Alice Springs Town Council halts use of local sporting fields by local AFL competition

Amid rising local concerns about crime rates and social issues, Alice Springs Town Council has halted use of its sporting fields for the local community football competition in the upcoming season.

The Town Council voted earlier this month to withdraw its support for this year's Central Australian Football League remote community football competition.

Alice Springs Councillor Michael Liddle said he brought forward the motion, which passed despite strong opposition by two other councillors, to give local organisations time to address social issues in the town.

Scheduled for May, the community competition, which runs every year, sees teams from remote communities around Central Australia travel to Alice Springs for games each week.

Liddle, an Alyawarre man, described the move as a "pause" on the competition for one year because of the current crime crisis engulfing the town.

He told the ABC “this pausing is so all Aboriginal organisations can take a step back and just have a look at what’s going on here.

"It’s only going to be for one year, and then we’ll re-address the problems after that."

The decision means players and spectators of the community competition will not be allowed access to any council-owned sporting fields in Alice Springs.

In a letter written to the Council before its meeting and obtained by the ABC, AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) Chairman Sean Bowden and Chief Executive Sam Gibson said the decision would make it very difficult for the competition to proceed due to the "significant deficit" in remote sporting infrastructure.

The letter advised "the infrastructure deficit ranges from unsafe playing surfaces to having no access to drinking water, to non-existent change rooms for men, women and umpires, amongst other things," the letter reads.

Bowden and Gibson said AFLNT had been working with the Federal and Northern Territory Governments, as well as the Central Land Council, to invest in facilities for remote communities.

The Central Land Council (CLC) echoed calls to improve remote infrastructure and facilities, with CLC Chief Executive, Les Turner commenting “footy is one of the few things that brings joy to people in communities in Central Australia.

"Coming to Alice Springs from communities with family and mob can be an adventure for people who need opportunities and that the rest of us take for granted.

"Our people are passionate about sport … it's an activity that makes people feel good and healthy."

However, Turner acknowledged previous bad behaviour at games, including a series of violent incidents during finals in 2021.

Social issues and crime in Alice Springs have been the subject of political debate and national media coverage in recent months.

Image: Community sports field in Alice Springs. Credit: Alice Springs Town Council.