An Aboriginal mother says she and her two children are living in “third world” conditions inside their community housing home in Wendouree.
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After six months of gas, toilet and shower leaks, mould has spread from the bathroom into the children’s bedrooms.
Luana Morgan said she is at breaking point.
The single mother said the family sleep cramped in the one bedroom.
They lived in the house for three years before it began to unravel around them.
She pays $240 per week rent.
But for four months, Ms Morgan was too afraid to turn the heater in the lounge-room after she noticed gas leaking from it.
“It was really strong, potent gas and the girls began to feel really sick,” she said.
“Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV) finally sent out a plumber in July after I reported it in March. He said there was a large gas leak.
I just lost it because these are my kids lives are being put at risk.”
In the months leading up to the gas leak being fixed, her daughters suffered from constant blood noses and headaches.
During the cold winter months, the family would huddle together in one bedroom, wrapped in blankets to keep warm.
For more than six months water has leaked from the bathroom and the toilet.
It has gradually damaged the carpet in the hallway.
Mould has crept up the walls and into the floors of one of the bedrooms.
“The smell of the mould is so bad it is unlivable,” she said.
“I have reached breaking point. I’ve repeatedly asked for a transfer. It is a nightmare, we feel like we are living in hell.
I’m at the stage where I will pack up my daughters and live out of my car.
We are living in a third world country conditions and I’m constantly worrying about the health of my girls.”
Despite Ms Morgan reporting all issues to AHV March, it was only last month a plumber was sent out to repair the water leaks.
For weeks, the family have been unable to shower at home. Instead, they are forced to shower at family member’s houses.
In another bedroom the plaster has cracked and Ms Morgan feared the entire wall will eventually collapse.
Ms Morgan said both her daughters had asthma which had worsened due to the mould in the house, while her nine-year-old daughter also has epilepsy.
AHV chief Jenny Samms said the organisation was in constant contact with Ms Morgan.
She said tradesmen were in the process of replacing the shower base and renewing silicone.
“(Tradesmen) Pulled out the wall linings to check for water damage and advised Ms Morgan that the walls are dry and that is not the source of water,” she said.
“The carpet had also been pulled back and dried.”
She said the wall lining has come away from the studs between bedrooms with works planned to fix it and an order had been placed to fix the toilet bowl to stop water from leaking.