a level where many of the locals are complaining in frustration. Some businesses are taking extraordinary security measures (I consider using razor wire on fences to be extraordinary).

Me? I’m just tired of seeing so much litter in town – the empty alcohol cans & broken bottles, the silver wine cask bladders (used for sniffing volatile substances), the vomit & other excreta in public areas. Council does a good job cleaning up each day but it seems a never ending task. Tired also of hearing of the increasing number of break-ins and burglaries. Too many friends & people I know have recently experienced the trauma of such crimes.

I am also tired of seeing those big blue & white signs around town, one of which you can see on the drive in to town from the airport.

We’re just a small town of around 30,000 people. Should we be experiencing such levels of crime and anti-social behaviour? Should our excellent but small Alice Springs Hospital’s ED be seeing an average of 120 patients per day? (To contrast, Austin Hospital is one of Melbourne’s larger hospitals and sees an average of 200 per day. Melbourne’s population is considerably greater than Alice Springs’.)  Doesn’t this tell you there is something wrong in this remote desert town?

Local alderman Jane Clark says in her thoughtful post Law and Order, Vigilantism, Alice Springs:

I do place a lot of blame on the carelessness of the implementation of the federal intervention. When Alice Springs and Katherine Town Councils first felt the impact of people leaving communities due to the intervention, we were unable to access funding required for emergency affordable housing or for adequate social services.  Basically the feds didn’t believe what we were saying.  Now the mess is obvious and we still wait for the assistance needed to cope with this disaster as it unfolds before us.

I think Jane Clark is right.

Perhaps the NT & Federal levels of government need to go back to the Recommendations of the Little Children are Sacred Report and implement them properly and in full? This is what led to the Northern Territory National Emergency Response aka “the intervention”.  Initially I supported the intervention, but now? Obviously it’s not working so let’s go back to the Little Children are Sacred Report and re-read those recommendations. That would be a start.

I think there needs to be honesty and acceptance from all concerned parties in Alice Springs & indeed the whole of the NT, white & black. There needs to be a real willingness for all parties to implement workable, fair strategies, programs & lifestyle modifications. I think there has also to be an acceptance by all levels of government that a one size fits all approach will not work.

NT & Federal governments need to listen to the local shire & town councils. Governments need to actively engage with each Indigenous community, each mob. They all need to be listened to, respected, asked “what will help your community?”, “how can we best help you?” Yes, that makes it more expensive but tough.

I am weary of seeing runs in the media such as we have seen over the past few days:

Alice Springs News – Cops all out on crime but aldermen want more

NT News – Alice crime tsunami building tension

The Australian – Destroyed in Alice

NT Police Media Releases – Indecent Assault – Alice Springs – Update 1

NT Police Media Releases – Suspicious Death – Alice Springs – Update 1

But remember, I am speaking as someone who lives here. The town is QUITE SAFE for tourists, so please, do come & visit. 🙂

Crime in Alice Springs – an update

Time for an update on the level of crime in Alice Springs. Last May I wrote yes, there was some crime & anti-social behaviour but overall I felt quite safe living here in Alice Springs.

Nine months later can I still say that the headlines such as this one from 10 February  Crime in Alice Killing the Town are over the top? No, I can’t.

Law and Order Tops Agenda was the front page article of the Alice Springs News of 3 February. Many of the candidates for the Alice Springs Town Council by-election on 26 February are campaigning on law and order issues.

It used to be that many of the stabbings & serious assaults did not involve white people or tourists. Tourist Stabbed in Alice Springs from 12 February has prompted more than one conversation that I’ve heard where locals are commenting  with concern & bewilderment that a German female tourist was the target of this barely late night crime. NT Police released an update today, calling for witnesses.

The Deputy Mayor says our local alcohol restriction laws (which pertain only to Alice Springs and not the entire Territory) are a “quick fix”. He wants to see “wet canteens” at remote communities to stem the flow of people moving in to town to drink.

Today the NT Police issued a media release telling us of a 52 year old man who had his car stolen from his home after being confronted by two women, one of whom threatened him with a shovel. Police found the man’s car & have made an arrest. The person they arrested is aged 15.

On the night of 24 January there were a number of incidents and NT Police made 5 arrests.

We’re only a small town! There shouldn’t be this much crime! The fact that there is tells me there is something seriously wrong.

Attorney-General Delia Lawrie (based in Darwin) states the Government has already announced several measures aimed at reducing crime in Alice Springs. But they don’t seem to be having a great impact!

A person identifying himself as “Local copper” left a comment recently on a previous post of mine. I think it’s worthwhile repeating here. It’s interesting & frightening to note that the local police watch house is no longer available to use as a sobering up shelter.

Hey there. Not sure if this post is still going. From a crime perspective, this town is rampant. As you can tell by the name… i am indead, in the job. We are chronically under staffed and do the best we can. We all live here too and most have families with children. Unfortunatly the stats don’t lie. Politicians do.

Murder capital per capita. Within not wanting to seem crass or racist, one race does dominate this and hide behind the “it’s traditional” excuse. There is nothing traditional about getting so drunk that walking and thinking just can’t occur. But the only thought process that happens is find a weapon and smash the hell out of the person closest to you.

Property crime or volume crime as it is known is a high priority. It is just that without a witness and hard evidence not a lot can be done. The finger printing that you see on the ole chestnut “CSI” is rubbish. Love to have that tech avalable… It in most parts does not exist. We band together and do the Aussie “watch a mates back” we can have an effect.

Police have recently lost on of our best tools. the abilty to remove those so intoxicated that they can’t look after themslves. The sober up shelter is a revolving door… taking them home where other highly intoxicated and usually aggressive people are is a joke.. The last option, the watch house is no longer available for the drunks.

The worst place at the moment is except for sunday night the area around teh 24hr store and old Melankas site // RFDS lawns. Want to see large scale violence… take a chair and a metal cage.. You’ll need it.

Sorry for high jacking this blog and making it all about the poice and crime. I know that is not what it was stated for. Funny how things end up.

Still love this place….. stay safe.

Like many people living in Alice Springs I often work in the CBD and usually my work puts me in the “frontline”, dealing daily with both the good and the bad. It’s not pleasant having to dodge drunks or angry people scuffling & throwing punches, screaming abuse at each other.

Whilst it may not be directed at me personally, it does touch me & puts me on edge. I’m alert, watchful, careful where I walk & park.

My home & neighbourhood is meant to be my sanctuary. However, in recent months I’ve had to remain alert in my own home. Break-ins are common now in my neighbourhood, as are random acts of wilful destruction like setting fire to signs or wheelie bins, knocking over letterboxes, smashing bottles into gardens. A lot of it may be just nuisance crime, but that doesn’t stop it being scary.

Back on board!

Life got busy & interesting and hence there hasn’t been any regular posting here for 8 months. Twitter also intervened, capturing my undivided attention at times as I watched various shufflings  in the Australian political landscape.

I still find Twitter a most useful way in which to keep track of the news here and overseas, especially at times of fast moving crises – floods, cyclones, fires & severe storms. An Australian summer has it all and it’s been a particularly tough one for so many people across my country.

At this stage I don’t think I can write coherently on what I’ve seen beyond stating how humbled and proud I feel of my fellow Australians & those overseas visitors who have shown so much kindness & help to those in need. I recommend you read Patty Beecham’s eloquent blog of her experience in the Brisbane Flood (scroll through, dip in and out, be touched by her posts on Murphy’s Creek as well as her words as she watched Cyclone Yasi devastate the far north of her state).

I worked much of the latter half of 2010. The usual mix of hard slog, laughs, good people, frustrations & regular pay. I am enjoying my usual summer break now.

I’ve yet to plan out my working plans for 2011 due to the sudden arising of a couple of intense health issues. Once they’re sorted I can scatter my resume far and wide and gather me a job.

Glitches & gremlins in the public health system mean I am still waiting to hear the results & treatment plan from my last endoscopy. I should have an appointment to see the visiting Gastroenterologist by the end of March.

I was diagnosed with iron-deficiency anaemia last September or so. A couple of months of taking heavy duty iron tablets and my iron levels were restored to normal. Terrific. Then, out of the blue, when I was getting ready to break out the champagne to celebrate having finally, come to the end of the menopause (yay!), some very heavy bleeding (HMB) laid me low for a few weeks. And those iron levels plummeted.

And thus I found myself on a drug cocktail of progesterone, tranexamic acid & painkillers. And iron.

An ultrasound (pelvic & trans-vag) a week before Christmas resulted in a referral to the visiting Gynaecologist. The first available appointment is at the end of this month. I did consider travelling south and going private but a check of a few gynae clinics showed waiting times for a first referral anywhere between 8 and 16 weeks. I might as well stay in town and go public. I am getting terrific support from my GP.  Hoping the diagnosis will be nought but a hormone imbalance. 🙂

With the wet weather we’ve been having here in Alice Springs over recent months the grasses have grown long & the desert is still green. This has encouraged mice to proliferate. Many of them into my house. A friend offered her cat but I said no need, between the snap-traps and the perentie in the roof-space I should be able to cull the numbers of rodents. 🙂

Highlight of the summer for me has to be the Desert Tree Frog. One appears on the kitchen window at night chasing bugs & avoiding the geckos, another frog ventures out on to the front door. Absolutely lovely. 🙂

Entertaining yourself in Alice … part 2

Alice Springs is not your typical small town with not much happening. Those that disagree, try living in some of the small towns in the rural areas of any of the other states.

We have the following:

• Cinema – and yes, it shows latest releases
• Theatre – local & regular visits by interstate companies, e.g. Bell Shakespeare, comedians etc
• More films, including art house at Araluen
• Art galleries – lots, including Araluen’s galleries
• Museums – including the magnificent Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame & others
• Events/parades/public holidays
• Alice Springs Show
• Rodeos
• Camping
• Casino
• Restaurants
• Masters Games + concert
• Concerts
• The Concert (replaces Bass in the Dust)
• Desert Park ( a must see)
• Sport – too many to mention, many folks enjoy playing their team sports immensely here

Then there’s our magnificent landscape. Camp if you like, but much can be done via day trips too.

• MacDonnell National Park – West
• Eastern MacDonnell Ranges – check out Arltunga with its historic ruins or one of the gorges
• Ross River Resort – on the Ross Highway, along the Eastern Macs
• Glen Helen – Resort & Gorge at the end of the bitumen along the Western Macs

Uluru, or the Rock (formerly known as Ayer’s Rock) is worthy of a visit. It’s not a day trip unless you do the Emu Run Tour (coach trip). It’s 450km or so down the road. Lovely drive, and you’ll get to see the spectacular Mount Connor well prior to reaching the federal National Park. And if you’re sightseeing at the Rock, you simply must drive the extra distance and inspect & explore Kata Tjuta (formerly The Olgas).

Entertaining yourself in Alice … part 1

So what is there to do in Alice?

It’s a bit different to be a resident here than being a short term tourist. There is some cross over in activities but new residents need something to sustain them through many a long day & night spent in the desert. It may be mundane & suburban but reading books (we have a couple of great bookstores) & watching telly do help pass the time. (Next post: we’ll venture away from the house for our entertainment.)

We have an excellent public library, with a marvellous children’s section complete with fun activities & visits from children’s authors throughout the year.

Free to air television (Freeview) supplies us with a mix of digital & analogue channels.

Analogue

• Seven Central (a mix of 7 and Ten network programs)(6pm News is from Brisbane.)
• Imparja/Nine

Digital

• ABC – 1, 2, 3 and HD
• SBS – One, Two & HD

There’s just one or two little quirks with the digital channels. ABC HD is fed from Sydney so you won’t get NT news. You need to watch ABC 1 for that. (And may I just say, as one who does a fair amount of travelling across the states, ABC NT News has the better newsreaders!)

ABC channels all broadcast as per their stated times.

SBS digital don’t. You need to subtract half an hour from the stated times. This is because it gets it’s feed from the eastern states & the digital channel here is goes to air at Eastern Standard Time, which is 30 minutes ahead of our time zone. This can be useful at times for those late night shows, for example, The Killing starts at 10pm in most places … but here, here we watch it at the more reasonable starting time of 9:30pm.

If you forget to subtract the half hour, don’t worry, you can always switch back to the analogue channel.

It’s quirkier during those months when EST becomes ESST for daylight savings.

If the Freeview channels are not enough, then there’s always Pay TV – Austar.

About that work-life balance

I have been working way too hard, earning money to pay my bills. I tell you, the hours leave me exhausted! How do people cope with full time work AND fit in all those mandatory household chores such as food shopping, cooking, laundry & cleaning the bathroom?

I can’t seem to do it.

I’m reducing my hours back to three days a week for the coming weeks as an experiment in better work-life management.

I’m hoping to get my kitchen floor mopped; it has been sadly neglected in recent weeks & is getting sticky.

😦

The toilets have been prioritized, as was the gathering of foodstuffs. Doing the laundry just once a week means the weekend is hectic. More so when it rains. Like it did this weekend.

Working just Mon-Wed-Fri may result in changing the bed linens, wouldn’t that be nice? (Lavender oil covers a multitude of sins and debauchery.)

🙂

I also need to cut back my hours as the constant typing is having an adverse impact upon the joints in my hands and wrists.

The question will be, will I be able to survive financially on the lesser hours?

I suspect I will learn to cope for I know my body & mind will appreciate the time away from the coalface. And that will make me a lot happier.

But isn’t it dangerous living here?

No it’s not.

Rather than start with the headline grabbing “murder capital of Australia”, let’s start with the official statistics, issued quarterly by the NT Justice Department. Latest stats are from the December 2009 quarter.

If you like reading numbers in tables, then the figures for Alice Springs are on page 45 of Issue 30. To put those figures into a visual context, page 46.

Big thing to remember is that a lot of crime here (? most) is alcohol-fuelled black on black and often occurs within the town camps.

Next thing to remember is that a lot of the assaults against white locals or tourists happens very late at night or in the early hours of the morning as drunken revellers stagger their way home or back to their hotel/hostel. Not much different to life in other towns or cities in Australia.

I don’t know the stats for white on black crime but given how shaken up much of the town seemed by the recent court case & sentencing over the five men who killed an Aboriginal man, I’d say it’s not common. Certainly, I was one of those shocked by the death & the crime.

Of course, much is made in our local media about the “social problems” that exist in our town. No point in denying the existence of the problem, it’s there & can be quite unpleasant to see. But what is the impact upon me, a white woman, living & working in the town?

I feel safe walking, cycling & driving alone around town at most times of day and evenings. Personal safety is not something I need to dwell on, as long as I exercise common sense. Is that different to where you live?

I do get frustrated with the level of litter, the broken glass, the empty cans  & general rubbish one sees in the (usually dry) Todd river bed & along the streets of the CBD. Then there are the patches of vomit, used condoms & other bodily excretions left in and around the shrubs & garden beds of the Mall area & other shopping precincts.

Council cleans up a lot of the street rubbish, hoses down the footpaths & Mall, but only occasionally tackles the river bed. This is not to say the river bed is awash with cans & other litter, it’s not. But there are patches, a modern day version of a midden.

As Anne commented on a previous post, “People apply safety using a pretty simple economic model: cost of safety versus risk of damage.” I’d not thought of it that way before but it is so true.

My neighbourhood is quite safe, very few gates or security fences. (And yes, there’s even a town camp nearby.)

In other areas you do see a higher level of security. In my area the greatest threat seems to come from the drunken teenage antics of graduating year 12 students as they celebrate: to date I’ve only seen a couple of drunken brawls & a bit of yelling in the street. On odd occasions there have been domestic fights (verbal plus door slamming & car roaring off) and recently we had a few cars broken into (but not mine).

I have a friend who lives on the other side of town near a housing trust area. She has had occasions to call the police due public disturbances which have, in fairness, sounded quite frightening to deal with late at night. There are regular private security patrols in her area around the clock she says. In contrast, it’s rare to see a police car in my street.

What do I do to avoid the unsafe aspects of Alice?

Well, I don’t go out walking the streets late at night (midnight onwards)(okay, more like 10pm onwards). I’m not a drinker or nightclub person so I don’t get to see what happens when Bo’s closes for the night & turfs out the drinkers etc.

I do go out for dinner, but I either drive, arrange to go in a friend’s car or take a taxi. This is exactly what I do when I’m in Adelaide, Brisbane or most other large “small” towns.

I am careful about where I park my car in town. This is based on watching where the current break-ins are occurring. And I’m always careful not to leave valuables in sight. Makes sense. I did this in Brisbane when I lived there.

I try to avoid doing my shopping after the 2pm opening of the liquor stores. It is worth seeing just what happens from about 1pm onwards, if only to be appalled by the sheer amount of grog being trundled out of the bottle shops by both whites and blacks.

I never go to Coles after dark. Even if they do have adequate security guard numbers on duty. It just isn’t pleasant. Large groups of often drunk hang around the entrance & throughout the Coles Complex carparks. I go to Woolies. Or I wait until the next day.

I would never walk by the Todd too late at night, not even to access the casino area.

Daytime is fine. The Todd Mall is safe & pleasant (generally) during the daytime in my experience.

Just walk around any groups drinking/drunk in public (usually sitting on the grass around the church or the carparks). A lot of the noise & shouting amongst the throngs won’t be directed at you. You’ll see such groups having arguments in public, but it’s not all the time, it’s not always a daily occurrence. (If you work in the Mall, undoubtedly you see more. I don’t.)

I am wary of the groups of indigenous youth you see wandering around town. They appear to be bored, occasionally they’re under the influence of illegal substances and therefore pose a (slightly) greater risk to me as a woman, let alone a white woman.

Occasionally you’ll be yelled at in the street or the supermarket and called a “white cunt” or something similar. The person is drunk. Ignore them. Security will move them on. It hasn’t happened to me for many, many months. It’s not a regular thing. But then, perhaps that’s because I’m rarely in town shopping after 2pm.

Finally, my measure of the safety of a town is my inclination to move on. The social problems are not yet enough to make me feel that I “must leave” town yet. And when I do finally leave, it’ll be because it’s simply time to move back “home”, by the water.

Let’s have a parade!

Today is the May Day public holiday here in the Territory (you have to have a long weekend) and for Alice Springs this morning that means it’s time for a grand parade!

I suspect the Rotary Club’s Bangtail Muster Parade is the longest running parade or event in Alice Springs.  It’s been held since 1959, each year with a different theme. This year’s theme is “Linking Communities”. My first viewing of this fun parade was the Water themed one in 2005.

You join the spectators standing along Gap Road, Todd Street or Todd Mall and watch the parade & floats march by. The police close the roads for the duration.

But why and what is a bang tail?

When you’re mustering cattle you need to keep tally each year. So all the mustered cattle have the hairy end part of their tails cut off. They grow back slowly so it’s a good way for those doing the muster to quickly see which cattle have previously been rounded up.

Health care in the Alice

We have a reasonable number of medical centres in Alice Springs. If you’re of Aboriginal descent, then your choices are even wider with the services of the excellent Congress medical centre available to you.

It is difficult to obtain a same day appointment with your own doctor, but you should be able to get in to see the “on call” doctor if you phone at 8am or 8.30am (depending on the clinic) as most clinics keep aside a few “extra” slots.

Mall Medical Centre is no longer located in the Mall. They’re now on Hartley Street, at the corner with Stott Terrace.

There’s also Alice Springs Family Medical Centre, Bath Street Clinic and Central Clinic.

I use Central Clinic & for continuity of care, I try to stick with my own GP but I have broken in a back up GP for use when she is away.

Alternatively, we still have the After Hours GP service which is run from within the Outpatients Department of the hospital. This is an excellent service and I hope it does not close (as predicted due lack of funds). It does cost more, but you do get some money back from Medicare. When I last used this emergency clinic it cost me $95 but it was worth it to avoid spending hours waiting in the Emergency Department.

Of course there is always the ED. I’ve not had to use the ED itself, all my little asthma problems & other slight emergencies have been able to be handled through the After Hours clinic (staffed by both community doctors as well as hospital doctors). The ED has an excellent reputation & I would have no hesitation using their services. Think of any time spent waiting there as educational. You will see some interesting sights, “culturally” speaking, but then, most public hospital EDs can be “entertaining”.

There is no private hospital in Alice Springs. But the public hospital is excellent, coming complete with an intensive care unit & a high dependency unit. Many of the rooms on the Medical Ward are single bed rooms which basically means they’re private rooms, with their own en-suite. Shared rooms generally only have 2 beds. Not bad for a public hospital.

What the surgeons can’t handle, they’ll stabilize and send you off to Adelaide with the Flying Doctor (no cost to you). We have general surgeons who can take care of most emergencies. We have numerous visiting specialists who see patients at regular outpatients’ clinics. For example, I see the gastroenterology specialists and that usually means seeing the top surgeon within the field. A friend sees the visiting cardiac specialist, but also regularly flies down to Adelaide for more specialized testing & treatment.

There’s now an oncology centre in Darwin and all cancer patients are meant to be treated there. But word has it that cancer patients are still being flown to Adelaide for their treatment (which is where most locals prefer to go because they’ve probably got family support in that city).

Whilst the public system can be slow with their waiting lists, if your case is urgent, you will be seen & attended to.

Pregnant? Birth & Beyond Parent Resource Centre (Childbirth Education Association) has information on your options here. According to the web site, we have the Midwifery Group Practice now operating here. Home birthing is an option here.

As in all things related to your health, your care is generally overseen and/or co-ordinated by your GP (with hospital input where necessary).

Dental care – Alice Springs has a couple of dental clinics with visiting specialists. My partner has used one of the local clinics and had no problems with them. For my first few years here I opted to fly “home” to Brisbane to see my own dentist. That’s not an option for me now (my mother having moved to Adelaide and relocated our “home”) so I will most likely be using the Alice Springs Dental Surgery on Larapinta Drive in the future. Or maybe I’ll fly down to Adelaide & see my sister’s dentist.

Pharmacies. We have 3 pharmacies in town. They all seem to be owned by the same group of pharmacists but under different brands: Priceline, Alice Springs Pharmacy & United.

For customer service (politeness, speed) I prefer to use Priceline Pharmacy in Alice Springs Plaza (the little shopping centre off Todd St Mall where Target is). When I’m working, it’s quicker & easier for me to drop my scripts off at the Alice Springs Pharmacy in the Yeperenye shopping centre. Occasionally I’ll use the United Pharmacy which is in the Coles Complex.

I also make use of the online Australian pharmacies. I use Pharmacy Direct & Pharmacy Online. I use these for non-prescription items. Sometimes it’s just easier.

St John’s runs the ambulance service. If you’re arriving here from Queensland, do remember to join up. Currently it’s $85 for a family.

A lot of people in Alice do opt to take out private hospital & extras insurance even though we only have a public hospital. If you can afford it, then do so because it will give you greater treatment options. My partner has insurance but I do not. As soon as I have enough money saved I am seriously considering taking it out for myself.