Backpacker hostels brimming with homeless families in Cairns

Vulnerable families are existing in backpacker hostel rooms for months on end as they desperately scramble to find rental properties amid a worsening rental crisis. HAVE YOUR SAY

FAMILIES are living in dormitory rooms designed for international backpackers as the Far North rental crisis worsens – and they’re grateful to have a roof over their heads at all.

Castaways Backpackers on Sheridan St has opened its doors to those who can’t get rental properties with 27 rooms full and owner Wayne Hutchison said demand was intense.

“The Hub and other organisations are calling us every day, scrambling to find accommodation for people, I could fill another 20 rooms right now if I had them,” Mr Hutchison said.

Many single parent families that cannot afford to rent privately have been living in the dormitory rooms. Beck Graham with her daughters Shannarah Graham, 13, and Keely Graham, 4, and her friend's sons Conner McEwan, 5, and Marcus McEwan, 9. Picture: Brendan Radke

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“I have quite a few single mums with kids, I do feel for them, it is really ridiculously hard to get a rental.

“These guys have a dorm room which they are living in as a family, it has got to be hard for them, but at least they are not on the street,” he said.

“Having children here is harder, they never seem to run out of energy, and we actually have a lot of older people as well, so we have such a mix, whereas our demographic had been 18-35 year old travellers.

“This is not what we had planned, but we feel like we are making some difference for families,” Mr Hutchison said.

Castaways Backpackers has been housing families since the beginning of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic caused backpackers to return home and rental prices to increase. Beck Graham has been living in a dormitory room with three of her children. Picture: Brendan Radke

Across the Far North, the rental crisis is only worsening.

Dominique Knowles, who has two sons and 11-year-old dog Bentley, has been at Castaways for seven weeks, after being forced to vacate her rental property when it went on the market and trying without success for more than six months to secure a new home.

“I’ve been here forever -it is a lot better than I thought it would be, being a backpackers hostel,” Ms Knowles said.

“And it is somewhere I can have my dog.

“It is stressful, there’s a lot of anxiety with every application, will I get it or not, but I try not to let the kids see the stressful side of things.”

Beck Graham, who has two teens and a four-year-old, has called Castaways home for two months.

“It’s different, but we are fortunate to be here,” Ms Graham said.

“I have met a lot of families and we are all in the same situation, but at least we are not sleeping in cars.”

Castaways Backpackers owner Wayne Hutchison. Picture: Brendan Radke

She said it was difficult to create normality and routine and structure with her family without having a proper home.

“It is very stressful, knowing I am not the only one helps, it is what it is, but it is not easy.”

Ms Graham said she had repair issues at her previous private rental and after winning a tribunal case, she moved on.

“I didn’t realise by leaving there that I was going to have nowhere to go, I thought I’d find somewhere in a couple of weeks but that wasn’t the case – it was quite confronting.

“It has been difficult because agents base decisions on the rent being 30 per cent of your earnings, and even though we might have been paying $450 a week and managing, the 30 per cent rule comes into play, and they don’t even take your application,” she said.

“There isn’t enough housing.”

Families have shared bathroom and kitchen facilities but the pool, TV lounge and pool table are popular.

But North Cairns is hardly a child-friendly location, with heavy traffic on Sheridan St and frequent problems with intoxicated itinerant people on the Grove St corner.

Have you struggled to find somewhere to live in Cairns? Have your say in the comments below.

Originally published as Backpacker hostels brimming with homeless families in Cairns