ICE HOUSE SHAME
REVEALED: Geelong’s most vulnerable left out in the cold because of meth contamination
GEELONG’S most vulnerable residents are waiting months longer for crisis accommodation because some transitional public housing properties are laced with the drug ice.
Properties are sitting unoccupied for up to eight months awaiting meth decontamination, including homes and units in Belmont, Colac, Corio, Grovedale, Waurn Ponds and Whittington.
The Geelong Advertiser knows of at least seven properties presently unoccupied because there was methamphetamine residue found in them, some as far back as June and July last year.
The Department of Health and Human Services has kept the doors of those properties closed because of concerns about the health impacts on new tenants or visitors exposed to surfaces contaminated with the residue, which was caused because ice was previously used or made in there.
However, it’s understood one of the seven properties has now been cleared for use, and a further four will be cleaned and back online within the next fortnight.
Transitional housing is the accommodation most often set aside for the homeless and women and children fleeing domestic violence.
While it is deemed shortterm accommodation, tenants sometimes occupy those properties for a year or more.
Workers in the public housing sector have questioned why the clean-ups have taken so long, saying a lack of information about the testing protocols has added to their frustration.
But DHHS says safety is its main concern, and it has worked as quickly as possible to get the accommodation for new occupants.
A spokesman said all necessary steps were taken to make sure properties were safe before being re-tenanted.
“Under the National Clandestine Laboratory Remediation Guidelines, all homeowners have a responsibility to remediate their property if it is affected by methamphetamine contamination,” he said.
“As a result, the department undertakes various testing, decontamination and rectification works when there is evidence of contamination, to ensure the safety of residents and tenants.”
A housing industry insider provided the Geelong Advertiser with a list of the seven properties that were tested for meth and now out of use, but said there would be many more out of use across our region.
“A lot of people who need help have been put on the backburner because these properties have been offline for so long, we’re talking seven or eight months,” the source said.
The lack of information about the testing regimen was causing concern for tenants and those who work to support them, the insider said.
“If the houses are not safe, that information needs to be passed on, and the houses should be cleaned quickly and put back into use,” the source said.
“If they are safe there’s no logical reason for them to be vacant so long.
“We have hundreds of people waiting for public housing property to become available. There’s a desperate need for more houses, but these properties were sitting there unoccupied. It doesn’t make any sense, and the lack of information is raising suspicion.”