The residential care services and social assistance services alone contributed $33.9 million worth of output into East Arnhem’s economy and employed 309 people in 2018/19.

There remains strong demand for aged care and disability services within the East Arnhem region, and with this demand comes significant opportunity for private and for-purpose entities to establish high quality services to support our community. 

The National Disability Insurance Scheme signifies an immense opportunity to leverage support and funding to the essential services and care sectors. There are millions of dollars’ worth of support for services which could be delivered to disability clients throughout the region, with potential to create significant employment and investment opportunities. This also correlates to potential openings for related skilling and workforce development offerings. 

In the 2018/19 period, two forward thinking entities committed to establishing themselves in the region:

• Australian Regional and Remote Community Services has executed contracts with all parties involved in the construction of a $20 million 32-bed flexible aged care facility in Nhulunbuy. This facility is expected to supply approximately 50 local jobs. 
• Carers NT has recently completed the purchase of existing infrastructure in Nhulunbuy to deliver short stay and respite services for clients from within East Arnhem. The decision of Carers NT to do so came as a result of identifying a regional demand which remains significantly underserviced, emphasising the sector as an emerging opportunity. Since completion of the renovation project in May 2020, there have been a total of 12 jobs created in Nhulunbuy, three of which are held by Yolŋu employees.