The women the budget forgot

This was published 2 years ago

The women the budget forgot

When it rains, a sheet of glistening water runs down the wall of the living room of this unregistered rooming house in Reservoir.

The rain also pours through dollar-sized holes in the ceiling and residents Betty, Amanda and Kerry have to run for saucepans to catch it. The carpet underneath is ruffled with old water damage.

Betty and Amanda (in black) share a Reservoir rooming house.

Betty and Amanda (in black) share a Reservoir rooming house.Credit:Chris Hopkins

The floor slopes as the foundations rot, the windows are secured with wire, and Betty, who has disability and walks with a pronounced limp, says her body is covered with bruises and scrapes from tripping over the uneven floor.

“I didn’t expect life or my finances to be like this,” says Amanda Sneddon, 47, with a tired shrug. She gets Newstart unemployment support and some rent assistance (a total income of $650 a fortnight) and pays $225 a week in rent for her small room, leaving just $100 a week for everything else.



It feels like having to walk or ride everywhere and dodge ticket inspectors to avoid a fine she simply cannot repay. It feels like going down to the local Salvation Army for food, and living in a crumbling house that often feels unsafe.

“I wake in the middle of the night and think about who was in the room before me and what happened to them,” she says, pulling at the wire that holds the window closed.

Unsecured window in the rooming house.

Unsecured window in the rooming house.Credit:Chris Hopkins

The Newstart payment has not increased in real terms since 1994, about $40 a day for single recipients. Welfare advocates say it traps people in poverty, failing to even match the basic costs of living.

Poor quality, dangerous housing is the reality for those on the lowest incomes because there are no other options available, says Council to Homeless Persons spokeswoman Kate Colvin.

“They are vulnerable to exploitative rooming house landlords and what they really need is access to quality social housing, so they can have a roof over their head and still have money left over for basic costs.”

Amanda has lived through relationship breakdowns, physical and emotional abuse, and couch surfed for years with friends. A report from Homelessness Australia last year found couch surfing among older women had almost doubled over the past four years, and there has been a similar rise in the number of older women sleeping in cars.

Amanda and her housemate Betty Hains have struck up a friendship, sharing what they have. Betty cooks for both of them and tends pots of gleaned succulents in the front garden.

Betty and Amanda face an uncertain future.

Betty and Amanda face an uncertain future.Credit:Chris Hopkins

Amanda has found furniture in hard rubbish and fixed it up to furnish their home. On the mantelpiece a sign says “Live every moment. Laugh every day. Love beyond words.”

But they have recently been evicted by their standover rooming house manager and face an uncertain future.

They have sought help from the Council to Homeless Persons but if this fails Amanda doesn't know where she'll go. Betty might stay with family but for now she insists she's staying put: “Enough is enough.”

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