Two months ago, reporter NICK OVERALL revealed the shocking state of a public-housing unit in Wright, where tenants feared for their safety. Here he reports on another trashed unit, this time in Braddon, where for three months Housing ACT has ignored pleas for help.  

NOT five minutes from the city centre, a new complex of public-housing units in Braddon is in such a state of disrepair that residents are scared for their safety.

Syringes, some half-filled with blood, lie in drains. Graffiti is scrawled on walls throughout the building and in its parking lot. One unit on the ground floor is empty, being used by squatters, and is in such a mess that it’s hard to make out the floor, which is covered by litter. 

Having seen nothing done about the mess for about three months, and having watched the complex “deteriorate” over the course of three years, it was enough for one resident of the complex to speak out about the state it’s in.

“It’s really bad because it was such a nice place,” said the resident.

“It’s not like we’re barking at Housing ACT, we know the pandemic doesn’t help things, but sometimes we just don’t feel safe, this has to be improved.”

The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, first moved into the complex in 2019.

Like many people in public housing he’d faced homelessness and struggled to find a place to live before he was taken in by Havelock Housing.

After moving into temporary accommodation he had his house broken into,  the event, he says, that put him into the housing system.

Since, he’s been moved between multiple housing units, including from his last residence after the government sold the block to a private developer, before coming to the Braddon complex.

“I do consider myself lucky for getting this spot, this is such a great location to be in Braddon, central in Canberra, but you have to deal with this lifestyle around it,” he said.

“Things get broken into, crime, robberies, just recently within the past couple months someone had their house broken into while they were asleep.

“They’ve tried for more than a year to get out of here because they have kids, but haven’t been able to.”

The resident initially moved in by himself but was soon after joined by his elderly mother.

He said he’s even more concerned for her safety, noting that while living conditions are tough for him, it’s worse for older people. He said he also worries for kids that live in the complex, including a newborn.

“You start to think it’s normal, you get accustomed to it, you get accustomed to the screams, to the drugs, to the depressive state that you’re in.

“Sometimes you sit there just thinking what can I do?”

While the resident said he’s noticed the state of the complex gradually deteriorate since he first moved in, it was the mess on one of the ground-floor units that finally pushed him to speak out about it.

“It’s been like this for about three months,” he said.

“There was a person who got kicked out but since then they’ve been back squatting in the place.

“There are others that come and go and do drugs, in the garden and in the parking garage, too.”

He said that the time it takes to get anything done leaves residents feeling unsafe.

“What I’ve found is that, in the three years I’ve been here, there have been six or seven housing managers rotated, which I think is part of what makes it incredibly hard to get something done,” he said. 

“If there was one that stuck with things it would be different.”

While the resident was eager to express he understands the difficulty facing housing, he, his mother and other residents of the complex want something done just so that they can feel safe in their own home.

“We know things are getting tougher, but at the same time this has to improve, it can’t be left to get to this,” he said.

“It’s like going to the doctor, you have to get to the cause of the problem, or the symptoms will just keep showing up.”

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