Mental health checks at Howard Springs quarantine facility not up to standard, says NT lawyer who stayed there

A TERRITORIAN forced into quarantine after returning from SA last week says people under duress run the risk of being untreated due to a lack of mental health checks at the Howard Springs facility.

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A TERRITORIAN forced into quarantine after returning from South Australia last week says people under duress run the risk of being untreated due to a lack of mental health checks at the Howard Springs facility.

Lawyer Catherine Voumard was put into quarantine at Howard Springs last week after the NT briefly shut its borders to South Australia.

The Howard Springs quarantine facility. Picture: Ben Sale/ Other Side Productions

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Ms Voumard said while she had many concerns about the quarantine facility, including cleanliness and financial viability, one of her biggest was a lack of mental health checks.

“Unless you were prepared to spill your guts to someone who was really there to tick and flick, I don’t think any people that were really struggling with their mental health would have been picked up,” she said.

“Of course they gave us all the numbers to ring but there really weren’t any checks about who did you know in there, did you have support in place with the people that you’re going to be able to contact to get through that period of time.”

Ms Voumard said she was tested for COVID-19 once upon arrival at the facility, a brief wave of a temperature wand and “How are you feeling today?” by staff each day, which she said was unacceptable.

“Not to over exaggerate too much, it’s not solitary confinement but it is putting people by themselves and we know that there’s lots of research around how dangerous that can be,” she said.

“I think that if they don’t up their mental health checks in particular, the government probably is a sitting duck for some kind of attempted suicide.”

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Health Minister Natasha Fyles said supporting people’s mental health while in quarantine was a priority. “There are on-the-ground 24/7 supports available to those undertaking mandatory supervised quarantine,” she said.

However, Erica, who did not want to give her surname, also said there was a severe lack of communication and resources at the facility.

If in need of support call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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