A domestic violence survivor has been told by her emergency housing provider that she should consider moving with her two children and their pets into a rooming house to free up the accommodation for other victims, as huge blowouts in social housing wait times continue to affect vulnerable Victorians.
Ms Stewart, who asked that her first name not be printed, entered crisis accommodation run by the charity Good Shepherd at the height of Victoria’s Covid-19 lockdowns last year.
Her tenancy was supposed to be for eight weeks, but Stewart and her children have been there for more than 14 months as she has been unable to access social housing, despite having been on the priority waiting list for more than four years.
“It’s taken a huge toll,” Stewart told Guardian Australia, describing her experience as being “equivalent to solitary confinement”.
“I don’t have anywhere to go. That’s the only reason I’ve been here for 14 months.”
Stewart said she could not afford a tenancy in the private rental market as she was on the disability support pension. She had been on the priority housing register since July 2018 but had not yet been offered secure housing.
She had nevertheless been repeatedly asked to leave by Good Shepherd, to make her property available for someone else in need of crisis accommodation.
On multiple occasions in person and over the phone, the charity’s representatives suggested to her that she consider moving into a rooming house, Stewart said.
She feared for herself and her children’s safety in a rooming house and said that her only other option apart from social housing was homelessness.
In October, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing’s annual report revealed waiting times for priority housing applicants in Victoria had blown out substantially, from the target 10.5 months to an average of 17.2 months for victims of family violence.
Priority applicants include those facing family violence and people who were already homeless.
Stewart said her extended tenancy had been traumatising, as she was not allowed to reveal the address to anyone and could not have visitors, consistent with the rules of safe haven accommodation.
Her distress had been compounded by multiple urgent maintenance issues going unaddressed, she said, including a tree that fell down on the property during a storm which smashed an outdoor cubby house in the garden, and the death of her dog after it drank from a sewage leak in the yard.
Stewart said her situation had profoundly affected her mental and physical health, and that of her children.
“I had to go to my GP because I was terrified I was going to lose my kids, and my dogs. They said the threat of going into a rooming house was making me sick,” Stewart said.
A spokesperson for Good Shepherd said the organisation understood and empathised with the seriousness of Stewart’s situation and other women who experienced family violence and were “adversely impacted by the shortage in suitable accommodation options”.
“Good Shepherd supports and actively advocates for additional safe, funded and accessible (including for children and pets) accommodation options for women who exit crisis accommodation settings who still require housing support,” the spokesperson said.
Good Shepherd would not provide responses on record to Stewart’s allegations about the organisation’s treatment of her and the maintenance matters.
“While we welcome scrutiny of these situations, we will not comment on an individual’s private circumstances or participate in media reporting if we believe it may cause further harm to an individual. We will continue to work constructively with the Department and other stakeholders to try to find a solution,” the spokesperson said.
“All I want is stable long-term housing. I want to be able to make sure the kids are safe,” Stewart said. “I just want to have time to heal.”
A spokesperson for Homes Victoria said it was “working to support the individual with their social housing application”.
They said Homes Victoria was aware of the increased demand for social and affordable housing in the state, which they said was partly due to pandemic-related financial hardship and housing affordability in the pandemic.
“So far, more than 6,300 modern and energy-efficient homes have been completed or are under construction by Homes Victoria,” the spokesperson said.
On the eve of the state election, Samantha Ratnam, leader of the Victorian Greens, took aim at the Labor government for the blowout in wait times, saying: “Labor’s abandonment of public housing over the last eight years has had devastating consequences, including for women and children escaping family violence.
“The solution is to build more public housing,” Ratnam said. “Just like we invest in health and education, we can invest in the housing system to ensure everyone has a roof over their head.”
The Greens’ election platform includes a commitment to build 100,000 public homes this decade.
Victorian Labor has been approached for comment.
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732.
