Community in crisis: Yarrabah families desperate for safe housing and working infrastructure

Residents of a FNQ community are trying desperately to escape overcrowded housing that has unreliable connection to clean drinking water and snakes dropping from the ceiling at night.

Yarrabah residents’ pleas to access safe housing rung through the town’s streets this week as families desperately try to escape overcrowded huts filled with snakes, spiders and stray dogs.

The town’s mayor said 50 per cent of the population could be living under conditions of extreme housing stress – homelessness or overcrowded and unsafe homes.

According to a January report by Community Housing Industry Association Queensland, this estimated rate is more than five times higher than Cairns which lies 10km away across Trinity Inlet.

One tour of an overcrowded property in southern Yarrabah is enough to witness the contrast in hardship.

Selena Fourmile, 8, sits with her sister Alicia, 10, outside the door of their dilapidated Yarrabah home. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

Almost 30 people – one large family – live among three ramshackle huts constructed of corrugated iron and wood.

The family is building a fourth structure to accommodate their growing number.

A communal toilet and washing machine sits inside a shed at the centre of the property.

The foundation of one of the dwellings has begun to break down, so it has been propped up by a jack.

Dellaroy Fourmile sits outside her old home with her daughters Melita and Ainsley. Ms Fourmile, along with her husband, raised her 12 children in this house, which had no bedrooms at the time. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

The buildings’ walls and floors are water stained and carry the distinct smell of mould growth.

The residents say their roofs leak terribly during rain storms.

One of the dwellings sits beneath a large mango tree, a home for snakes.

Colin Fourmile, who lives in the house with his wife and two daughters, said it was common for a snake to fall on the roof, slither through the metal sheets and then drop on his family while they sleep in a single bedroom.

Almost 30 residents live among three dwellings on a single Yarrabah property (another 10 were missing from the photo). The growing family has had to build their own dwellings. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

Mr Fourmile works for the council’s water and waste department.

His wife, Davina, is a special needs teaching assistant and his daughters are schooled at Mary Mackillop College in Mount Peter.

He is desperate to move his family to new and safe accommodation, but there is no availability in Yarrabah.

He said he has been unsuccessful a dozen times in gaining rental accommodation through real estates.

Davina and Colin Fourmile live with their daughters Selena and Alicia in one bedroom. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

He said he has been waiting on the council’s housing register since 2006 but was recently informed that he was no longer considered high priority.

“I built my home, the tin shack, out of my own money,” Mr Fourmile said.

“I’ve been living in there since I graduated school. We’ve lost water and electricity in the past.”

Colin Fourmile stands in his kitchen, inside his Yarrabah home. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

Mr Fourmile’s family and neighbours rallied to his cause and protested outside the council’s offices on Monday, forcing the mayor Ross Andrews and CEO Richard Wright to meet them in the street.

The residents complained that the council’s housing department had been mismanaging their files and the department’s staff had been mistreating clients.

Kristen Pearson, a local, said the town was in crisis.

Protesters gather outside the Yarrabah Shire Council building. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

“Our greatest concerns are overcrowding and (unsafe) housing. Some people have houses with no water, no electricity and no sewerage,” Ms Pearson said.

“These families need to be housed, it’s an emergency.”

Mr Fourmile and others were invited by the mayor into the council’s chambers for an impromptu meeting, where they were reassured the council was taking their situations seriously and complaints would be properly handled.

Kristen Pearson leads a protest outside Yarrabah Shire Council's offices. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

Mr Wright told them, however, the council was effectively powerless to fix the town’s housing crisis until it could guarantee support from the state and federal government.

“We don’t have enough transition homes,” Mr Wright said.

“I could build 400 houses and wouldn’t even clear the waiting list. That’s what we are up against.”

Yarrabah Shire Council CEO Richard Wright and mayor Ross Andrews meet the protesters outside the council's offices. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

Cr Andrews said families had become hopeless in their pursuit of shelter.

“With population growth, government investment has not adequately met the demand. Census data says we have (2500) people but anecdotally there’s about three to four thousand living here,” Cr Andrews said.

“I’d say probably 50 per cent are living in housing stress – overcrowded housing, bush living, makeshift housing and dilapidated housing.

Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews convenes a meeting with members of the community who protested outside the council's offices. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

“Overcrowding is the big one. There are cases where 10 to 15 people are living in three-bedroom houses.”

Overcrowded housing in isolated Aboriginal communities has been linked to increased prevalence of infectious diseases and mental health morbidities, exacerbation of family violence and decreased participation in schooling.

Cr Andrews said his town had always fought for crumbs at the table of higher tier governments, but now was time for serious investment to avert a major socio-economic crisis.

Joanne Fourmile pleads with Yarrabah Shire Council CEO Richard Wright to reassess her family’s position on the council’s housing register. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

“People are living with untreated water in one part of the town because social infrastructure is not keeping up with demand,” he said.

“We need the state and federal government to really invest in housing and trunk infrastructure – water, sewerage, electricity and telecommunications supply.

“The state’s budget is getting handed down next week. I hope the Premier and Treasurer have given some thought to serious investment for our community.

“It’s really sad … our people are suffering.

“I understand their frustrations, they have a right to lift themselves out of poverty. Governments have an obligation to help us lift ourselves out of poverty.”

Originally published as Community in crisis: Yarrabah families desperate for safe housing and working infrastructure