June 11, 2026 • 8 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because we know that private maternity services continue to be
quite a shammouzzle in the top end at the moment.
Not only are we yet to see the ten million
dollars promised to help support the extra pressure placed on
the public services, but now overnight we've seen this private
midwi free service awarded the government's one point one million
dollar contract canceled, with midwives in Darwin posting a statement
(00:22):
on social media that it would be pausing its private
midwif free services. Now joining us on the line to
speak more about this is Tessa Sizlowski from Our Birth
Our Voice. Good morning to you, Tessa.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good morning Katie. How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah? Very well? Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Now, Tessa, after all this, it appears that
top ends their top ends, expectant mums are now back
to square one. How are you guys feeling after sort
of learning this news overnight?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, Katie, it's pretty disappointing. It's let's yet another blow
for ext expectant mums and the options available to them.
We've almost gone even further backwards than we were because
not only is the private midwif free tender that was
the government funded tender canceled, but we've now lost another
service that was available. So midwives in Darwin did actually
(01:15):
offer private home birth services prior to the tender and
that's now off the table for mums as well.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Do you know if it's like if any mums had
actually gone through that service, Not that.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We're aware of. So from the information that we've had
and from what we've gone from media as well, is
that the tender was awarded obviously, then it was suspended
following some of the media around Miss Marx's conditions placed
on an APROA license. I don't think the contract had
ever commenced, so it was supposed to be commencing in
(01:48):
January or February of this year, and I don't think
that ever was sort of finalized to then actually provide
the service to months. So as far as we understand, no,
we don't know whether there was money paid to midwives
in Dawen or not. The announcement this morning is very
unclear about whether that money was paid, whether the money
is going to be returned, and whether there's going to
(02:08):
be a future tender put out dis service or something similar.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
We certainly asked that of the Health Minister this morning.
When we had him on the week that was whether
any money had been paid out or not. You know,
he'd sort of said that it is a you know,
there's a procurement process, but that's handled by the Department
of Health. Now, then, of course we've seen the Department
of Health have issued a statement saying that NT Health
acknowledges that Midwives in Darwin has paused its services for
(02:34):
the delivery of private maternity services in Darwin. Following NT
Health's discontinuation of contracted services, we'd cee Emacs Proprietary Limited
and following a review of that contract, NT Health determined
that the service as originally intended could not be delivered
in line with the required governance and safety expectations. NT
(02:55):
Health followed all required procurement processes. However, information that led
to the discontinuation of the contract was not known at
the time the contract was signed and became available later.
You know, I think the one point one million dollar
question though, is what money's gone out? What, you know,
where are we now with will Territorians money.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Exactly, Katie, And I think, you know, if that money
hasn't gone or if it's going back to NT Health,
what is that money going to be utilized going forward.
You know, we've been calling for additional funding for the
public maternity services for some time. If there's not going
to be another private midwifery tender, can that money be
reallocated to assist with the public services If there is
(03:42):
going to be a new tender. We know there's been
concerns raised and by AMA and by Doctor John's Orbis
about the OB's having some concerns about the tender in
its current form. So there's lots and lots of unanswered questions.
But I think the biggest disappointment for us today is
loss of another servers and you know, still more questions
(04:03):
than answers.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
What's been the feedback you know, over the last ten
months or so from from mums, from families about the
situation that we are still in when it comes to
maternity services.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I think just the uncertainty KTS is really challenging. We
still have this issue around ultrasounds and mums not being
able to access early pregnancy scans in Darwin. That is
a constant concern we are seeing and hearing from mums.
You know, even as of yesterday they can't get their
dating scan until after twelve weeks unless they travel to
(04:41):
Catherine or into state. So that there's the you know,
we are definitely losing people into state who can't access
their option of maternity services in the Northern Territory, you know,
talking to people recently, we've lost some teaching staff, which
we are desperate for teaching in the Northern Territory. They're
choosing to go into state because they can't act.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
We seem to have lost Tessa. Hopefully we've still got
her on the line. Are you able to hear me, Tessa?
We seem to have lost her. Unfortunately, we will see
if we're able to get her back on the line.
And I still was keen to talk to her about
that that ten million dollars, Tessa, Are you there? I am,
Jimmy back, Yes, thank goodness for that. Yeah, that is
(05:29):
I mean, they're real concerns that you are raising at
the moment in terms of, you know, in terms of
being able to get people here to fill those roles.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, and that's right. And I think you know, the
ongoing uncertainty around the ten million dollars around the reinstatement
of private maternity services at dah And Private Hospital, and
we've had no feedback about that Christ the crisis talks
that were supposed to have happened. The only information we've
had that we've been hearing, and this is from members
(05:57):
of the public, not from the government, so we're not
sure that it's correct, is that that meeting was canceled
by purpose COD. No didn't occur.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So from my understanding is the CEO I think of
Purpose CO was due to meet up with the Chief Minister.
That person didn't meet with the Chief Minister, but Steve Edgington,
as I understand, still met with members of Purpose CO.
This is my understanding of it, but I'm happy to
be corrected and that now we're in a situation according
to the Health Minister this morning on the show, where
(06:25):
there are two entities that are vying potentially to take
over or to run the private hospital, and they include
Purpose Go and Calvary. Now I asked him, you know
whether if the Northern Territory government are the ones that
sign off on, you know, on the license for whoever
wins that contract, could you make it part of their
(06:48):
license that they have to deliver maternity services because I
think that that's probably where we're at right Well.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I think so too, and certainly the current license does
provide for other services, not maternity services as a license requirement.
So we would hope that that's exactly the lever that
the government are going to pull, is the transfer of
the license to whoever the successful new company is. That
that will require the reinstatement, but again we don't know
how long that's going to take, Katie. It's just further
(07:18):
uncertainty for mums and we just we just want to
see some progress in these spaces. You know, we've still
got no certainty on the ten million dollars, as you
touched on this morning, nothing in the territory budget. We're
going to estimates or Monday morning at nine am if
any other concerned mothers or families want to attend. The
(07:40):
Health Minister is first cab off the rank on Monday morning,
and I'm sure there's going to be some questions asked about,
you know, whether we can progress those improvements to RDH's
maternity services and what other funding might be available within
the territory budget to make that happen. We've obviously got
the scams issue and now this morning this announcement about
(08:01):
the cancelation of the contract. So notwithstanding were nearly well
twelve months down the track from the closure. Now we
seem to have no progress at all in any of
these areas, which is just really disappointing and disheartening for
mums and families.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Well, Tessa, let us know what happens on Monday. We
might have to have another catch up. We'll see how
it goes in.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Estimates, we will, we will. Thank you, Katie, good stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Thank you so much for your time this morning. Much appreciated.
Thank you, thank you,
Because we know that private maternity services continue to be
quite a shammouzzle in the top end at the moment.
Not only are we yet to see the ten million
dollars promised to help support the extra pressure placed on
the public services, but now overnight we've seen this private
midwi free service awarded the government's one point one million
dollar contract canceled, with midwives in Darwin posting a statement
(00:22):
on social media that it would be pausing its private
midwif free services. Now joining us on the line to
speak more about this is Tessa Sizlowski from Our Birth
Our Voice. Good morning to you, Tessa.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good morning Katie. How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah? Very well? Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Now, Tessa, after all this, it appears that
top ends their top ends, expectant mums are now back
to square one. How are you guys feeling after sort
of learning this news overnight?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, Katie, it's pretty disappointing. It's let's yet another blow
for ext expectant mums and the options available to them.
We've almost gone even further backwards than we were because
not only is the private midwif free tender that was
the government funded tender canceled, but we've now lost another
service that was available. So midwives in Darwin did actually
(01:15):
offer private home birth services prior to the tender and
that's now off the table for mums as well.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Do you know if it's like if any mums had
actually gone through that service, Not that.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We're aware of. So from the information that we've had
and from what we've gone from media as well, is
that the tender was awarded obviously, then it was suspended
following some of the media around Miss Marx's conditions placed
on an APROA license. I don't think the contract had
ever commenced, so it was supposed to be commencing in
(01:48):
January or February of this year, and I don't think
that ever was sort of finalized to then actually provide
the service to months. So as far as we understand, no,
we don't know whether there was money paid to midwives
in Dawen or not. The announcement this morning is very
unclear about whether that money was paid, whether the money
is going to be returned, and whether there's going to
(02:08):
be a future tender put out dis service or something similar.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
We certainly asked that of the Health Minister this morning.
When we had him on the week that was whether
any money had been paid out or not. You know,
he'd sort of said that it is a you know,
there's a procurement process, but that's handled by the Department
of Health. Now, then, of course we've seen the Department
of Health have issued a statement saying that NT Health
acknowledges that Midwives in Darwin has paused its services for
(02:34):
the delivery of private maternity services in Darwin. Following NT
Health's discontinuation of contracted services, we'd cee Emacs Proprietary Limited
and following a review of that contract, NT Health determined
that the service as originally intended could not be delivered
in line with the required governance and safety expectations. NT
(02:55):
Health followed all required procurement processes. However, information that led
to the discontinuation of the contract was not known at
the time the contract was signed and became available later.
You know, I think the one point one million dollar
question though, is what money's gone out? What, you know,
where are we now with will Territorians money.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Exactly, Katie, And I think, you know, if that money
hasn't gone or if it's going back to NT Health,
what is that money going to be utilized going forward.
You know, we've been calling for additional funding for the
public maternity services for some time. If there's not going
to be another private midwifery tender, can that money be
reallocated to assist with the public services If there is
(03:42):
going to be a new tender. We know there's been
concerns raised and by AMA and by Doctor John's Orbis
about the OB's having some concerns about the tender in
its current form. So there's lots and lots of unanswered questions.
But I think the biggest disappointment for us today is
loss of another servers and you know, still more questions
(04:03):
than answers.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
What's been the feedback you know, over the last ten
months or so from from mums, from families about the
situation that we are still in when it comes to
maternity services.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I think just the uncertainty KTS is really challenging. We
still have this issue around ultrasounds and mums not being
able to access early pregnancy scans in Darwin. That is
a constant concern we are seeing and hearing from mums.
You know, even as of yesterday they can't get their
dating scan until after twelve weeks unless they travel to
(04:41):
Catherine or into state. So that there's the you know,
we are definitely losing people into state who can't access
their option of maternity services in the Northern Territory, you know,
talking to people recently, we've lost some teaching staff, which
we are desperate for teaching in the Northern Territory. They're
choosing to go into state because they can't act.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
We seem to have lost Tessa. Hopefully we've still got
her on the line. Are you able to hear me, Tessa?
We seem to have lost her. Unfortunately, we will see
if we're able to get her back on the line.
And I still was keen to talk to her about
that that ten million dollars, Tessa, Are you there? I am,
Jimmy back, Yes, thank goodness for that. Yeah, that is
(05:29):
I mean, they're real concerns that you are raising at
the moment in terms of, you know, in terms of
being able to get people here to fill those roles.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, and that's right. And I think you know, the
ongoing uncertainty around the ten million dollars around the reinstatement
of private maternity services at dah And Private Hospital, and
we've had no feedback about that Christ the crisis talks
that were supposed to have happened. The only information we've
had that we've been hearing, and this is from members
(05:57):
of the public, not from the government, so we're not
sure that it's correct, is that that meeting was canceled
by purpose COD. No didn't occur.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So from my understanding is the CEO I think of
Purpose CO was due to meet up with the Chief Minister.
That person didn't meet with the Chief Minister, but Steve Edgington,
as I understand, still met with members of Purpose CO.
This is my understanding of it, but I'm happy to
be corrected and that now we're in a situation according
to the Health Minister this morning on the show, where
(06:25):
there are two entities that are vying potentially to take
over or to run the private hospital, and they include
Purpose Go and Calvary. Now I asked him, you know
whether if the Northern Territory government are the ones that
sign off on, you know, on the license for whoever
wins that contract, could you make it part of their
(06:48):
license that they have to deliver maternity services because I
think that that's probably where we're at right Well.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I think so too, and certainly the current license does
provide for other services, not maternity services as a license requirement.
So we would hope that that's exactly the lever that
the government are going to pull, is the transfer of
the license to whoever the successful new company is. That
that will require the reinstatement, but again we don't know
how long that's going to take, Katie. It's just further
(07:18):
uncertainty for mums and we just we just want to
see some progress in these spaces. You know, we've still
got no certainty on the ten million dollars, as you
touched on this morning, nothing in the territory budget. We're
going to estimates or Monday morning at nine am if
any other concerned mothers or families want to attend. The
(07:40):
Health Minister is first cab off the rank on Monday morning,
and I'm sure there's going to be some questions asked about,
you know, whether we can progress those improvements to RDH's
maternity services and what other funding might be available within
the territory budget to make that happen. We've obviously got
the scams issue and now this morning this announcement about
(08:01):
the cancelation of the contract. So notwithstanding were nearly well
twelve months down the track from the closure. Now we
seem to have no progress at all in any of
these areas, which is just really disappointing and disheartening for
mums and families.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Well, Tessa, let us know what happens on Monday. We
might have to have another catch up. We'll see how
it goes in.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Estimates, we will, we will. Thank you, Katie, good stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Thank you so much for your time this morning. Much appreciated.
Thank you, thank you,
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