Samarah Davis reveals Housing Commission nightmare in Bundaberg
A mother, traumatised by a terrifying home invasion, turns up the TV to drown out sounds of screaming as she puts her son to sleep in a building covered in Swastikas and syringes. This isn’t a war zone – it’s public housing in Queensland. VIDEO, PHOTOS
Bundaberg
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bundaberg. Followed categories will be added to My News.
“I wish I could live without being scared.”
These are the words of Samarah Davis, trapped in Queensland’s housing crisis and left with no other option than to live in fear with her young family in one of Bundaberg’s most notorious public housing unit complexes.
The almost 20-year-old found herself needing a place to stay at the age of 17, and when she was granted a Housing Commission unit, she thought her new life was ready to begin.
But all was not well within the walls of the Bundaberg South housing complex.
“It took me about a week to notice what the place was like,” she said.
Ms Davis, whose partner Dylan and stepson Hunter now also live with her, said locks on the letterboxes were one of the first sinister signs within the complex.
“The previous person who lived here (took their own life on the) balcony,” she said.
The young woman and her family have spent countless hours cleaning up their unit complex – creating gardens only for them to be trashed, painting over crude graffiti only for it to reappear a day later.
In July, the family was subjected to a horrific daylight home invasion, where they were assaulted and robbed.
One of the women involved was sentenced over the incident in Bundaberg Magistrates Court last week.
Hunter, who is only four, told people after the attack: “there were scary people inside my house”.
But Ms Davis can’t just pack up and go.
In line with most of the country, the Bundaberg region is caught up in the grips of a housing crisis, compounded by a painfully low 0.4 per cent rental vacancy rate.
The Goodwin St unit complex’s reputation is so notorious, she believes that when she applies for private rentals, one look at her address is enough for her to be rejected.
Taxi drivers have even made her pay in advance before agreeing to take her home.
The reputation has spread beyond Bundaberg, and when trying to link up with people wanting to swap Department of Housing properties, the family again hits a wall.
“We’ve gone to housing multiple times and they say they can’t do anything,” Ms Davis said.
A transfer would take around three years, but even then, Ms Davis says she fears for anyone else who could unwillingly move in.
On one occasion, the family took a short holiday.
When they returned, everything in their home had been taken, from their Xbox down to the pillows off their beds.
They say the issues have come from both residents and their associates.
The impact on Hunter is palpable, and Ms Davis said their little boy already understood stress and anxiety as a result of the lack of safety in their home.
On one occasion, Hunter was bitten by another child in the complex.
It’s taken its toll on Ms Davis too.
She now relies on medication to sleep at night and to get by with the constant fear.
While her partner works, Ms Davis can’t keep a job because of her constant anxiety.
She runs a business on the side, selling soaps to help make ends meet.
The situation is so dire that any knock at the door sparks fear for the family and their son is forbidden from going near it.
The home has to be kept so locked up, the family invested in an air conditioner because they could not leave a window open.
On numerous occasions, people in the complex have offered to sell them stolen goods and/or drugs.
At one point, Ms Davis was the victim of a case of mistaken identity, where an irate woman accused her of an attack on her father which she had nothing to do with.
Ms Davis was pregnant at the time, holding her stomach as the woman hurled abuse.
Her partner came home just in time just in time to defend her, but the incident would have a tragic ending for the couple.
“It was terrifying, she was going to attack me,” she said.
Sadly, Ms Davis suffered a miscarriage not long after the traumatising event.
She’d had her heart set on a baby girl to complete their family.
“I’m not safe,” she said.
“They look at me, I’m about five foot tall, I’m very young, and I get disgusting comments and I get whistled at.”
Ms Davis says she was clinically underweight and couldn’t gain because of stress.
The family has had to replace multiple items stolen, including phones and even a metal tool for working on cars.
Just the other night, fireworks were let off under their windows.
In the evenings, they bring everything in off the balcony and lock it up because they know nothing is safe – not even her identity.
Ms Davis said one of the complex’s occupants managed to get hold of her phone, before going into her Centrelink account and diverting her payments to their accounts.
To add insult to injury, they then maxed out her Afterpay and Zip Pay accounts, leaving her with hundreds of dollars in debt to work through with fraud departments.
The state of the units, according to Ms Davis, is deplorable.
When she moved in, she suffered a throat infection she believed was caused by the state of the carpet, which she ripped up herself, painting the concrete floors and making sure they were clean.
“It looked so beautiful,” Ms Davis said.
“I went ahead and did that for my own wellbeing, it’s been so nice and clean and lively inside the house – not outside.”
She had tried multiple times to use the garden beds to grow fruit for her son’s lunch boxes, but these are routinely strewn with trash.
Used syringes are left lying around on concrete, as disturbing graffiti depicting genitalia and swastikas are on every surface.
Their family car has been repeatedly vandalised.
Ms Davis believes it’s because the family dresses in tidy clothes, drives a car and has employment that other residents see them as targets.
“They look at it like ‘hey you’ve got more than me, so I want what you’ve got’,” she said.
“I’m on medication now because of where I live. Every problem I have is because of where I live.
“It’s terrorising. I can’t be alone here. If my partner’s not here, I won’t stay here.”
Ms Davis’s mother, who is terminally ill with cancer and lives with a friend, is too scared to attend the units, another factor that breaks her heart.
“My mother is dying of cancer and she can’t come here,” she said.
When Ms Davis spoke to the Bundaberg NewsMail, her front door lock had been broken for a week, knocked off by people residing around the unit complex.
She said the housing department had failed to fix it, leaving her to fix it herself.
“It’s been over a week having to wait for a new lock,” she said.
“I’ve got $70 and I’m not going to wait anymore.
Ms Davis said she wanted the Department of Housing to stand up and pay attention and save others from suffering the same trauma.
She says a representative only attended, despite her many requests, after a media request was submitted by the Bundaberg NewsMail.
Ms Davis also said she was questioned about why she had gone to the media.
“I don’t understand it. I thought housing was my saviour, but it’s probably made my life worse,” she said.
“I want housing to change, I need them to change. This place needs a skip bin. Maybe if they had somewhere to put all their rubbish, it wouldn’t be thrown in the garden.
“We should have a trolley boy here, because we’ve got so many trolleys and they fill them with rubbish and set them on fire in the car park.”
A video that Ms Davis released on TikTok, which allows listeners to hear the fights and arguments her family deals with hearing daily, has now amassed more than 200 comments.
But it’s cold comfort when the family doesn’t know who will come into their home, or what might get broken or stolen next.
The young battlers now have a lock on their letter box, too.
“I don’t know what to do. I’m so lost,” Ms Davis said.
“I don’t want to live like this.
“It’s hell.”
‘Majority do the right thing’
A spokesperson from the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy responded to questions from the NewsMail.
“The department is unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy laws but does work proactively with all customers in addressing their housing needs,” they said.
“The vast majority of Queenslanders living in social housing do the right thing, are good neighbours and contribute positively to their communities.
“Social housing tenants, like all tenants, have rights and responsibilities. Tenants need to look after their home and be good neighbours. Our Fair Expectations of Behaviour policy includes a focus on early intervention when tenancy related matters arise, including referrals to services and supports to help sustain the tenancy.”
The spokesperson said the department took action where needed.
“If our tenants are found to be breaching their responsibilities, the department takes action,” they said.
“This could include the issuing of warnings, a Notice to Leave or legal action through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), where QCAT will make an independent assessment of the situation and may end the tenancy through eviction.
“Anyone who needs housing assistance can contact their local Housing Service Centre during business hours or call the 24/7 Homeless Hotline on 1800 474 753.”
If this story has raised any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Man in 20s airlifted after saving his own life from snake bite
A tough and quick thinking Queenslander bitten by a snake miles from anywhere has managed to drive himself 2km to where he could call for help and turn his shirt into a makeshift tourniquet.
‘Sneak in, trap’: Fresh charges for alleged schoolgirl stalker
A young Qld man, previously bailed after allegedly being caught with folders containing photos and addresses of schoolgirls, faces multiple new charges.