A 68-year-old pensioner living in his car while waiting for social housing says he has “lost faith in the whole system”, as WA government reforms aimed at making the process fairer leave him wondering when help will come.
On Tuesday, Housing Minister John Carey announced the first overhaul of the state’s housing waitlist in 70 years in a bid to prioritise applicants with “urgent and complex needs”.
“The focus is those with the greatest need, that is why we are shaking up the system,” he said.
Housing Minister John Carey wants to reduce the time people who need public housing are waiting. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
The overhaul will replace the current “wait turn” model that houses people based on how long they have spent on the list, along with the availability of a home in their area.
But the changes are not expected to take effect until 2028, and it’s unclear how people deemed to have the most urgent need will be prioritised under the new system.
Some advocates and those currently on the wait list have questioned whether enough is being done between now and then.
‘I’m the invisible man’
Pensioner Mark Unsworth has been living in his car for the past few months after a terrible experience renting privately.
The pensioner was on the general social housing waitlist for one year before being bumped up to the priority list, where he remains after another year.
He’s waiting for a home in Busselton, but still has not heard how far he has progressed in the queue.
Mr Unsworth has been waiting for a year for secure housing. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
“I’m the invisible man … I just feel like I’m invisible,” he told the ABC.
“I’m depressed, and you know, I cry sometimes … I’m alone.“
Mr Unsworth has been sleeping inside his car in a beachside car park in Perth and showering at a local sporting club while he waits.
Mr Unsworth spends his nights sleeping in a car park. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
“It’s not the best, it’s pretty cold … it is what it is,” he said, as overnight winter temperatures in the city drop close to 3 degrees Celsius.
“I’ve kind of lost faith in the whole system, really.“
Mr Unsworth said he was moved onto the priority list after letters from his doctors indicated he suffered from depression and had prostate cancer in the past.
Mr Unsworth’s few possessions are with him in the car. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
While he welcomed the reform to the waitlist system to make it easier for those struggling the most, he said more needed to be done now.
“I really, honestly, I just don’t see many results,” he said.
Risk to people on waitlist
Daydawn Advocacy Centre support worker Dr Betsy Buchanan helps people navigate housing applications.
She said WA’s long waitlist was not moving quickly enough and posed a risk to those on it.
“It is traumatic gathering all this evidence, and people trust us and then nothing comes of it,” she said.
Dr Buchanan said the government needed to address levels of need in the waitlist now.
Betsy Buchanan wants faster action for those on the waitlist. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
“I don’t know how the government have let this happen, but I do believe it should be corrected before 2028,” she said.
The social housing waitlist has grown about 37 per cent over the last five years, but the real growth has been in the priority list which can expanded by 146 per cent over the same period.
The WA Greens and Liberals have vowed to continue prosecuting the issue in parliament.
Tim Clifford is calling for more transparency from the government.
(ABC News: Courtney Withers)
“We’ve always had concerns based on the transparency of the list because we’ve been asking for years now,” Greens housing spokesperson Tim Clifford said this week.
“Does this methodology, will this change actually result in fewer people experiencing homelessness?” Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said.
Government wants to ‘get this right’
The government said it would consult with the sector on the new model to ensure it was the best it could be.
“We’re determined to build a fair system that puts the most vulnerable first and we are working with the sector to get this right,” Mr Carey said in a statement.
“And of course, we are pushing on with a record investment in social and affordable housing.”
Mr Carey pointed towards the government’s “4,000 social homes already delivered since 2021” and said thousands more social and affordable homes were in the pipeline.
