Vulnerable QLD family evicted after letter drop

A Queensland family-of-four have been evicted after a letter was dropped into local’s letterboxes in the affluent riverside suburb.

A homeless family-of-four has been evicted after a resident from an affluent Brisbane suburb dropped a note in neighbours’ letterboxes, claiming the family posed a threat to community safety.

The family had been staying in emergency accommodation at a hotel in Hamilton, an affluent riverside suburb in Brisbane’s northeast, which shelters those experiencing homelessness.

In a letter shared around the neighbourhood, a resident claimed those staying in the hotel were an “imminent safety threat” and called on others to take action to change their “community for the better”.

“We already have seen some action getting certain people removed, and we need your help to get back to the safe and quiet neighbourhood that we had prior to the placement of these people,” the letter read.

The letter claimed those inside the hotel were an “imminent safety threat”. Picture: The Courier Mail

It also claimed Micah Projects, the homelessness support service that arranges the placements, were allowing occupants to remain at the hotel “despite severely breaching standards of conduct required”.

The letter called on residents to contact the homeless services and state ministers to request an end to the placements.

Speaking to 10News, one anonymous resident of Hamilton, where the median house price is $1.9 million, expressed her concern over recent community behaviour and threats.

“There was someone with a knife about a week ago, out the front [that] threaten[ed] to run people over and threaten[ed] to kill surrounding neighbours,” they said.

“It’s certainly not what I expected.”

Micah Projects CEO Karyn Walsh admitted there had been some issues managing motel residents, telling The Courier Mail they need increased capacity to better support those experiencing homelessness.

“We obviously only know what we know, because it’s the first time we meet them before we put them into a hotel and we’re in constant contact,” she said.

CEO Karyn Walsh said the homeless service needed increased capacity to better support those experiencing homelessness. Picture: 10News

Hamilton is a rich suburb in the north-east of Brisbane.

Ms Walsh said increased prices and the lack of affordable rentals has seen hundreds of family struggle to access secure housing.

“Brisbane has been probably has between 150 to 200 families in hotels at any given time, we all know, the government knows and we know that it’s not ideal.”

The motel owner told 10News, the “residents of concern” vacated the property last week.

The family-of-four have now relocated to a different hotel.

It comes as droves of Aussies have been forced to take to the streets and live tents in Brisbane, amid the country’s housing crisis.

Data from National Shelter and SGS Economics and Planning shows property affordability has plummeted across the country in the last 12 months.

Every capital city, except Canberra and Hobart, is less affordable than it was a year ago – and renters are worse off than they were in 2019, according to the latest Rental Affordability Index.

Regional Queensland is now the least affordable place in Australia to rent, the index shows, with renters spending 30 per cent of their income on rent.