Film reveals face of homelessness human

BECOMING caught in a system he had never thought he would need to navigate was just the beginning of 75-yearold Tom Wiggins’ housing trouble.

For more than 30 years, he lived at a property at Wattle Hill, a 16ha hobby farm he inherited.

“When I was living at Wattle Hill, I could do everything out on the farm, my grandfather left it to me right from when I was born,” Mr Wiggins said.

But a relationship breakdown meant he lost the family home he had known for decades

“Once it went, it was gone for good,” he said. “I still think about it. It was hard, I didn’t have anywhere to go.”

He eventually found a unit in Sorell, but couldn’t stay.

“I lived there for quite a while and then people started playing up, they burnt my car and kicked my door in … I didn’t feel safe,” Mr Wiggins said.

For a while he lived in a backpackers, before moving into a three-bedroom home with two others at a cost of $380 a fortnight. Because of the cost of rentals, he remained at the Huon Valley property for years.

“It was so cold,” Mr Wiggins said. “I was starting to get sick … I had to wear jumpers to bed.”

Mr Wiggins now lives in a unit in Dover, one he has been assured he can remain at for the rest of his life. His story is just one which is being featured in a series of short films by the City of Hobart, Clarence City Council, Glenorchy City Council and Huon Valley Council.

“This has come as a result of our housing with dignity reference group, a reference group of people with lived experience of homelessness,” Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said.

“They have sent a strong message that raising awareness, building the empathy of the general community about people going through a homelessness experience is so important.”

Acting Huon Valley Mayor Sally Doyle increasing rental prices was a problem that had spread to the regions.

“There are a few people I know of that have been living in their car for two or three weeks, or couch surfing or begging for a place to stay,” Ms Doyle said. She said the pressure on the Hobart rental market had led to more people living in the Huon Valley.

“There’s people … applying for the rental properties we have … they go overnight,” Ms Doyle said.

It was so cold. I was starting to get sick … I had to wear jumpers to bed Tom Wiggins, 75