Lawyers are investigating the potential for class action on behalf of Indigenous tenants living in “substandard” public housing in remote WA communities.

November 2, 2023

Thousands of Indigenous tenants living in “substandard” public housing in remote West Australian communities could be financially compensated.

Lawyers are exploring the potential for a class action that could also seek to have the dilapidated homes repaired and improved.

“Site visits to several remote communities have confirmed tenants have been living in substandard housing,” Gemma Leigh-Dodds of law firm Slater and Gordon said on Thursday.

Investigators found houses that lacked safe drinking water and working showers, toilets and cooking facilities.

Others had broken windows, blocked pipes, security issues, and many had no air-conditioning.

Tenants’ repeated requests for repairs were also often ignored.

Premier Roger Cook said many remote communities were “challenging” and did not meet the standards most people would expect.

“This has taken place over many years, and we’ve all seen sometimes the displays of poverty and the damage associated with that in all these communities,” he said.

He said the Labor government had invested more than $350 million in remote communities to improve housing and utilities in recent years.

“That’s a tough job and it’s a very complex one in very difficult circumstances,” he said.

“But we need to continue to do more to make sure that we provide appropriate standards of living for the people in those important towns”.

Ms Leigh-Dodds said Aboriginal tenants were entitled to significantly better treatment and might be entitled to compensation under Australian law.

“Public housing lessors hold a contractual relationship with thousands of tenants living in remote communities pursuant to tenancy agreements for receipt of public housing,” she said.

“Those contracts provide express conditions that the landlord provide tenants with housing in a reasonably secure and comfortable state of repair, including in compliance with health and safety laws.”

The proposed claim could provide redress for alleged breaches of contract, including repayment of rent where the property was not reasonably comfortable or safe.

Claimants may also seek damages for the inconvenience experienced while dealing with housing issues, any money spent rectifying housing problems, and the disappointment and distress caused by the defects.

More than 20,000 people and more than 4000 households are in remote communities in WA, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Several thousand are expected to join the claim.

The class action could also investigate whether participants are entitled to make secondary claims under Australian Consumer Law and the Racial Discrimination Act for offering a disadvantageous service on the basis of race.

“This is not the first time that Australia’s substandard public housing in Aboriginal communities has drawn attention,” Ms Leigh-Dodds said.

“In 2005, a report released by the United Nations Housing Rights Programme specifically identified Australia as a case study to consider the disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal people.

The UN Report found poor living conditions, chronic overcrowding and poor access to basic services, such as water and electricity.

“The fact that nothing has been done in almost 20 years to improve conditions for Aboriginal people in remote public housing is shameful,” Ms Leigh-Dodds said.

“For too long Aboriginal people living in remote communities have been expected to put up and shut up in relation to their housing rights.”

The proposed action comes a day after the High Court ruled Indigenous tenants living in poor-quality housing in the Northern Territory were entitled to compensation.

More than 70 public housing tenants in Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), 85km southeast of Alice Springs,  brought claims for a range of issues, including leaking sewage, unstable electricity and no air conditioning.