General News
26 August, 2025
Units give hope to homeless
HOMELESSNESS on the Tablelands is the worst housing authorities have ever seen but there is some hope on the horizon, with two 10-unit complexes coming online in Atherton to house some of the people who need it most.
Tablelands Community Housing chief executive officer Cate Teece, who has worked in the sector for decades, says the housing crisis continues to be one of the biggest social issues for the region.
The organisation fields calls every week from people who find themselves homeless and she said it was “heartbreaking” not to be able to help them all.
Ms Teece said while there were homeless people sleeping rough around parks and waterways, it was the “hidden homelessness” that many people were not aware of.
“People couching surfing or living in overcrowded houses are the hidden homeless. Yes, there are some people living on the street but it’s not quite so in your face,” she said.
“There are still families living in their cars, still quite a lot of homeless in Ravenshoe – some of that is by choice, choosing to be homeless – but there are genuine cases where people can’t afford to pay the rentals available and can’t get them either.”
Some people had been made homeless because their rentals had been sold and what few rentals were available were priced beyond their ability to pay. A quick look online reveals that rental houses in the Atherton area cost upwards of $500-600 a week.
Ms Teece said there was a variety of reasons people found themselves homeless – some had mental illness, some had issues with alcohol and substance abuse - but her organisation had noted there was a rise in the number of older women who were being affected.
“Some of it is domestic violence, they’ve been in a relationship for a long time with someone, the house was not in their name or they were renting and they can’t afford to pay the rent on their own,” she said.
“A lot of them have lost their employment or some of them are at an age where they are not working anymore and they can’t get a job (over 50).
“A lot of women over 60 are living in their cars, with little dogs sometimes, and this can lead to poor health outcomes (from a lack of proper or personal hygiene) or because they are not eating properly.
“A couple of weeks ago, we had an 80-year-old woman come in and she had been living in a rental house for 22 years and they were selling the house and she had to leave.
“When you’re in your 80s, the prospect of having to move house is big enough, but having nowhere to move to is shocking.
“She will most likely have to stay with relatives, who did not live nearby, it can push them into situations where things like elder abuse might come into play, living in a car contributed to poor health outcomes.”
In response to this increasing demand by older women, Tablelands Community Housing has just completed the construction of a 10-unit, one bedroom complex in Kelly Street, Atherton, specifically for women aged 55 and over.
Tablelands Regional Council gifted the land, valued at $450,000, for the unit complex while the Department of Housing and Public Works provided $4,715,909 for the construction.
“However, when we started building that, we did get a lot of men cwoming in who were living in boarding room situations. There was quite a lot of living at the pub for example,” Ms Teece said.
The second 10-unit complex in Victoria Street, which is expected to be completed by October, will feature two-bedroom units and be suitable for anyone currently on the State housing register.
“We don’t get to pick who is chosen – that is done by the department and depends on a number of factors such as whether a person is homeless on the street, escaping family violence, or being released from jail – they will be up on the top of the list,” she said.
Ms Teece said she was thrilled when the government provided funding for the two new complexes given the decline in social housing provision over the past two decades.
“The government used to build social housing but the investment has diminished over time, they have really pulled back on that over the past 20 years,” she said.
“To get 20 units on the ground is amazing - that’s the most community housing coming online ever in our history in this region.
“It’s phenomenal but it doesn’t scratch the surface – there’s always more we can do, and more need out there but we’ve got to get more innovative and creative to get more value out of the available funds.
“At the moment, we have to go with ‘big builders’ that have a licence over $3 million. If we could go with smaller local builders who have licences up to $700,000, we could double the number of units we could build.
“Right now, the one-bedroom units are costing $400,000 each, so it’s become evident we need to get more innovative and creative so we can get more housing on the ground.
“We can’t continue to pay $4 million for 10 units – it’s not feasible.”
