Much has been written about the incompetence of Housing staff - mostly anecdotal and credible. It is rare that there is solid evidence and rarer still that Housing is held to account.
This article from Tenants NSW crossed my desk recently and, on the surface, it looks like just another drawn-out maintenance issue with buck-passing and inept handling, but when you dig a little deeper you can see that a 14 YEAR fight with Housing is more than just a floundering, useless, bumbling bureaucracy.
One line stood out - screaming from the rooftops:
“There can be no basis for describing the long-standing and continuing breaches by the respondent [FACS - LAHC] of the several orders of this Tribunal as casual, accidental or unintentional.”
What does that mean exactly?
It reinforces what every tenant knows - that Housing staff act with malice.
That staff choose to ignore Tribunal rulings; choose to ignore policy and law; choose to leave vulnerable people in danger and nothing will make them behave otherwise.
This behaviour is supported at every level of Housing - a practice which is fostered and encouraged.
And even though the FACS secretary wrote an apology letter, nothing on the ground has changed.
This is just ONE case where the tenant had the strength, the mental fortitude and tenacity to follow this through the courts for 14 YEARS and Housing were caught with their pants down.
This is not the norm. The norm is a Housing philosophy of harassment, badgering, ignoring, gaslighting ... where the tenant is worn to a frazzle and gives up. They either give up and live in squalor with mould or broken windows or busted security doors; or they give up and move out because the cost of having secure housing is too high.
Although this blog is a few years old now, many of the discussions and policies are still applicable. The original OurHouseSwap website where tenants could register their desire to swap has now been closed down.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Vendettas
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I had to have a medical specialist arrange a meeting for me and the specialist with NSW Housing. By then I was suicidal, something I never would have contemplated prior to living in public housing. I got local council plans for the property I live in, cost about $20. Proof of what I was being accused of being mentally ill for, and a tradesman with his own business to write me a letter on letterhead as to his assessment of my living condition. These I copied and gave to them at the meeting. It worked. Work was done on the building. It took me 5 years to get a semblance of health back. I could not do it again, though. Since then, with the government promising to sell of public housing, a lot of the high and mighty staff of this disgraceful govt. institution have moved on.... afraid they will no longer have a job.... I call it holding a job hostage so no one else can do it properly. Let us hope this new project of build to rent that is being piloted in Redfern, or any other real solution, actually sees a better model of public housing.
ReplyDeleteI had to recently take FACS NSW to the Tenancy Tribunal as they refused to do repairs and I was just getting the run around for over a year not even my CSO would help. It cost me $12 dollars to lodge the papers online. When I arrived at the Tribunal all I had to do was sign the papers no drama whatsoever had I known I would have done it sooner instead of getting the run around. Unfortunately this has become the norm if you want repairs done. Don"t give up.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteIm from Nowra south coast. My ex attempted to murder me on several occasions in my home. Its taken housing since the first intial work order raised to get my internal doors replaced in Feb 2019 to now in November 2019 just a few weeks before my violent ex is released from jail. Ive had to beg, chase plead to the point ive had several breakdowns because Lake Illawarra Maintence refused to upgrade my security locks etc etc ...ive spent thousands repainting and rebuilding my home and what for? When i came out of a refuge in November last year, housing FORCED me to move back to a house that no longer felt my safe home back to force myself to contend with the horror this animal put me through???
I think its disgusting
My kids have all grown up left home their adults now
So every night im hypervigilent living in fear that the ex or any of his "mates" will come back and kill me.
So much for the Staying Home Leaving Violence Package its CRAP