By Greg Adamson
CANBERRA — Residents and supporters of Ainslie Village, a low-income accommodation area, have maintained a 24-hour picket since January 16 in protest at hostile management activities. The picket has drawn broad community attention to problems which the residents have had to cope with for a number of years.
Ainslie Village provides accommodation for people with a range of difficulties. However, residents reject management's "socially dysfunctional" characterisation. This lack of respect by the current management for the residents, combined with harmful cost-cutting measures, has been at the heart of the dispute.
The picket has drawn widespread support, including the attendance of officials from a number of unions.
While much of the village is modern and comfortable, some residents continue to live in asbestos-based barracks accommodation. Despite the poverty of residents, management appears to be overcharging for such basic requirements as electricity.
Following wide media coverage of the picket, ACT local government on January 21 took action on two of the residents' complaints: initiating a fraud investigation into overpayment for electricity by residents, and removing management's power to evict a small business from the village.
Residents who have been involved in the picket have put forward a series of proposals to immediately improve conditions. These include having the ACT Housing Trust, which owns the land and buildings, take full responsibility for the village.
Other proposals include creation of a broad steering committee to oversee changes, and arrangements for direct rent payment through allowance deductions, to remove the current situation where residents are evicted when their rent is a few dollars in arrears.
The current management has adopted a stance of hostility. Staff members friendly to the residents have been sacked, and a small business operating within the village was threatened with eviction. Residents are encouraging the development of more such businesses as a way of breaking down the village's isolation from the rest of Canberra, and of reducing dependency on government funding.