Shortage of public housing: Disabled in a 'cruel' situation
Feb 1, 2021 7:03:44 GMT 7
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Post by bear on Feb 1, 2021 7:03:44 GMT 7
Shortage of public housing suitable for people with disabilities leaves people like Ethan in a 'cruel' situation
Ethan Chatters, 12, lives with multiple disabilities and his housing in unsuitable for wheelchair use(ABC News: Edith Bevin)
Watching Ethan Chatters trying to walk is painful.
Key points:
• Ethan and his mum, Rachel, have been waiting seven years for public housing in which he can use his wheelchair
• Thousands of people are waiting for public housing in Tasmania, often for years
• A Government spokesperson says $20 million is dedicated over three years to provide more homes suitable for people with disability
The 12-year-old has a neurological illness that means his nerves are dying, along with an intellectual disability and a brain lesion.
His mother, Rachel McCallum, said his specialists want him to use his wheelchair and avoid walking, because the risk of injury and damage to his body and brain is increased by his falls.
"He's had some really nasty falls — really nasty ones," Ms McCallum said.
Ramps have been built outside the public housing home his family has lived in for the past 22 years.
But they end at the front door and his wheelchair is too big to be able to through the doorways and corridors inside.
He has to crawl to the bathroom, the toilet, and his bedroom.
"I think it's absolutely cruel and no child should have to do that … no child, especially with a disability," Ms McCallum said.
"You've just got to help him in and he's just got to aid himself along the furniture as best he can to get where he is going, which is not acceptable because he's supposed to use his chair as much as he can and walk as little as he can.
"He follows a few safety rails that I've got but then you can't put certain rails between certain spots, so he's just got to walk a distance and that's when most of the time he'll fall because there's nothing to grab.
"He crawls to the nearest point where he can pull himself up on."
Rachel McCallum with her son Ethan Chatters have been waiting seven years for a wheelchair accessible house.(ABC News: Edith Bevin)
The home cannot be modified to widen the doorways for Ethan's wheelchair.
'Lost in the system'
Ms McCallum said they've been waiting for seven years for a new, disability-friendly, home.
Direct pleas to Housing Minister Roger Jaensch have made no difference.
"Ethan has been lost in that system — he (Mr Jaensch) says there are no modified properties but where is his intention to build those modified properties?" Ms McCallum said.
She said the situation has reached crisis point — Ethan's condition continues to deteriorate and he is now too big for her to be able to carry.
"Ethan is only going to get worse as well — he's progressing at a rapid [rate] so this is not the way he'll stay — he'll get worse," she said.
"Now he's 12, it's very hard to lift him up and in and out of the bath or his bedroom … it's very hard … not when he could be using his chair everywhere and just being independent in his own little world.
"I know there's a housing crisis … but it's been seven years!
"What he (the Housing Minister) doesn't understand in this is my main concern is Ethan's safety because one day he will fall and one day he may not get up."
Thousands waiting for a home
New figures show there are close to 3,600 applications for public housing in Tasmania and people are waiting an average of 64 weeks for a home.
Around one-in-four Tasmanians live with a disability and it has been estimated that as many as one-in-three in the public housing system have a physical or mental disability.
"[We've had] Multiple OT (Occupational Therapist) reports, we've been to a lot of Parliament people, the Minister himself and still no answers," Ms McCallum said.
"I actually don't know what else I can do, it's not just getting me frustrated it's also getting the paediatricians, the hospitals, the OT, other parties frustrated as well because it's multiple letters to them, one after another of this coming under the title 'URGENT' but still no action."
"He (the Housing Minister) needs to put himself in people like my shoes and he should be looking at the people like Ethan, who need houses that are modified and prioritize them first."
Greens leader, Cassy O'Connor, says it's unacceptable the family has been 'languishing' for seven years.(Supplied: Tasmanian Greens)
The leader of the Greens, Cassy O'Connor, described Ethan's situation as "unacceptable"
"This is a family that has specific needs in order that one of the children in that household can live a good life," Ms O'Connor said.
"It's not much to ask for a Tasmanian family that's living in public housing where the needs of that family have clearly changed and is becoming desperate, that the government find a new home.
"You've got to ask, how could it be that this family is left waiting, ignored and suffering for so long?
Ms O'Connor, who had the Housing portfolio during the last Labor/Green government, said there were things the Housing Minister could do and that leaving the family in this situation was a choice.
"It's very difficult to understand how someone in Housing Tasmania or the Minister's office didn't see this and think 'this family is in desperate need and we will take action to provide a home'," Ms O'Connor said.
"This is all entirely possible. I know this because I was housing minister for four years and when you see a family that's in desperate need … you can make a decision to provide relief to that family and give them some dignity.
"But this is a choice that has clearly been made to leave this family languishing and in Tasmania in 2021 it is unacceptable."
Labor's spokesperson on Housing, Alison Standen, said: "The question that we need to ask is why hasn't this Government been prepared to respond to the needs of this family sooner?
"That situation has been deteriorating for a number of years … the situation has been known to Government for at least seven years," she said.
"Every person deserves the dignity of secure, affordable and appropriate housing and what that means is that housing needs to be accessible and appropriate for people of all needs."
Ms Standen called for an audit of existing housing to see how much of it was disability compliant and whether it and future builds are disability complaint.
The government needs to audit disability-suitable housing says Alison Standen, Labor's Housing spokesperson.(ABC News)
"Clearly this Government has a lot of work to do to improve the social housing waitlist in this State — 3,600 people nearly, this is families, who are waiting to be housed — a very significant proportion of those living with disability.
"I asked the question at the end of last year in the Tasmanian parliament about whether the Government is living up to its promise to deliver at least 20 per cent of new social housing as being accessible to people with a disability. I'm still waiting for an answer to that question."
The Government says it can't comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson said Tasmania's social housing portfolio included properties designed for people living with disabilities, and social housing providers also assess requests for property modifications.
"However, not all properties are able to be modified to meet specific needs and the needs of some households change over time, requiring the tenant to apply for a transfer," the spokesperson said.
"Under the Affordable Housing Strategy Action Plan 2, $20 million is dedicated over three years to provide more homes suitable for people with disability."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-31/tas-shortage-disability-compliant-public-housing-cruel-situation/13105748
Ethan Chatters, 12, lives with multiple disabilities and his housing in unsuitable for wheelchair use(ABC News: Edith Bevin)
Watching Ethan Chatters trying to walk is painful.
Key points:
• Ethan and his mum, Rachel, have been waiting seven years for public housing in which he can use his wheelchair
• Thousands of people are waiting for public housing in Tasmania, often for years
• A Government spokesperson says $20 million is dedicated over three years to provide more homes suitable for people with disability
The 12-year-old has a neurological illness that means his nerves are dying, along with an intellectual disability and a brain lesion.
His mother, Rachel McCallum, said his specialists want him to use his wheelchair and avoid walking, because the risk of injury and damage to his body and brain is increased by his falls.
"He's had some really nasty falls — really nasty ones," Ms McCallum said.
Ramps have been built outside the public housing home his family has lived in for the past 22 years.
But they end at the front door and his wheelchair is too big to be able to through the doorways and corridors inside.
He has to crawl to the bathroom, the toilet, and his bedroom.
"I think it's absolutely cruel and no child should have to do that … no child, especially with a disability," Ms McCallum said.
"You've just got to help him in and he's just got to aid himself along the furniture as best he can to get where he is going, which is not acceptable because he's supposed to use his chair as much as he can and walk as little as he can.
"He follows a few safety rails that I've got but then you can't put certain rails between certain spots, so he's just got to walk a distance and that's when most of the time he'll fall because there's nothing to grab.
"He crawls to the nearest point where he can pull himself up on."
Rachel McCallum with her son Ethan Chatters have been waiting seven years for a wheelchair accessible house.(ABC News: Edith Bevin)
The home cannot be modified to widen the doorways for Ethan's wheelchair.
'Lost in the system'
Ms McCallum said they've been waiting for seven years for a new, disability-friendly, home.
Direct pleas to Housing Minister Roger Jaensch have made no difference.
"Ethan has been lost in that system — he (Mr Jaensch) says there are no modified properties but where is his intention to build those modified properties?" Ms McCallum said.
She said the situation has reached crisis point — Ethan's condition continues to deteriorate and he is now too big for her to be able to carry.
"Ethan is only going to get worse as well — he's progressing at a rapid [rate] so this is not the way he'll stay — he'll get worse," she said.
"Now he's 12, it's very hard to lift him up and in and out of the bath or his bedroom … it's very hard … not when he could be using his chair everywhere and just being independent in his own little world.
"I know there's a housing crisis … but it's been seven years!
"What he (the Housing Minister) doesn't understand in this is my main concern is Ethan's safety because one day he will fall and one day he may not get up."
Thousands waiting for a home
New figures show there are close to 3,600 applications for public housing in Tasmania and people are waiting an average of 64 weeks for a home.
Around one-in-four Tasmanians live with a disability and it has been estimated that as many as one-in-three in the public housing system have a physical or mental disability.
"[We've had] Multiple OT (Occupational Therapist) reports, we've been to a lot of Parliament people, the Minister himself and still no answers," Ms McCallum said.
"I actually don't know what else I can do, it's not just getting me frustrated it's also getting the paediatricians, the hospitals, the OT, other parties frustrated as well because it's multiple letters to them, one after another of this coming under the title 'URGENT' but still no action."
"He (the Housing Minister) needs to put himself in people like my shoes and he should be looking at the people like Ethan, who need houses that are modified and prioritize them first."
Greens leader, Cassy O'Connor, says it's unacceptable the family has been 'languishing' for seven years.(Supplied: Tasmanian Greens)
The leader of the Greens, Cassy O'Connor, described Ethan's situation as "unacceptable"
"This is a family that has specific needs in order that one of the children in that household can live a good life," Ms O'Connor said.
"It's not much to ask for a Tasmanian family that's living in public housing where the needs of that family have clearly changed and is becoming desperate, that the government find a new home.
"You've got to ask, how could it be that this family is left waiting, ignored and suffering for so long?
Ms O'Connor, who had the Housing portfolio during the last Labor/Green government, said there were things the Housing Minister could do and that leaving the family in this situation was a choice.
"It's very difficult to understand how someone in Housing Tasmania or the Minister's office didn't see this and think 'this family is in desperate need and we will take action to provide a home'," Ms O'Connor said.
"This is all entirely possible. I know this because I was housing minister for four years and when you see a family that's in desperate need … you can make a decision to provide relief to that family and give them some dignity.
"But this is a choice that has clearly been made to leave this family languishing and in Tasmania in 2021 it is unacceptable."
Labor's spokesperson on Housing, Alison Standen, said: "The question that we need to ask is why hasn't this Government been prepared to respond to the needs of this family sooner?
"That situation has been deteriorating for a number of years … the situation has been known to Government for at least seven years," she said.
"Every person deserves the dignity of secure, affordable and appropriate housing and what that means is that housing needs to be accessible and appropriate for people of all needs."
Ms Standen called for an audit of existing housing to see how much of it was disability compliant and whether it and future builds are disability complaint.
The government needs to audit disability-suitable housing says Alison Standen, Labor's Housing spokesperson.(ABC News)
"Clearly this Government has a lot of work to do to improve the social housing waitlist in this State — 3,600 people nearly, this is families, who are waiting to be housed — a very significant proportion of those living with disability.
"I asked the question at the end of last year in the Tasmanian parliament about whether the Government is living up to its promise to deliver at least 20 per cent of new social housing as being accessible to people with a disability. I'm still waiting for an answer to that question."
The Government says it can't comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson said Tasmania's social housing portfolio included properties designed for people living with disabilities, and social housing providers also assess requests for property modifications.
"However, not all properties are able to be modified to meet specific needs and the needs of some households change over time, requiring the tenant to apply for a transfer," the spokesperson said.
"Under the Affordable Housing Strategy Action Plan 2, $20 million is dedicated over three years to provide more homes suitable for people with disability."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-31/tas-shortage-disability-compliant-public-housing-cruel-situation/13105748