Homeless First Nations elder dies after years on WA ‘priority’ housing waitlist

A Wongatha elder in Western Australia’s Goldfields has died after spending nearly three years without stable housing while listed as a “priority” applicant for public housing, reigniting calls for faster repairs to vacant government homes and more culturally safe housing pathways for Aboriginal people forced into towns for health care.

The 61-year-old man, known as Mr McIntyre for cultural reasons, died in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on 6 February after battling emphysema and lung cancer, according to his family. They say he spent his final days sleeping on a mattress in a lounge room while using oxygen tanks.

WA’s Department of Housing and Works confirmed Mr McIntyre was “priority listed” for one-bedroom seniors’ accommodation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in July 2023. His daughter, Patricia Blowes, said the family’s situation deteriorated as her father’s treatment needs kept him close to Kalgoorlie Health Campus.

“When we didn’t have anywhere to stay, we slept in the car with my father in the front seat and my daughter lying across me in the back seat,” Ms Blowes said.

She described the strain of overcrowding and instability, saying: “He was a happy-go-lucky man, he loved life, he loved his family” but added “He was very stressed out … he didn’t want to go to the doctors. He just gave up and we had to watch him deteriorate.”

The department said 235 applicants were “priority listed” across the Goldfields as of 31 January. Ms Blowes and her adult daughter are also on the priority list and living in a three-bedroom home with 10 people, including some sleeping in a tent and others on mattresses in a carport.

Goldfields Indigenous Housing Organisation chief executive Marelda Tucker said demand is outpacing supply. “Turning people away is the hardest part. It’s probably a seven-to-10-year wait at the moment” she said.

Housing advocate Betsy Buchanan said Mr McIntyre’s death was a “completely avoidable tragedy”, pointing to boarded-up public housing nearby: “Almost one in six public houses in the Goldfields is empty … the highest in the state.”

Broader data shows First Nations people are overrepresented in homelessness nationwide, with the ABS estimating 24,930 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were experiencing homelessness on Census night 2021. A WA Auditor General report has also warned that public housing availability depends on reducing vacancy time and improving maintenance processes.

For Ms Blowes, the ask is simple: “I want the government not to turn its back, to take notice” she said. “Fix them up and put the next person on the priority list in there, look after the people that are sick.”