Case 12: Single mother secures priority place on housing assistance register

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A single mother waiting for public housing was removed from the housing assistance register because her income exceeded the new threshold. She appealed to the Commissioner for Housing arguing that her gross salary shouldn’t be taken into account as she had to pay childcare costs and a fixed part of her salary went towards a car leasing contract, which she could not exit. The Commissioner rejected this claim. The woman appealed to a tribunal which decided that the totality of her situation amounted to severe hardship which warranted her allocation to housing on a priority needs basis. The Commissioner for Housing appealed, arguing that the tribunal didn’t have the power to make this decision. Noting the rights to protection of the family unit and protection of children under the ACT Human Rights Act, the Supreme Court decided that the right to a fair trial under the Human Rights Act permitted the woman to have her rights decided by the tribunal, and that this was preferable to a single public official making this decision without review.

Source: Commissioner for Housing in the ACT v Y [2007] ACTSC 84.