In the remote Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek, Peter Jakamarra Foster has been trying to give up heavy drinking for years.
He has spent time in the town's residential rehabilitation centre, the Barkly Drug And Alcohol Advisory Group (BRADAAG).
However, he said he didn't feel as though it offered him the tools he needed to get off alcohol.
"I've been there self referred and sometimes through the police, but I've come out drinking more than what I went in for," he said.
"I thought they'd give us counselling so when we came out we didn't have to go back to square one, where we'd go back to drinking."
Mr Foster said his friends and family have had similar experiences at the centre.
Allegations of bullying and misuse of funds
Tennant Creek has some of the Northern Territory's highest rates of alcohol-fuelled violence and dysfunction, and has been placed under the toughest liquor restrictions of any Territory town.
The rehab centre's new chairman, Elliot McAdam, said he has consulted former clients, including Mr Foster, who felt it wasn't providing what the community needed.
"The service delivery, the standard of care is deficient, and unfortunately it's been aided and abetted by the NT government and other funding providers," he said.
Mr McAdam has commissioned five reviews into the organisation's governance and service delivery.
"What's emerged out of this exercise is that what's occurred in Tennant Creek has been shocking, it's been shambolic," he said.
The reviews are also investigating allegations by staff that former chief executive Pauline Reynolds Lewis misused funds, which she has categorically denied.
"I note that in April and May of 2021, approximately four years after my appointment as CEO of BRADAAG, ORIC undertook a full financial audit of BRADAAG’s finances.
"ORIC found no evidence of fraud, mismanagement, or the misappropriation of BRADAAG’s resources."
Former CEO denies accusations
Former staff also alleged that Ms Reynolds Lewis led a disciplinary process in which a care worker, Here Makita, was bullied before he took his own life in June 2022.
The NT work health safety regulator WorkSafe NT is investigating those allegations.
Ms Reynolds Lewis said "at no stage was Mr Makita bullied by me or any other person".
"Allegations were made against Mr Makita about his work behaviour and performance ... which were of a serious nature and compelled investigation," she said.
"The disciplinary investigation ... process was conducted thoroughly and with empathy."
Ms Reynolds Lewis also rejected Mr McAdam's accusations about the quality of the service.
"I wholly reject any notion that BRADAAG failed to provide effective rehabilitation services to the community," she said.
"Regular performance reviews were undertaken by the Northern Territory Government and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
"Both were satisfied that the service provided was done so in a positive, effective, and professional manner.
"During my time as CEO, I ran the BRADAAG organisation with integrity and great passion and respect for the people the organisation serves."
Mr McAdam wants the NT government to review the quality and provision of alcohol services across the entire Northern Territory.
"This [BRADAAG] review I suspect is going to alert the government to the fact that these same issues exist in the other providers," he said.
'Chronic underfunding' of rehab services
A study by the Menzies School of Health Research commissioned by the NT Government in 2019 found a relatively small 15 per cent of people can't access the rehabilitation services they need.
However, it found the "intensity and level of care" often doesn't meet the needs of clients, particularly those who need treatment for moderate problems.
Peter Burnheim from the Association of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies NT said the Territory has a large gap in "day programs, outreach and peer support services" to help people stay off alcohol once they leave residential care.
"The national chronic underfunding of the sector is very pronounced in the Territory, there's some big gaps that need to be filled," he said.
"We fall behind other jurisdictions because of population based funding, and there needs to be increased recognition of the higher costs of service provision in the Northern Territory.
Alcohol services 'cutting back on staff'
Mr Burnheim said NT alcohol services already struggle to attract and retain enough skilled staff, and current inflation has exacerbated that.
"We haven't seen any indexation in our funding agreements from the NT Government for at least five years," he said.
"It's harder and harder to provide the support that our population needs.
"You have extra costs for the operation of the services, so we are seeing services having to cut back their staffing levels.
"We're putting staff in front of these clients who have very little training and are not being paid significant amounts."
NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she was committed to ensuring access to quality services.
"Alcohol is the biggest social issue that we have in the Territory and as a government we have put in significant resources for treatment and also for people to rehabilitate," she said.
"Particularly in the regions we are making sure there's investment, and I look forward to working with BRADAAG around significant investment into Tennant Creek and the Barkly."
