EIGHTY seven per cent of social housing tenants to be forced from their homes under the ACT’s government’s Growth and Renewal program are women living alone or with children.

Sixty one per cent have disabilities, chronic health conditions or are caring for dependents who do, and 17 per cent of tenants facing evictions are single mums with children.

The data – captured through a survey of the affected tenants conducted by Canberra Community Law – and revealed in an open letter to ACT ministers from 13 leading community organisations, also shows that 14 per cent of tenants affected by the scheme are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.

“It is this cross section of elderly tenants, women, people with disabilities and people with lived experience of mental illness that makes this group of tenants particularly vulnerable,” the letter reads.

The open letter – addressed to ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry and Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services Rebecca Vassarotti and signed by community organisations working with vulnerable Canberrans living in public housing – calls on the ACT government to end all forced relocations under the scheme, and instead revert to a voluntary, opt-in program of relocation.

“There are public housing tenants who are willing and able to relocate if offered a suitable, alternative property to live in, these are the people who the ACT government should be approaching – not unwilling, elderly and vulnerable tenants with well-established social supports and family networks in their existing community,” the letter states.

Earlier this year more than 300 ACT Housing tenants were shocked to receive letters informing them that they will need to vacate their properties, an act the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) condemned as “heartless”.

Many tenants have been living in their homes for decades.

Further data revealed in the letter shows that 83 per cent of tenants are over 50 years old, 61 per cent of tenants are over 60, and 35 per cent are more than 70 years old.

“For many, they were told by Housing ACT that this was their ‘home for life’ and the prospect of now being forced to leave has led to distress, anxiety, and confusion,” the letter said.

“Many of our clients have modified their homes over the years to suit their changing mobility and accessibility needs and they have set up their homes with the view of ageing at home and living independently for as long as possible.

“While we all acknowledge the acute need for more public housing, we are of the strong view that forcibly relocating vulnerable tenants threatens to cause significant harm to these individuals and is not an acceptable way to raise revenue.”

The letter indicates that given the age, needs, abilities and vulnerabilities of the tenants; forcing them out of their homes risks causing “significant hardship” and “very real harm”.

The letter has been signed by:

Genevieve Bolton, executive director, Canberra Community Law; Dr Emma Campbell, CEO, ACTCOSS; Carmel Franklin, director, Care Financial Counselling Service Inc; Elena Rosenman, CEO, Women’s Legal Centre ACT; Agata Pukiewicz, principal solicitor, Care Consumer Law; Joel Dignam, executive director, Better Renting; Bec Cody, CEO, Mental Health Community Coalition ACT; Nicolas Lawler, CEO, Advocacy for Inclusion – Incorporating People with Disabilities ACT; Jenny Mobbs, CEO, COTA; Dalane Drexler, CEO, ACT Mental Health Consumer Network Inc.; Cheryl O’Donnell, CEO Canberra PCYC Inc.; Kerry Weste, president, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights; Julie Tongs, CEO, Winnunga Nimmityjah (Strong Health) Aboriginal Health and Community Services; and Jon Stanhope, former ACT Chief Minister.

40 years her home, but Housing ACT tells Yvette to go