Health experts say overcrowding in Indigenous communities is contributing to major health conditions and wellbeing issues. Doctors in Far North Queensland have renewed their calls for change to a decades-long problem.
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00:00Joanne Fourmile sleeps on the floor of the living room in a small house she shares with
00:07nine other people.
00:08It can be chaos at times, it can be peaceful at times, but like I say, you know, it is
00:14what it is.
00:15The 41-year-old has been living here while being treated for breast cancer.
00:20She's been on Yarrabah's housing waiting list along with her three children for eight years.
00:25I wish I could have my own space.
00:27Her cousin, Carmelita Street, lives in the same house in the indigenous community south
00:32of Cairns and is a carer for her brother and mother, as well as several children.
00:38She worries about illness.
00:40It's like a ticking time bomb because I'm worrying for my mum.
00:44She wants to get sick.
00:46If somebody walks in with a fresh cowl, she'll get that.
00:49Housing occupancy rates like that have a very clear connection with a significant number
00:55of health conditions.
00:57Crowding is the norm in Yarrabah with up to 25 people from multiple families living in
01:02some homes.
01:04While there are plans to build 250 houses here, it's not enough.
01:08There are more than 380 families on the housing list, some of whom have been waiting more
01:13than three decades.
01:15And the situation is getting worse.
01:17There were quite a few families that came back to the community because of high cost
01:22of living in Cairns and surrounding areas.
01:24Advocates are calling for greater investment in housing across First Nations communities.
01:30We need to see greater support and greater action by all levels of government.
01:34We'll continue to work with them to make sure particularly our remote communities get the
01:38funding support that they need.
01:40We're going to have a pathway to make sure that Aboriginal people can own their own home
01:43and we will be delivering social housing in those communities.
01:47But for some, action is too slow.
01:50More homes need to be built, otherwise we're just going to continue having more and more
01:54crowds crowding the houses.