Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Parallel ...

communities not connected to an organised sewerage system, 85 not connected to anorganised electricity supply and 10 not connected to an organised water supply. 112More culturally appropriate housing neededAs well as overcrowding and housing quality, there is not enough culturally appropriatehousing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Many European-styledwellings do not adequately accommodate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandercultures as our people often host extended families. 113 Significantly, many womenreported an absence of consultation and community initiatives to hear what theirhousing needs are. 114 Housing and infrastructure policies for Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander people must involve genuine consultation and participation of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander people in the development of these policies and the allocationof funding.For example, Aboriginal women in Alice Springs reported that housing was often poorquality and substandard, and that there was a lack of maintenance and upkeep of theproperties. They noted that little had changed in the past four years. The most recentnational survey to include measures of housing quality was the 2002 NationalAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). According to thesurvey, around one-third (35%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander householdswere living in dwellings that had structural problems (e.g. rising damp, major cracks infloors or walls, major electrical/plumbing problems and roof defects). Just over half(55%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households renting mainstream orcommunity housing reported that their dwellings had structural problems, while thecorresponding proportions for renters of state/territory housing, private and otherrenters, and home owners were 42%, 33% and 22% respectively. 115Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's experiences of public housingAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women frequently report that it is extremely difficultfor them to get adequate and appropriate public housing. As discussed above atArticles 10 and 12, adequate housing is a prerequisite for adequate health andeducational outcomes. Women reported feeling great stress at being trapped inunsuitable housing and fear that their children may be taken away from them if theycan’t find an appropriate place to live. A child protection worker explained the crisis forsome women:Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander single mothers with children are asked to getsuitable housing and due to the lack of housing, long priority housing lists, overcrowdingwith families, we are asking the impossible. Women's refuges are constantly full andthere are no other places for women from remote or rural areas to go for help.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have described the following barriers tofinding public housing:112 ABS Health and Welfare Report 2008, above n 47, 53. .113 Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Report of the SpecialRapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing on Mission to Australia, UN Doc A/HRC/4/18/Add.2(2007), [95].114Alice Springs consultation. See also ibid, [96].115ABS Health and Welfare Report 2008, above n 47, 42.56