I drove into Broome just before Easter weekend. The air was still swollen with humidity from the tail end of the wet season. A sign for welcoming tourists along Old Broome Road had been graffitied over with the word HOPE.
In the eyes of a tourist first arriving, Broome looks like a paradise – grey nomads sip wine on bar patios above the endless white sand of cable beach, where holiday-makers ride camels against a backdrop of the sun setting over the Indian Ocean. At night, backpackers throw bonfire parties on the beach.
Underneath the beauty, there is an undercurrent of inequality. One week the town was infatuated with whispers that Matt Damon and Liam Hemsworth were residing in Kerry Stokes’ luxury mansion on Cable Beach – while three kilometres away lies a neighbourhood littered with dilapidated houses and smashed up cars, where the Feed the Children charity takes food to the kids of families who don’t have enough money to eat.
Broome is experiencing an extreme rental shortage. At any one time, seven properties are available to as many as 100 prospective renters, according to one estimate from the ABC. Some rental prices have skyrocketed by as much as $250 per month.
In June 2018, just under 17,000 people lived in Broome, which tripled to about 45,000 at a time during the peak season between April and November. A press release from the Shire of Broome cited a recent increase of permanent residents because of COVID-19 travel restrictions and Australians returning from overseas.
Broome was then on the cusp of the tourist season and is facing what the Shire called “something of a perfect storm in relation to housing”. Many businesses in town are struggling to find the seasonal workers relied on in previous peak seasons as there is nowhere for them to stay. This is forcing many venues to run at reduced hours or to close their doors during what should be their most profitable time of year.
A stressed rental market puts more people in need of public and emergency housing, forcing people in need of these services, like Mequa Hill, onto the cusp of homelessness. “I’ve gone to every organisation here for housing,” she told me. “I can’t find anything whatsoever.” When Hill moved north in January, it was for the safety of her family. She and her two children travelled from Perth to Broome to escape domestic violence. When she arrived, however, she found herself met with more uncertainty.
When I spoke to her she was at the Broome Aboriginal Short Stay Accommodation. Her young son endured the thirty-six-degree heat to enjoy the playground slides while we chatted about her situation. “We’re [at BASSA] for only 28 days, and then me and my two children have to leave; my daughter goes to school here, so it’s really hard.”
Hill said she had experienced homelessness as a teenager but was living in a house before leaving Perth. She said despite leaving an abusive relationship; she had been offered no assistance from the Department of Child Protection or the Women’s Refuge in Broome. “They’ll help you when you’re in Perth,” she said, “but then you’ll be in a refuge, and the perpetrator could come to that refuge and smash things up and run amok there, and you’ll get kicked out. Whereas when you move to a remote place, there’s no immediate danger, so they can’t assist you in housing.”
When Hill’s time at BASSA is up she thinks she will have to head 200kms north, to similar short-stay accommodation in Derby. “At the moment, our life is on pause,” she said, “We don’t know what our next move is or where we’re going to go next. It’s not stable at all.”
In a Council meeting in March Acting Director of Community and Development James Watt said the council intended to approach state and federal government to either utilise or put onto the market up to 60 unused houses they own. Watt also said there was up to 80 homes currently tied up in illegal short-stay letting. In Broome, homeowners must register as a Bed and Breakfast and are required to live in that property permanently if they intend to let their house. Therefore, it is illegal for residents to put their second homes up on services such as Airbnb, at the further detriment to residents who cannot find rentals.
The Council recently held another roundtable meeting to address the rental shortage but are yet to put forth any concrete solutions. “The meeting was productive, with some innovative ideas put forward that would now be examined in more detail,” said Shire of Broome deputy president Desiree Male.
The Council is trying to find solutions to the housing crisis now that it is impacting the towns wider economy, but it is the people that were already on the brink that are hit the earliest and the hardest. The Kimberly region, of which Broome is the most populous city, has the highest rates of homelessness in Western Australia. You are almost nine times more likely to experience homelessness if you are living in the Kimberly compared to the average Western Australian, according to peak housing and homelessness body, Shelter WA. This is in the same area where the suicide rate is double the national average, and over four times the national average if you are indigenous.
Natalie Franker works as a housing support officer for a non-for-profit organisation in Broome helping young people find accommodation. She recently assisted her client, a 22-year-old man and his grandmother, to apply for emergency accommodation at the Department of Housing in Broome. Applying for emergency housing requires three support letters and an interview.
Natalie said the young man suffered from schizophrenia and the grandmother has “many issues”, and that between them they had 16 letters of support. Despite this, Natalie was told her client would still be looking at a three to five-year wait time. “They have to be out [of BASSA] at the end of the month, and then they’ll be living in a tent,” she said. She said the wait time at the Department of Housing when you’re not on the emergency list was currently at ten years. “I’ve even spoken to the Department of Housing, and they can’t believe how it’s just blown out of proportion,” she said.
As I leave Broome at the beginning of June, the humidity has cleared, and the days are golden-warm. The streets are even busier, and the venues are struggling to accommodate; one Friday night there was almost no dining venues open at 7 pm. There is no word yet from the Council about a solution to the towns housing issues.
Mequa Hill also told me of her young brother who travelled to Broome with her. “Unfortunately, I’ve had to send my brother back to Perth, and he’s actually locked up at the moment; he’s only 14 years of age.” Hill told me, “he was on the streets, and he couldn’t cope. DCP wasn’t helping him. He’s never ever been in trouble with the police before. He suffers from PTSD and ADHD, so we don’t know how he’s coping in there. It’s quite hard.”
Hill told me, “I think the government really needs to fund organisations more, especially the contractors and the builders, and funding for housing, a transitional housing place where people can stay for three months and work their way up into getting a unit, where they can be monitored and have the support they need in place.”
The last I heard of Mequa Hill, after her 28 days at BASSA she was forced to return to Perth, the city she was trying to escape. She has found accommodation at a refuge for the next 12 months. CEO of Shelter WA Michelle Mackenzie said in a press release, “there’s a crisis in our regions that’s only going to worsen if the government doesn’t take action now.” Broome Shire Council denied further comment after the press release regarding the latest round-table meeting. Broome Housing Authority were also approached for comment. They declined to comment.
