The SA Housing Trust has apologised to one of its tenants after taking four years to remove black mould from her home, following an SA Ombudsman investigation that found the public housing authority failed to ensure the property met "reasonable standards of health and safety". As the ABC reports, Ombudsman Emily Strickland's report was completed in July but only made public on Wednesday.
The tenant — who is not identified — first reported the mould in February 2021. In her final report (document), Ms Strickland found the Trust "erred in its handling" of the tenant's multiple reports, and that in the years since the first complaint the contamination had "worsened significantly". "The four-year delay in addressing the safety concerns is unreasonable and has meant the SAHT is failing to meet its obligations to the [tenant]," she wrote. "I am concerned that the [tenant] has been living in a property with high (mould) contamination levels for over four years, despite raising with the SAHT that she had a lung condition."
The report's timeline is a study in process without outcome. The Trust did attempt work when the mould was first reported in 2021 but had trouble accessing the property, and the tenant — told to contact maintenance to arrange a return visit — did not re-approach the authority until 2022. From there, Ms Strickland found, "there is a pattern of works orders being raised following reports from the [tenant] about mould contamination. The works orders do not get carried out or are cancelled, without the reported issue being addressed." By the time she launched her investigation in February this year, no substantive work had been done.
The property was not tested until April this year — testing that found active mould contamination on the bathroom ceiling and in the hallway carpet. The ombudsman noted that ongoing exposure to mould can cause serious health issues, and concluded: "It is my view that the mould contamination at the property would not have met the minimum standards of housing."
Ms Strickland issued four recommendations to the Housing Trust, including that it address the contamination and change its complaints handling procedure. The tenant, she noted, had raised the health impacts with the Trust "on several occasions".
The Trust has accepted the findings in full. "We accept the ombudsman's recommendations and have been engaging with the tenant to access the property to undertake remedial works," a spokesperson said, confirming the apology. "The Trust is relocating the tenant to another property to undertake the required remedial works at the property."