About us

Territory Families, Housing and Communities was established by the Northern Territory (NT) Government on 7 September 2020.

Territory Families, Housing and Communities is a multi-functional human services and community-focused agency that works to provide responsive, safe and quality services and programs that empower communities and improve social outcomes for Territorians.

Our agency includes the following divisions:

• Arts
• Child Protection
• Culture
• Disability Services
• Domestic and Sexual Violence Reduction
• Family and Financial Support
• Family Support
• Gender Equity and Diversity
• Emergency Management
• Heritage
• Homelessness
• Indigenous Essential Services
• Interpreting Services
• Libraries and Archives
• Multicultural Affairs
• Out of Home Care
• Seniors and Carers
• Sport and Active Recreation
• Urban Housing
• Remote Housing
• Youth Justice
• Youth Affairs
• Women’s Safe Houses.

Our chief executive officer

Ms Emma White

Emma White began her career as a social worker in Western Australia (WA) and has extensive experience working in remote and regional communities. During her time in WA, Emma led system-wide reform and community co-design agendas.

Before joining Territory Families, Housing and Communities in 2021, Emma held multiple leadership positions in remote and urban settings with the WA Government, including director general of Child Protection and Family Services.

With a career spanning over 25 years, Emma has a track record leading large and complex organisations, and is renowned for shaping excellence in service delivery, policy and strategic reform and spearheading significant stakeholder management agendas.

She is regarded as a courageous driver of transformative organisational change based on an outcomes-driven and evidence informed approach with people at the centre of all that she does. She has delivered exceptional results in improved service delivery and financial performance and attained high standards of governance and accountability at both a personal and organisational level.

Emma is an exceptional relationship manager with the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders, navigating sensitive and contested areas of social policy and service delivery. She adeptly navigates relationships, meeting stakeholders where they are, and bringing them along a journey with finesse and empathy.

Emma is recognised as a natural leader with high emotional intelligence and staunch personal integrity, who consistently produces sustainable results.

Her commitment to supporting children and families across the NT, as well as her steadfast ability to work in partnership with stakeholders and community, will ensure Territory Families, Housing and Communities continues to deliver culturally appropriate, community-led policies, programs and solutions.

Our annual reports

View annual reports for the agency prior to it being established.

Our strategic plan

As a department, our vision is for Connected Communities | Thriving Places | Empowered Territorians. Our strategic plan 2021-2025 sets out how we will achieve this through defining our strategic direction, priorities and key deliverables for 2021-2025.

Accompanying our strategic plan is our action plan 2021-22 comprising of 81 key actions for the 2021-22 period. Our action plan will be refreshed annually for the span of our strategic plan. The agency is committed to reporting publicly on its performance against these actions every six months.

View our:

• Strategic plan 2021-2025 PDF (33.7 MB)
• Action plan 2021-22 PDF (2.2 MB)
• Mid-year action plan 2021-22 PDF (1.4 MB).

Grow your career

We have career opportunities in a range of areas including youth justice and child protection. Find out how to grow your career.