A sense of hopelessness is pervading a remote community in the Northern Territory after a second attack on a young child, a local leader says.
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with sexually assaulting a four-year-old child at Ali Curing, south of Tennant Creek.
It comes after a 24-year-old man was charged with sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl in Tennant Creek last month.
"There is an absolute sense of hopelessness in Tennant Creek and the region," Barb Shaw, general manager of the Anyinginyi local health network, told ABC radio.
She said the issue of overcrowding in homes was leading to an explosion of dysfunctional behaviour.
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"One of the things we have always pushed for, and are now at the point of pleading for, is for the construction of new housing in Tennant Creek," she said.
The peak body for Indigenous health said the NT government needed to re-examine the number of liquor licences granted in the Territory, while Deputy Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro called for long-term solutions to issues related to both housing and alcohol-related harm.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner said additional staff from the Territory Families department would be deployed to the area.
