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Words and Photos: Amanda Parkinson
Inside the Territory's remote housing crisis
Jesse Ahfat and Aleisha Scrubby's family in the remote community of Barunga, 80km from Katherine, are crammed into their living room where they are forced to all sleep.
That's because the other rooms in their three-bedroom home are uninhabitable due to water damage and exposed wiring.
Many residents in the town are living in homes with burst pipes, constant flooding and exposed wiring. The smell of sewage hangs in the hot air.
The family are one of many enduring the Northern Territory's remote housing crisis as a large number of homes are left in a severe state of disrepair.
The Department of Territory Families, Housing and Community own 71 houses in Barunga, yet residents have told the NT News maintenance requests are often ignored.
For Mr Ahfat's family, the house has become a danger. Exposed wiring hangs from the ceilings and a faulty wire behind the stove means even preparing food is a risk.
“
Jesse Ahfat
The water smashes through the wall from the outside and drips down onto the stove, where we are trying to make meals for our family. It’s a big hazard and we could easily get electrocuted.
Each year the family is forced inside a mouldy home and a bathroom that never dries out —despite their own maintenance — as wet season rains seep through the roof, doors and walls.
Mr Ahfat said the kids had been developing skin sores, which can lead to health conditions like rheumatic fever and chronic asthma, because of the damp.
According to department data, about 40 per cent of Barunga's community live in overcrowded conditions.  
Residents say that figure is far higher after many families moved out of uninhabitable homes.
It's a standard of living that for many communities is unacceptable, says Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT chief executive John Paterson.
Governments have spent $6.9m on new housing in Barunga, with 19 new homes built, four of which flooded in the first year.
Thirteen homes have also been promised extensions under the “Room to Breathe” program but only $18,300 has been allocated in expenditure.
“
Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT chief executive John Paterson
Just because these are Aboriginal people doesn’t mean the government gets to keep treating them like second class citizens.
Produced by Gillian McNally
																																								

Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/web-stories/free/nt-news/inside-the-northern-territorys-remote-housing-crisis-in-barunga