DEPARTMENT EVICTS MALGANA ELDER

Pat Oakley eating scrambled shag eggs with her late mother Ada Fossa on Mothers’ Day 2021. Picture courtesy Pat Oakley.

GEOFF VIVIAN

After she made strenuous attempts to buy their family home in Denham, the Housing Authority has told late Ada Fossa’s daughter Pat Oakley she and must vacate the premises by tomorrow.

“This was her big ticket item, this was her dream,” Ms Oakely said. “It’s the most stable home the family ever knew of … this home has been in our family for over four decades.”

Ms Oakley said her mother had applied to buy the house in 2017 but was first told it would take time as it was sitting on unallocated crown land which the Department would need to get transferred into its own name before any sale could go ahead.

Some time later they were told it was “not a viable financial option” to transfer the land. 

In the meantime Mrs Fossa passed away and Ms Oakley applied to take over the tenancy, but was told her income was too high. 

When she protested that her supposed income was inflated by a telephone allowance she received as part of her employment as a Mulgana Ranger Coordinator, she was told she was a single person asking for a three-bedroom home and therefore not eligible in any case.

She then received a notice that her application had been refused. 

Ms Oakley appealed the decision, and before her appeal was finalised she received a notice to vacate.

A Magistrate granted her an extension of time, so she now has to be out of her family home by tomorrow, and she must pay $2,500 court costs. 

Ms Oakley is a Mulgana woman.

She also found out that in 2018 the status of the land had been changed from unallocated crown land to a reserve, just a few months before the Mulgana Native Title Determination. 

She is now going through the trauma of packing up more than four decades’ accumulated family possessions before she becomes effectively homeless tomorrow.

UPDATE: The Department of Communities says there is no automatic right in Western Australia to succession of a public housing tenancy by a householder who is not a signatory to the tenancy agreement.

Department of Communities representative Fiona Fischer said as Ms Oakley was not a signatory to the tenancy agreement, she did not qualify.

“Following the loss of Ms Fossa, the Department of Communities worked with the family over a period of six months to set a date that would allow for the family to hand back the tenancy,” she wrote.

“An application to take over a tenancy is assessed in consideration of various factors to ensure fairness to those on the waiting list for public housing assistance. 

“There is high demand for public housing properties in the area, with some applicants’ priority listed.

“It is important that public housing resources are used as effectively as possible to accommodate the most vulnerable in our community.”

Ms Fischer said the Department of Communities also acknowledged that Ms Oakley tried to buy the property.

“Communities believes the existing policy strikes an appropriate balance between assisting existing householders seeking to become the tenant in a public housing property, and assisting those on the waiting list who may have a more urgent need or have been waiting for assistance for a significant time,” she wrote.